| Author |
Message |
Justin Cook
TryHard
QLD
JZZ30 TT
Posts: 84
Reg: 07-2005
|
Hi guys,
I have decided my air-con system might need a look see. Its definately not as cold as it used to be....although it can be chilly sometimes.
I was thinking about getting it regassed and need to know if I can get all the parts required before I take it somewhere for the gas. I would feel happier buying the parts I need.
OR does anybody know someone in Brisbane who can either put in a R12 type gas....or can do a R134a conversion without it costing an arm or a leg? |
Shane McInnes
Tinkerer
NSW
TT
Posts: 49
Reg: 07-2005
|
When i got the R134a gas in my car it costed $150
so it shouldnt cost ya that much more.
that included the gas, the dye, The oil, the new dryer and 2 new connections for the R134a gas. |
Daniel Lee
TryHard
Victoria
Soarer GT Limited UZZ31 V8
Posts: 242
Reg: 07-2005
|
I've got my air-con regassed last year with the R12 gas for $110. |
Clayton Webb
Tinkerer
South Australia
V8
Posts: 33
Reg: 09-2005
|
I used HR-12. Cost me $60 for a full fill. He said that they are trying to phase out r134A. All the licences to use R134A are going up and up while HR12 doesn't require a licence to use. HR12 runs at a lower pressure is denser, has an inbuilt dye and doesn't leak as easy as R134A. Not sure about ER12 though. |
Robin Giles
Tinkerer
WA
Limited UZZ31
Posts: 14
Reg: 08-2005
|
Clayton interesting stuff my mechanic has been telling me that for ages and been putting HR12 in mine but I hadn't heard of anyone else using it. |
Justin Cook
TryHard
QLD
JZZ30 TT
Posts: 87
Reg: 07-2005
|
Ok so when I go and get the HR12 gas will they have all the necessary parts for the Soarer? Are they common to all cars?
The dryer, o-rings, seals etc? |
Clayton Webb
Tinkerer
South Australia
V8
Posts: 36
Reg: 09-2005
|
When he did mine, he just filled it up with the gas. Didn't change couplings of the filter drier or anything. Most auto sparky's show have it. I only found one place that didn't use it. |
Robin Giles
Tinkerer
WA
Limited UZZ31
Posts: 16
Reg: 08-2005
|
Only thing that got changed on mine were those that had to be changed for RAWS compliance. |
Beano Yip
Tinkerer
QLD
TT Soarer
Posts: 14
Reg: 07-2005
|
If i just decide to regas my air condition, do i have to tell them what gas does the car required?
btw, what type of air con gas does my car use. Mine is a 91 TT soarer. |
Anish Varsani
Tinkerer
QLD
V8 UZZ30
Posts: 49
Reg: 07-2005
|
When the RAWS compliance was done, the car would have been converted to R134a or HR12. Find out who did the compliance and then which gas they use.
Most places seem to use R134a as this is what is used in local cars.
I was told that HR12 donsn't get as cold but the AC guy could have been talking •••• because he didn't stock or use HR12. |
Daniel Lee
TryHard
Victoria
Soarer GT Limited UZZ31 V8
Posts: 318
Reg: 07-2005
|
Beano,
There should be a sticker on the engine bay that got the information for the air condition and what gas does the car required... |
Troy Tappenden
TryHard
WA
JZZ30 (TT)
Posts: 315
Reg: 07-2005
|
R12 got colder than R134A, but I am not too sure about the new variants of the R12, as to how they stack up against the R134A and R12.
Before taking your car in to get re-gassed though, make sure it needs it first, but turning your car on, and turning the air conditioner all the way on. Pop your bonnet and look at the looking glass on the top of your drier.
If it is bubbling badly, then it is a little short on gas, but not majorly. You should get it looked at to see if there is a small leak.
If there is no liquid, then you are out of gas, or very short on it, you will need to have it inspected.
If you can see that the liquid is in there, and moving, but not bubbling, then you should be fine, it has the right amount of gas, and if the car is not cooling properly, you should look at the following:
Air conditioner condenser. Clean out any bugs etc from your condenser core. Straighten any fins using a fin comb, or if you only have a few bent ones, a butter knife will do the job slowly.
Air conditioner Evaporator. These usually reside under your passenger side dash. I haven't had a chance to look at a Soarer one yet, but usually you need to remove this to work on it. Doing so will mean you will loose your gas, and the system will need to be evacuated and re-gassed once you put it back together. If you can get to the evaporator, or you have pulled it out, remove as much buildup as possible from the evaporator core, as they can sometimes get debris in there, or fluff, and can block the flow of the air, thus making the air go around the core, rather than through it, which makes the cooling of the air basically non-existant.
Anything else will require you to open the system, so be prepared to install a new drier to complete the system at the end.
Compressor's can fail slowly, and not pump well enough to make the gas work properly too cool the evaporator. Compressors are the most expensive part of your air conditioning system, so hope to god that it is still alright. You cannot check this yourself, you will need a professional to run some tests.
TX Valve. This valve switches the compressor on and off to regulate temperature. TX valves have a few different ways of dying. Dying on will make the air con extremely cold, as it will never shut off the air conditioner to maintain a temperature. Dying off will cause the compressor to not start up, and will just spin on the clutch as if the air con was not turned on. TX Valves can also start to turn on and off too rapidly, resulting in the air conditioner not cooling well enough. To check this, turn on your air conditioner, and with the doors closed and your windows up, time how long it takes for your compressor to turn on after it has hit it's correct temperature and turned off, then time how long it takes to turn back off again. Then, with an accurate (Usually digital) thermometer, place the pickup of the thermometer in your centre air vent and read at what temperatures it turns on, and at what temperature it runs off. If they are close together, but your air conditioner is not cooling the cabin, but the temp of the air coming out of the vent is cold, then that will be your problem.
I hope this helps you diagnose your problem Justin, if the the gas is at a decent level, I would put money on the TX valve.
Cheers
Troy |
Dan McColl
TryHard
Victoria
UZZ32 V8 Soarer #183
Posts: 300
Reg: 07-2005
|
Troy, I'm not sure but I think you need the engine running and the air con turned on to see anything in the sight gauge.
I am currently having a problem in that the oring in the top of the TX valve is leaking. I'll put in a new one and regas the system tomorrow. It's great having a mate with the gear to do air con. A slab of crownies and all the gas I can use. |
Ryan Rankovic
TryHard
Victoria
Soarer TT GT-TL
Posts: 141
Reg: 07-2005
|
when i turn my aircon on it makes a howling kind of noise, and the air isnt cold at all?
out of gas? or worse?
sorry for hijack |
Dean Brauer
Newbie
victoria
94 tt
Posts: 4
Reg: 12-2005
|
does anyone know what gas my car takes? its a 94 tt, and as the change over from r12 to r134a was in 94 i dont no wat it takes... |
Clayton Webb
TryHard
South Australia
'31 V8
Posts: 124
Reg: 09-2005
|
Dean anything from R143A, ER12, HR12 and HC12, just to name a few! |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1112
Reg: 07-2005
|
Clayton proposed answers above to the question of what can be used. You should also read Troy in this thread:
http://soarercentral.com/sc-forum/messages/31680/5064.html#POST6112
as well as his longer post above.
If you are asking what is currently in your car, that depends on its history. |
Sam Schreck
TryHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 500
Reg: 07-2005
|
Curious to know how much blow/fan force people are getting. I find I have to have mine on 3 to 4 bars on the LED with the passenger vent closed to really feel the air blowing. Could this be a blocked filter or is it quite normal? |
Sam Schreck
DieHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 505
Reg: 07-2005
|
bump. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1384
Reg: 07-2005
|
Dunno Sam. I have no little bars on the LED (? LCD?) so I have no reference, nor am I sure what is your standard for "really feel the air blowing". Happy to meet somewhere during the day and compare fan speeds if that helps. |
Sam Schreck
DieHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 513
Reg: 07-2005
|
Thanks for the reply and offer David. I was going to take you up on it, though I might just wait till the HUGE meet at Neil's and compare with a few dozen others.
Just to clarify a little though, Unless I turn the fan speed up to 4 or 5, It's hardly noticable in terms of feeling any air on my face at all. Does running the aircon on 'Max Cold' and at maximum fan speed put any or much extra strain on the engine, radiator or aircon unit itself? I assume it chews through the gas at a faster rate?
Cheers |
Dean Brauer
Tinkerer
victoria
94 tt
Posts: 31
Reg: 12-2005
|
having your ac on at anytime will put more strain on the engine as the compressor is belt driven and it will take more power to run the accessory, but i wouldnt worry unless your at the drag strip... |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1403
Reg: 07-2005
|
I expect a decent blast when it is up around 4 or 5 and a modest but noticeable breeze at 3 so it sounds like yours is a bit short of breath.
The Air Con motor is either on or off so it will consume more petrol only if it was not otherwise running. That is the dependency on temperature, rather than temperature affecting motor current directly. I do not know how much current the fan might draw. The engine will cope.
If you do a full comparison at the Huge National Soarer Meet then we will expect you to be the authority on the subject thereafter, with air flow rates, noise measurements and temperature gradients in prevailing conditions.  |
Sam Schreck
DieHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 514
Reg: 07-2005
|
Thanks gents. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1543
Reg: 07-2005
|
Sam you mentioned the possibility of a blocked filter in your system above. Have you taken the filters out to see how it runs, or cleaned or replaced them? An electrical problem just seems unlikely compared with some sort of blockage in the system. |
Roger Costello
TryHard
WA
UZZ31 V8 Limited
Posts: 203
Reg: 07-2005
|
Sam
Changing the A/C Filters behind the glovebox more than doubled the airflow from my vents. About $100 from Toyota plus 5-10 mins to fit or you can de-filth them gently with detergent etc. The new filters work a lot better than my cleaned old ones.
Regards
Roger |
Sam Schreck
DieHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 723
Reg: 07-2005
|
Just tried to clean my filters. They're so black that my hands are now tie-dyed the same colour and I actually can't wash it off  . Just how much polution is there on that little island. I'm oredring a new set $98.00 and worth every penny. I now have tripple the air flow (without a filter anyway). I assume it'd be a bad idea to use the aircon or fan without any filters while mine dry overnight? Thanks a lot guys  |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
UZZ31 V8 manual and Lexus IS300
Posts: 1752
Reg: 07-2005
|
Good move Sam. Mine were the same, except I'm a pansy and wore gloves to wash them  . I call it avoiding osmotic passive smoking.
Should not do any harm to use the system without those filters. It is only you sucking in the dust, not the important engine |
Sam Schreck
DieHard
ACT
vvt-i JZZ31
Posts: 724
Reg: 07-2005
|
 I'll suck it in and spit it out!
Cheers David. |
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