Converting from R134a to R12a

[Clode]

So my old 1999 ram has r134a in it. After being parked all winter its always a little low on refrigerant, not empty but not blowing cold. Are there any A/C experts out there that can give me some advice on this. We put dye in the system but can't find the leak. Once recharged it works great all summer and I was thinking of converting so I could just top up when needed instead of having to book it into an A/C shop every spring.

 

[DRD]

When my old Dodge was leaking, same year, I bought 134A in the US and recharged as needed. Amazon also had it last I looked. I would bet the leak is the Evap, that's where my leak was. If memory serves it wasn't a fun job and all the plastic was made from glass....

 

[TROLLCAT]

shrader valve can be suspect to

buddy's chevy was dooing the same thing (and the guy changed the valve) all is good now

soory bout thy spillen

 

[MP Kid]

Another common location of leaks is the compressor shaft seal. That's what usually kills most A\C repairs on an older vehicle as people aren't willing to replace a "working" compressor.

 

[ziggity]

Just did this on my wifes honda. We had a leaky hose, you can just remove the R134a and replace it with R12a. Youll need to vacuum the system prior to, I looked for R134 but it was harder to find and more exspensive, easy to just get the R12 at canadian tire or local store.

 

[Summitric]

take it somewhere and have it properly diagnosed for the leak.... electronic sniffers should be able to pick out where the leak is, &/or dye in the refigerant...
r12 is no longer legal to put into vehicles... jus sayin