RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

Oh yea, i meant to mention that, but the forum was being tempermental.
Basically what happened was: (next post)

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

4. I suspected due to the inaccuracy of the gauge that it was not the correct amount of refrigerant. So I had Firestone drain and refill it to the proper amount while they were doing the A/C inspection.

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

3. I called around town, and firestone was the only place that could deal with R12 (since some R12 was still trapped in the system), and everyone else's machines were only for r134a.

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

So I guess after the drain and recharge, the system still doesn't cool very well. By the way, if you decide to work on the system in the future, you may find information at this link very useful:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/2334672

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

thanks
that info in that link is very helpful
i might add though that the guy in the link talked about getting lines rebuilt and stuff. funny thing is, it's probably cheaper to buy the whole A/C kit online ($525 at hondaautomotiveparts) than to replace all those parts he mentioned.

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

Yeah, the guy in the link seems to have thought of everything so that the conversion would go without a major hitch.

RE: expansion valve (a/c)
 

The conversion kit is not a proper conversion. At an absolute minimum you need to pull the compressor off the car and change the oil in it. And change the receiver drier.

At this point you may be ahead to buy the factory kit for a 94 or 95, which were factory setup with R-134a. Replace all the refrigerant-related parts on your car. Then you have a good clean new system that was designed for 134a in the first place.