Cold Facts About A/C Refrigerant
How did we ever get along without air conditioning in our cars? It's a feature we take for granted until, suddenly, it's blowing hot air.
In the past few years, many owners have discovered that fixing an inoperative air conditioner can cost from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, depending upon the make and model of vehicle. The reason is that the old standby R-12 refrigerant, trade named DuPont Freon, has been replaced by R-134a. Touted as being environmentally safer than its predecessor, R-134a has been standard since 1994.
If your older vehicle needs major repairs to the air conditioning system, after replacing the old components you probably will NOT want to install a retrofit conversion. We have found that most air conditioners will not operate nearly as efficiently on R-134a as they were designed to operate on R12: We have measured as much as a 20 degree difference between the two refrigerants. Do not allow anyone to mix refrigerants. They're not interchangeable. You cannot add R-134a to your older air conditioner without major changes. Further, some substitutes are volatile mixtures of propane, butane and flammable hydrocarbons. Keep in mind the fact that if your vehicle is leaking refrigerant, you're damaging the ozone layer.
An annual inspection of the vehicle, including the air conditioning system, may help forestall costly repairs. S&S Service Center usually offers A/C inspection specials when warm weather arrives.
This is NOT the way to keep cool!
