Date:         11 Aug 1994 12:22:37 U
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Norman Leong" <norman_leong@engtwomac.synoptics.com>
Subject:      Re: GD AC went out!

        Reply to:   RE>>GD AC went out!

joel responded with:

>On Thu, 11 Aug 94 13:21:29 CDT Steve Johnson said:
>>Any useful tips before I take it to VW?

>well, get a wet rag and a flashlight and go look in the left rear wheel >well,
>(deleted)
>also check the tension of the a/c belt. it might be real loose.

>and for all:

>i heard about the Miracle of Winter A/C Running. Now I are Happy again. :)
>i tried it and it really does seem to work. what is it? running the a/c
>system for about 15-20 minutes every week or so throughout the year. 
>the story i got was that doing this keeps the compressor seals lubricated
>and they don't leak the freon out to the atmosphere. whatever the reason,
>it seems to help a bunch.

while you're back there and tracing hoses, follow as many of the AC hoses
as you can and look for indications of oil leaks (with caked on road grime,
or otherwise).  This would be an indication of a leak in your system, which
would lead to the observation that joel noted above (about the bubbles).
Perhaps you'll be lucky and all you need is a recharge, but get another opinion
if someone tells you the condenser or receiver/drier needs to be replaced ($$).
 This is America (apologies to those across various ponds and land masses
elsewhere), and we should be able to fix a GD leak without replacing a
&^!%@%^$@#$#%^!^$# part unnecessarily !!!

BTW, I concur with joel's suggestion about running the AC year-round;
apparently it does keep the seals from drying out...

Norman