AC recharge on a 1986 Hilux

[JamesWalker]

Hi, I've got a 1986 Hilux that I am trying to get the AC functioning on.

It did work when I bought the vehicle.

I've been through the electrical side of things as the switch wasnt functioning. Replaced the relay and fuses, wired in a new switch, and cleaned all of the connections to the compressor. I now have power to the switch and it functions and lights up. I dont know which of the things exactly was the catalyst but fuck it, theyre done.

The compressor itself, the clutch will not come on directly, but wired straight to the battery it will. So I think the compressor is OK.

But even with that "manual" power connection, the cold air does not come. 

Some vague Google forum searching suggests that there is a shutoff in the system when the refrigerant is low which will stop the clutch engaging. I dont know the reliability of that information which is part of what I'm here to ask about.

I would like to attempt to recharge the system myself, but if anyone is familiar with the vehicles, my questions would be: 

Are there any other aspects I should check first?

What refrigerant would be suitable or would there be some information on the vehicle itself?

It is a Japanese import and what I can find on forums suggests that this can complicate what it might require.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any potential assistance.

 

 

 

[AllTorque]

If there is a pressure switch, it will be on the hard line or the cooler/dryer. To recharge properly you will want to vacuum the system first then add the correct amount of refrigerant. There may be a sticker somewhere in the engine bay that says the gas type and quantity. Hopefully it’s r134a and not the old r12 as that’s hard to find. You really need a professional to do it properly. Probably going to cost you $300 - $400.

[Yowzer]

It'll very likely be R12, especially if it has threaded service ports. 

I've regassed R12 systems with R134a on my own cars. Doesn't work as great, but it still works. Of course if all your gas has fallen out you'll wanna find and fix the leak coz refrigerant is horrifically expensive now.

[Yowzer]

If you wanna do it properly, you'll wanna flush out all the components, replace all the o'rings, replace the TX valve, replace the receiver/dryer, probably replace the compressor too. The old seals from the 80s often don't like PAG oil.

If you wanna half-ass it like I did, just shove some guestimation quantity of refrigerant in there and hope for the best.

[ajg193]

I just got one of the AC guys to throw more gas in mine at work while they were installing heatpumps.

Surprisingly slow and precise job for someone to do, I thought it would be quicker.

He didn't even take any money for it and it has been blowing at like -2C ever since.

In summary, get someone who knows what they are doing to do it

[Yowzer]

Any idea what gas they put in it? If it's heat pump stuff it's probably not R134a, right?

[ajg193]

I think it was r134a, all I remember is the bottle was eggshell blue coloured and internet indicates that is r134a. There are no signs anywhere in the engine bay to specify a gas.

[ajg193]

Holy shit, it's like 3 grand a bottle at repco

https://www.repco.co.nz/parts-service/climate-control/consumables/r134a-refrigerant-gas-au20497-r134a/p/A1053654

[AllTorque]

AC gas doubled a few years back when they added a big hole in the ozone layer tax

[Bearded Baldy]

Yeah thanks labour/greens. Filthy idealists.

Went from 125 to regas to 350 average here in taupo.

[rusty360]

Not quite related but try losing 50 or 100kg of the shit!

[chris r]

Can get the $50 ish 'disposable' bottles off marketplace. 2-3 should be enough for a system. 

Ideally vac it out first but can just shove it in 

[Hemi]

Lpg.

Might turn car into bomb but hey, it works. 

 

[Hemi]

Just for reference Bess ( the C10 that has r12 system) Had a minute amount of pressure and was still sealed according to the vac, without changing anythign i put in lpg (summer mix I think) and it got to 1 deg C at the evap. 
it still cools to that a year later, does it cool the cab, not really because 70's a/c is garbage, but hey, it cools

just make sure the cabin drain is open and youll be fine. 

$15 of LPG or 9053065306985439453098$ or r134/r12/ whatever.
|


Or dont, its your car. 

 

[xsspeed]

yeah lpg/hc12 will work but nowadays 40yo steeb thinks thats a dumb idea

[Hemi]

Insert photo of exploded bulldozer cab spec, or something else?

[Rookie]

I too run LPG in my daily, A+ would trade again. in reality the fuel load from a few 100gs of lpg will doo very little in terms of accelerant if the car is on fire compaired to the 50 or so litres of petrol. Not to mention that it is unlikely to hang around in the event of a punctured system.

I used camping gas in the 450g cans, here they are a mix of propane and butane, or pure butane, so I fiddled around with the mix to get it to be cold without freezing.

[Yowzer]

There's the good story about some guy trying to prove that LPG in a car AC system was perfectly safe by letting the lpg leak into the cabin and igniting it and blowing up the car and injuring everyone watching.

But yeah if it isn't leaking into the cabin and you're not ignoring the pungent odor of lpg and lighting a dart it's pretty not dangerous.

[Hemi]

Dont quote me because very little experience with ti but rf1234 or whatever is $39739874968476987 and is flammable .


Dunno R134a is like $500 or .5 kilo here  R1234a is .... well i dont know because no one has it...because its too expensive.... even the dealerships are too scared to do anything unless is warranty approved..... because its too expensive.z

 

Dat summer mix LPG is looking pretty good ... zero cfc and minimal carbon.
 

[xsspeed]

1 hour ago, Hemi said:

Dont quote me

yeah but its not as flammable (class 2 as opposed to 3 iirc) as lpg and its in modern systems which are designed for it being somewhat flammable, where we are talking about putting LPG (highly flammable) into an old system that was never designed for flammable refrigerant (r12 is non flammable) in an environment that has a load of ignition sources

i think the real world risk of it exploding and causing a big issue is low like rookiepropanedave says but i dunno, in nz anyway with pretty mild weather compared to hemi-ville its possibly not worth it in the end for the sake of slightly less cooling capacity