Hi all

Mate at work called to say he had a guy coming round to re-gass his beemer. These guys are air-con engineers, but gas cars on the side. Mate said that the more people he could get at work wanting their air-con done, the price would be cheaper. He reckons £30.

Question is that i have heard that you need to match the refrigerant with the compressor oil. Is this true?

I have a 94 WRX import, and there is no info on the car as to the oil type in the compressor or what the refrigerant is.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Desi

 

It will probabily be R12 gas in yours (the same as mine) and it has been banned world wide to sell and use.
There are two alternatives.....complete rebuild of your compressor,fit new hoses and a total system flush so that R134A can be used or keep your system and replace the gas with R12 equivalent (R44 I think is the number but don't quote me on that).
It's not as efficient as R12 but a lot cheaper than converting to R134A.
It might state what grade of oil to use on the compressor label....the right grade of oil to use is critical if you want the compressor to last.....and they have to by-law insert a tracer dye with every re-gas!!
The fines for letting the refrigerant go into the air are very BIG.

steve

 

Nice one Steve. I am a little clearer than i was earlier, hehehe.

I will check with the air-con guys when they turn up. I am unaware if the car has been regassed in the past, therefore not sure what is in there.

There is a number on the compressor but it does not indicate what its for. Could be the part no. for the compressor????

If in doubt, i won't bother!!

thanks again

Desi

 

Hi desi,
Be careful mate as there are alot of gases out there which are blend gases,meaning they are mixed with other gases.There are some people out there even using propane,There is only one gas out there which is approved by compressor manufacturers and that is r134a.Blend gases such as isecon 49,r143a etc are not approved.The easiest way is to gas an r12 system is to put an oil additve in the system before gasing with r134a.The other thing is r12 was superseeded by r134a gas around 1991-1992,the easiest way is to look and see what style of charging ports you have.ie push on fitting or screw thread.Hope this has been helpful otherwise send me an email iam sure i can help as iam an aricon specialist.

 

This is getting even more technical than i thought typezero.

Do you know what type of additive is added to the compressor? My guess is, that the guys coming round to do the job will maybe unaware or not have these additives with them. As its a job on the side, i don't think they will be too fussy about checking such technical details out... or am i being suspicious? hehehe

i think i will have a chat with them before they lift the bonnet too ensure they know what they are at. if i am not happy then i will not bother going to the trouble. They are doing another 5 cars on the day, so they will still make their money.

thanks once again Steve n Typezero, much appreciated fella's

 

Hi Desi,
All i can say is be careful,As I said we are a family run outfit and are one off the longest running in the business if I can be of help to you or any other guys feel free to email me.