Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Tue, 24 May 2011 10:12:53 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon a/c
Comments: To: Michael R <michael@jamhome.us>
In-Reply-To:  <34006.170.135.112.12.1306182600.squirrel@mail.jamhome.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

You need:

two cans of R134, maybe three. They will not go in the car completely as will Freon, so you have to finish the job of emptying each can by sitting the can in a pan of hot water. I just use our cooking pans. This gets the last of the R134 out. The waterboxer has plenty of places for a pan so it is an easy one.

You will need to change out the fitting where you fill the system. R12 cans and filling apparatus is not mechanically compatible with R134 fitting, so you have to convert. This is actually all there is to the "conversion." There used to be a lot of complicating factors like incompatibility of oils, etc but those problems have been solved by the development of new compatible lubricants in the freon that you are adding, so there is no reason to take the system apart. The "conversion" consists of buying the new fitting in a small kit and applying some locktite (included) and screwing the new filler port over the old one near the compressor on a 2.1. That's it (remember to get the little schraeder valve out first, it won't fit otherwise. You may need a very small pair of pliers or get one of the special valves for removing valve cores from tires from your FLAPS). There is a high-pressure side to deal with, but for professionals. I don't change that out. I do leave the kit in the car for the professional to install if needed, but in four or five years it hasn't been needed.

You will need to get a filling hose. It is actually a hose with a pressure gauge on it and an adapter at each end for the R134 can and the newly-installed port described above. The hose goes between the two and and fills the system. The gauge usually has a face on it that you turn to match the ambient outdoor temperature, that sets the color coded areas to their respective places for accuracy. Basically, when the dial is in the green, you can quit filling.

Apply the quick-connect coupling to the newly-installed fitting near the compressor. Then connect the can to the other end. You screw the can into its fitting all the way in, and then screw the big knob, which was formerly backed out, (you'll know all this when you see it) all the way in to puncture the top of the can. Then screw the big knob back out to let the R134 to flow. This is a good time to check and see if everything is tight and not leaking. Be sure to keep the can upright at all times. Don't let it lie on its side or turn over.

Start the car and turn the AC all the way up. You will have to use the warming trick I mentioned earlier to get the last fourth or so out of each can. Two cans should do a Vanagon, but the main thing is to check and see if the needle ends up in the good zone.

You're done. You spent thirty minutes and saved yourself a grand.

There are cases on some cars where the system won't engage if there is no pressure in it, as in starting from scratch like this. In that case you have to jumper the pressure switch (google it's location if your system doesn't fill) to run the compressor until a certain amount of pressure gets in. I seem to remember that the Vanagon is one of those cars. So far I have done a 98 GMC pickup, two 2.1 vanagons, a Jetta EcoDiesel and two Volvos. I also have a friend whose son is a certified automotive mechanic who told his dad that this wouldn't work on dad's truck. It did. All are working well. After I hit send, the list will no doubt warm a bit from the flames telling me and the reader that you have to take the system apart and you have to pull a vacuum before putting in the R134 and you have to use and understand a set of manifold gauges. I don't see the wisdom in any of that UNLESS you have a system that is so good mechanically that it doesn't leak down over the summer.

Be advised that there are different additives already added to the R134 to help with certain problems. If you only get a couple of weeks out of a charge or if you know it is leaking in the first place, get a can of freon with stop leak. That works pretty well. If the leak is chronic, get a black light bulb and some leak check R134 that contains a material that will make the leaks show a bright yellow. Fix and refill.

Yes, there are things you can do to get a little more cold out of a 134 system, but I live in Alabama where it is hot and muggy as hell in the summers and nobody in my cars is complaining.

Be cool (cheaply and easily),

Jim

On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 3:30 PM, Michael R <michael@jamhome.us> wrote:

> What's involved with > doing a refill? I may, eventually, need to do that here in Oregon. Right > after I put the AC belt back on. > BenT Syncro wrote: > > > David, > > > > Just to put prices in perspective, it costs me > less than $100 to refill my AC > > system in pricey California. > > > > > > BenT > > > > sent from my electronic > leash > > > > On May 23, 2011, at 12:41 PM, David M > <covrambles@YAHOO.COM> wrote: > > > >> Well I have been > given an ultimatum by the wife. Get the a/c fixed or get > >> rid of > the Vanagon. Its about to hit 100 degrees here in AZ so it would be > >> nice to have working a/c again. The system was working fine around > 10 years > >> ago but lasted maybe one year after a $450 refill with > freon at the VW > >> dealer. It's still the freon (R12) system and > I'm not prepared to pay the > >> cost of regular R12 refills so it > has to be a conversion to R134. > >> How much should it cost to have > this done? I was quoted a $1000 flat fee by > >> one place but that > seems expensive. Is a lot of labor involved? Can a > >> regular a/c > place handle this or is the Vanagon system too unusual? > >> > >> -David (1987 Wolfsburg) > > > > > > > -- > > Michael Rasmussen > http://www.jamhome.us/ > Be > Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity >


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