I am going to convert from r12 to r134a on a 86 Civic, anyone that could give me any tips or tell me what not to do would be much appreciated!! Thanks

 

What not to do:
Do this yourself.


It's important that you take your car into the shop to do this for several reasons:

Every shop that services AC has a big machine that is designed to recycle and store your used refridgerant and prevent it from escaping into the atmosphere and (immediately) hurting anyone nearby or (later) hurting the environment. That piece of equipment can also meter out the propper amount of refridgerant for you application and can hook up to your car properly. Without it, you're just opening your AC and venting that high-pressure material all over the place. Some people have wound up with bad freeze-burn from being exposed to that stuff.
The R12-R134a conversion is a really common procedure and almost every shop will do it for you, if not cheaply.

 

new o-rings, new drier, suck the system down and recover the old refrigerant, and new fittings for the filling. r-12 and r-134a use different fittings.

 

I have done this converstion, first thing to do is to have hte system EVACED at a qualified shop with a vacume compressor, if there is r-12 in the system and you add r-134 it is very bad, the 2 gasses with cause each other to expand expantion in a closed enviroment is the same philosophy behind building boombs, thoe it may not explod, it could, but more likely will cause refrigant leaks and improper function of the ac unit,

after it is evaced, just go buy the r-12 to r-134 kit at walmart or your local auto parts store, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, and then proceed in replaceing the fittings and filling the system AS PER THE INSTRUCTIONS. it should come with the proper fittings, refrigant and a pressure gauge.

 

I did this on my 82 Celica a few years ago when my AC compressor died. I took the car to a Firestone shop and they evacuated my system for free.
I replaced the Compressor, receiver dryer and as many O rings as I could get to. I then purchased the conversion valves and installed them myself. Took it back to Firestone and they recharged my system.

Here was the cost: Compressor & reciever dryer - $200, valves & O rings - $15, system recharge - $70.

Firestone offered the R12 to R134a conversion service. It was $100 (two valves) plus $75 for the recharge. Of course this was if all AC components are in good working condition.

Some people don't care whether they have AC or not but if you are like me, I cannot live without it.