1989 635csi Air Conditioning Compressor

[eb88]

Huge thank you to Jay C Stratton for rebuilding a compressor for us. He kept us informed with photos, was professional and timely. We can not recommend enough. Needless to say it's blowing ice cold again.










http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29368

[jps635]

Looks bloody good

[plip1953]

That looks amazing!

Slightly off topic, but what is regarded as the best way to resurrect an R12 system that hasn't worked for well over ten years, but is known to have had a lot of new components fitted just prior to that?

[ron]

Slightly off topic, but what is regarded as the best way to resurrect an R12 system that hasn't worked for well over ten years, but is known to have had a lot of new components fitted just prior to that?

You might have a problem with R12 as it is technically illegal. Some agricultural outlets have it for farmers use.

Take the car to an aircon. specialist who can flush, pressure test and fill with R134.

[plip1953]

Slightly off topic, but what is regarded as the best way to resurrect an R12 system that hasn't worked for well over ten years, but is known to have had a lot of new components fitted just prior to that?

You might have a problem with R12 as it is technically illegal. Some agricultural outlets have it for farmers use.

Take the car to an aircon. specialist who can flush, pressure test and fill with R134.

I'm well aware that the R12 has to go, but last time I enquired there was a suggestion that all main components would have to be changed because flushing wasn't an option. Has that position changed?

[Aaron H]

If any of you possess an EPA 609 certification you can legally buy and use R-12 for automotive purposes only.....provided you have an approved recovery apparatus to store R-12. (A hefty fine up to $25,000 if you don't). I'd venture to sat that 98% of shops don't know this. Given that the EPA rules and laws are Federally mandated they'll overrule local and state laws that were in place or that are still in place by oversight. As of now, R-12 is still being made in China and Russia. It's imported weekly or bi weekly into the U.S. to the U.S. Air Force. It comes in at the Jacksonville, Fl port and the Oakland and San Jose airports and ports. They use R-12 to clean Jet engines with, and all over the world! As of two months ago, I could still walk into a NAPA and buy R-12. I had to show my 609 certification and the R-12 was there the next day. The only things that is illegal about R-12 in 2020 is manufacturing it in the U.S., as well as buying it and working on automotive a/c systems without the 609 certification.

In other news, it was later discovered that R-12 isn't as harmful to the ozone as originally thought. As a result the EPA has become rather lax on the short leash they once had R-12 on at one time. It turns out that a field full of cows with flatulence is more harmful to the ozone (methane), so enjoy your R-12 a/c systems. Do your research on the laws and rules (readily available on line) and use them to your advantage. :)

[plip1953]

That's very interesting, thank you. I'll do a bit or research into the current laws/regs in the UK.

[ron]

Phil,

I've had 3 cars converted to R134 without any problems.

They changed the charging adaptors to suit the R134 rig and ran a compatible oil through, pressure checked and re-charged.

The cars all worked fine.

HTH

Ron.

PS Still looking into the hinge covers. I got 3 from BMW last week and all three were different numbers to those I gave them!
Will update you when they get back to me.

[plip1953]

Phil,

I've had 3 cars converted to R134 without any problems.

They changed the charging adaptors to suit the R134 rig and ran a compatible oil through, pressure checked and re-charged.

The cars all worked fine.

HTH

Ron.

PS Still looking into the hinge covers. I got 3 from BMW last week and all three were different numbers to those I gave them!
Will update you when they get back to me.

Thanks Ron, sounds promising. That seems to imply that there is now an oil that is both compatible with the R134 gas but does not cause a bad reaction with the original R12 oil (ie causing it to turn into a slick sludge) ?

Was there any noticeable reduction in performance with the R134 compared with R12? I was given to believe it would be quite noticeable.

The hinge cover saga roll on....

[eb88]

Like others have said, assuming your condenser isn't leaking, pipes aren't rusted out (we had to replace a high pressure line in the engine bay that had a pinhole) and your system holds vacuum you should be good. All we did was replace the r12 charge valves with r134a, charged with 1kg of r134a, injected 180ml of PAG oil and she was blowing cold again, ice cold even. We held a vacuum for 4 hours for good measure. Replacing the filter drier is a nice touch but not life or death. It was nearly 30°c in London today and it was so nice to cruise home in comfort. Thanks again Jay.

[JCS]

Huge thank you to Jay C Stratton for rebuilding a compressor for us. He kept us informed with photos, was professional and timely. We can not recommend enough. Needless to say it's blowing ice cold again.










http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29368

Hi Elliot (BSG),
Hey, thank you for posting your Photos of the BEFORE and AFTER, with the Yellow Zinc, what a transformation!
As I say on my website it's all about the surface prep for a great looking finish. I Clean and then and Polish the metal prior to plating.

On a side note the Wingcell can use either R12 or R134a.

Best,