Very helpful video, thank you for sharing! One comment that may help others: a binary or trinary safety switch should be installed on the high side and would shut off the compressor around 400psi. The switch also shuts off the compressor when there is too little pressure in the system (indicating loss of freon) which will prevent damage from running the compressor without lubrication circulating. These switches can be installed anywhere in the high side of the system; sometimes there is a port on the drier or accumulator and other times you may need to add an inline port. If you use a trinary switch, in addition to the compressor safety functionality, it can also control the electric fans so they do not have to run at high speed unless needed..
I did that on a 84 chevy you cant even hook the lines back up they Changed them too! I put some cleaner in mine next day blew them out new compressor new dryer had to reuse the old lines just to reconnect it all but runs Sweet now !
Watching you initially adding refrigerant to the system, it appears that you may have inadvertently hydraulic locked the A/C pump by adding the refrigerant with the refrigerant can held upside down (if inverted it goes in as a liquid and not a gas)...hence the squealing drive belt. When adding reftigerant I prefer to start the engine, turn on the A/C, let the (upright) pressurized refrigerant enter the system (as it's initially under vacuum) until the A/C low pressure sensor registers enough pressure in the system to switch on the pump. At this point observe the gauge pressures carefully as the refrigerant is now drawn to the system until you're satiisfied that there's a correct balance between the high and low side.
My belt was loose and I tightened it off camera. I was trained to load a system with liquid. If you have some technical data showing to load a system with gas first for some benefit i'm all ears.
Excellent, thank you very much. I loved the duct sealing work you did; exactly the kind of thing I do, and will do in my car if necessary. It's possible the sloppy fit in the vent system is at least partly due to the plastic shrinking over time. L/S
5 years. Is that only in Vegas?? Lol. My 93 ford Flareside still blowing cubes 30 yrs with the OG R12. Lol. Knocking on wood. So far so good. I get clouds ☁️ in my cockpit.
I will admit .. one high pressure hose has a good crack (dry rot) and will blow one day .. and I did go through a clutch /field and pulley on it. But it’s still blowing decent after 30 years.
So I just did this conversion on my classic. I kept the old evaporator core, but I ditched the ancient condenser for the new style r134 compatible condenser. I also swapped my 10,000 lb enormous compressor for a newer sanden. Now, no matter what I do, I cannot get my air to blow colder than 58 degrees. I even had a trusted AC tech try his hand at it with the same results. Is my evaporator core just junky/not efficient? It's from the mid 60s...
This problem usually means your fan setup isn’t cooling the compressed charge enough, if your pressures and Freon levels are all correct. See what happens when you spray a bit of water over the condenser with the em system running. If the interior temp drops then you need to make the cooling system more efficient. Add a fan shroud or seal up any holes that can get to the fan without going through the radiator/condenser. Also, putting insulation around your cold line and dryer will help things cool down.
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades Dude thank you so very much for your response! To be honest, I never thought I'd hear anything, but figured I'd give it a shot. I never really thought about the fan not pushing enough air through. The original OEM setup didn't have anything (no fan, shroud, nothing... Just an ENORMOUS condenser core), so I figured I was doing my system a massive favor by adding an electric fan. The condenser/fan just hangs out in the front of the car ahead of the radiator - no shroud, nothing. Hah... Shows the little I know overall. I'm going to try that water trick to see if that makes any difference. If it does, then I finally have a direction I can go in to tackle the problem! I have room for a second fan, so I might just do that anyway.
I would not trust what the compressor said it came with. Dump it out and add 3-4 oz back in. Then use an oil injector to put the rest in. Also, I used esther oil.
Great informative video 👍👍👍👍 I just replaced everything on my C10, R4 compressor, condenser, dryer, evaperator, and hoses. My question is how much oil do i need and where do i add it to? Hope you can help and keep up the great videos.....
Syed Wajahat Ali evaporator is the same. Switching to an expansion valve is unnecessary. The AC Blows I’ve cubes in the Las Vegas summer heat just fine with an orifice tube.
I see you reused the compressor cycle pressure switch. I've also read that you can/should replace it with a R134 switch since they operate at different pressures. Is the new switch required?
Im working on reinstalling the ac in my crew that was taken out by previous owner, where could i find the high pressure line from condencer to evaporater?
I found everything readily available through oreilly's. if not, get one from the junkyard as a template and have a custom shop guild one for you. Also, try LMC truck and the other online retailers.
Pressures are too inaccurate to judge. Basically, they'll tell you if you have a blockage. if the pressure differential is too big or if your high side is much over 200, you probably have a blockage. There is a graph in the video. But I never go by pressure to judge a charge. The only way is by weight. Everything else is guessing.
Hey buddy I was just watching your video that a friend on a Squarebody group recommended to me & I was wondering if you could tell me about the product that you showed at about 23:57 in your vid. Is it also some kind of door edge guard? I hope to hear back!! Thanks for the awesome vid. 😁👍🏻
Everything was going great on my truck Gauges were showing good Putting in freon 2.5 small cans in it Starting to cool then bam low side went super high and compressor started making all kinds of grumbling noise Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated
What did the high side do? What work did you do to it? how old is the compressor? Basically, pull the orifice tube out and see if there is metal in it. It's hard to tell without being there in the moment, but most of the time if your compressor is making any weird noise, it's time to replace it. then you have to evaluate how far the damage spread. If there is metal in the lines, flush them. if there is metal in the condenser or evaporator, you have a better chance of getting pregnant than getting all the metal out. It's safest to replace contaminated cores. However, I wasn't there so I can't actually say for certain.
In pretty much the same situation as you... also really don't want to replace the evaporator core. The previous owner did a engine swap and never put the AC hoses back in after so the evap core has sat open for awhile... visually it's in good shape, do you think I can get away with just flushing it and replacing the orifice tube or should I replace it?
I would absolutely just flush it out and run it. I might also suggest a pressure test. Pull a vacuum on it for an hour, then let it set and make sure it doesn't leak.
Thank you!!! The Esther oil is specifically for use when converting from r12 to r134a. It is compatible with both refrigerants and with the mineral oil.
What’s your thoughts on switching to the smaller .067 Ford blue orifice tube or a more expensive Vov? Looking on the forums seems like everyone has different preferences.
It has to do with your climate and refrigerant. I'm not smart enough on the subject to dial in my components like that. I just replace stock and it works well.
These trucks have an orifice tube instead of an expansion valve. You do need to remove the orifice tube because it acts as a filter for junk in the system. It's something you should always replace. If you are working on something with an expansion valve, I would recommend removing it and flushing the system that way. Also, it would suck to do all that work and have a $0.05 o-ring be the leak when you go to repressurize the system.
way way back in ac school the only thing they said about charging the system up side down with liquid rather then right side up gas is do it slowly and don't slug the compressor with liquid or it will lock up good sound advice so if you do it slowly and stop it to give it time to recover then start again giving it freon it should be fine
I’m not sure specifically. I had to dig for mine. If you’re lucky, you’ll have the placard under the dash that’ll tell you how much r12 to use and then math out the r134 amount from there.
What???!!! This is an old comment but didn’t notice any replies so before anyone blows them selves up… don’t charge on high side hence the “HIGH” pressure. Very dangerous especially with the little cans that aren’t meant to handle that pressure. Even in residential we charge via low side typically before running system but if it’s running you do small spurts at a time to avoid sludging
Can someone please let me know the part number for the cycling switch since it was converted from r12 to r134a? The original one is meant for r12 and I can't seem to find any information on which switch to change it out to.
What is the brand/part number for the condenser you got? Also where did u get it. My 79 k20 is missing compressor ac lines and condenser but I want to hook the ac back up
I think it was about $250 for parts. To do a custom line setup is way more expensive. I have a video about it on my channel. I did a custom setup on the Family Burnout Wagon
@@davidolds1972 that depends on a lot of things. The textbook answer is; for the absolute best results replace the compressor, orifice tube, dryer, condenser, evaporator, and any compromised lines or hoses. I personally usually try to just flush the evaporator core because the passages are larger and it’s possible to get shavings and junk out combined with the very inconvenient location. Not replacing the other items is a gamble I would only consider if the system was working perfectly but sprung a leak. I always replace the orifice tube and dryer. If there is any metal on the orifice tube, the condenser is probably compromised and depending on what the shavings look like, so is the compressor. Long answer to basically say, do it once and be done with it.
I agree with you . The vehicle only has a 120000 original miles. But I don't know anything about it. I bought it like this .thanks for the help .What state are you in?
1) You should never trust the amount of oil they claim is in the new compressor. You must drain, measure the volume, and then put in the correct amount based on the manufacturer's specs. Keep in mind, that many of the new compressors designated for older cars come installed with mineral oil.... 2) Blowing out the evaporator with shop air introduces a lot of air. You should have blown it out with dry nitrogen. 3) For a retrofit, you should have evacuated 24 hours where the vacuum gets under 200 microns Otherwise well done, as 99.999999% of all the other videos do not do the things you did of which are important to do.
Awesome one of the most efficient straight forward DIY videos I seen on youtube.
Backyard Mechanic
After a day of 110 degree weather I'm glad I found a video of you doing this on a square body. Gotta do this to my square..
Glad I could help
Watched through this to successfully restore the AC in an old suburban a year or so ago… back again now for a blazer. Thanks for the help it’s amazing
Very helpful video, thank you for sharing! One comment that may help others: a binary or trinary safety switch should be installed on the high side and would shut off the compressor around 400psi. The switch also shuts off the compressor when there is too little pressure in the system (indicating loss of freon) which will prevent damage from running the compressor without lubrication circulating. These switches can be installed anywhere in the high side of the system; sometimes there is a port on the drier or accumulator and other times you may need to add an inline port. If you use a trinary switch, in addition to the compressor safety functionality, it can also control the electric fans so they do not have to run at high speed unless needed..
Really enjoyed this, thank you. Just bought a 1980 and all of this is likely in my future. I'm glad you included the duct maintenance!
Good fckn video! Thats how its done!
I'm working on a 76 nova. I'm not an ac guy, and have never messed w an old style system. Thanks!
Doing this on my R1500 Suburban soon. The video gave me the confidence to tackle the project.
These are the comments that inspire a guy to keep making videos!
I'm converting my 87 Land Cruiser to134a because the compressor seized. I've watched a few videos and this one helped me the most. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help!
I did that on a 84 chevy you cant even hook the lines back up they Changed them too! I put some cleaner in mine next day blew them out new compressor new dryer had to reuse the old lines just to reconnect it all but runs Sweet now !
Very nice B&R. Super informative and you did an amazing editing job on your vid. Thank you 🤟🇱🇷🤟
Nice detailed information. My 95' chevy 2500 I used a sandon compressor to replace the pancake R-4 and it works much better than before.
Can you confirm what type of pressures you we’re getting under normal circumstances?
excellent way of explaining this job.Thank you
Awesome video man. One of best ones I’ve watched lately.
Wow, thanks!
Watching you initially adding refrigerant to the system, it appears that you may have inadvertently hydraulic locked the A/C pump by adding the refrigerant with the refrigerant can held upside down (if inverted it goes in as a liquid and not a gas)...hence the squealing drive belt. When adding reftigerant I prefer to start the engine, turn on the A/C, let the (upright) pressurized refrigerant enter the system (as it's initially under vacuum) until the A/C low pressure sensor registers enough pressure in the system to switch on the pump. At this point observe the gauge pressures carefully as the refrigerant is now drawn to the system until you're satiisfied that there's a correct balance between the high and low side.
My belt was loose and I tightened it off camera. I was trained to load a system with liquid. If you have some technical data showing to load a system with gas first for some benefit i'm all ears.
Awesome thank you for the video . I seen your truck around town recently , looks good
Great info. I have a R20 Suburban and I was wondering what type of oil I need for the retrofit to R134a. You answered it. thanks.
Glad I could help
Fantastic informative video sir thank you
Glad you liked it
شكرا لك اخي🌷🌹❤️
من زمان وانا ابحث عن مقطع لصيانة التكييف لهذه الشاحنة الملعونة😁 تعب، إرهاق، تفكير مستمر ماهي مشكلتها، كل مره تتعطل على.
🌹🌹🌹
Thank you for this great video!
Best AC video I've seen, easily. I've got an 87 R10 and an 86 K20 Suburban that both need AC. I'm now subscribed. Thanks.
Excellent, thank you very much. I loved the duct sealing work you did; exactly the kind of thing I do, and will do in my car if necessary. It's possible the sloppy fit in the vent system is at least partly due to the plastic shrinking over time.
L/S
Excellent!
5 years. Is that only in Vegas?? Lol. My 93 ford Flareside still blowing cubes 30 yrs with the OG R12. Lol. Knocking on wood. So far so good. I get clouds ☁️ in my cockpit.
I will admit .. one high pressure hose has a good crack (dry rot) and will blow one day .. and I did go through a clutch /field and pulley on it. But it’s still blowing decent after 30 years.
So I just did this conversion on my classic. I kept the old evaporator core, but I ditched the ancient condenser for the new style r134 compatible condenser. I also swapped my 10,000 lb enormous compressor for a newer sanden. Now, no matter what I do, I cannot get my air to blow colder than 58 degrees. I even had a trusted AC tech try his hand at it with the same results. Is my evaporator core just junky/not efficient? It's from the mid 60s...
This problem usually means your fan setup isn’t cooling the compressed charge enough, if your pressures and Freon levels are all correct. See what happens when you spray a bit of water over the condenser with the em system running. If the interior temp drops then you need to make the cooling system more efficient. Add a fan shroud or seal up any holes that can get to the fan without going through the radiator/condenser. Also, putting insulation around your cold line and dryer will help things cool down.
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades Dude thank you so very much for your response! To be honest, I never thought I'd hear anything, but figured I'd give it a shot. I never really thought about the fan not pushing enough air through. The original OEM setup didn't have anything (no fan, shroud, nothing... Just an ENORMOUS condenser core), so I figured I was doing my system a massive favor by adding an electric fan. The condenser/fan just hangs out in the front of the car ahead of the radiator - no shroud, nothing. Hah... Shows the little I know overall. I'm going to try that water trick to see if that makes any difference. If it does, then I finally have a direction I can go in to tackle the problem! I have room for a second fan, so I might just do that anyway.
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades AGREED!!!!
How do I find out which ac compressor will fit? I’ve been stumped I looked at forums and all
Just went to the parts store and gave them the vin,
Can a 134a gauge set be used on a conversion from R22 with ester oil or would the gauge set now be contaminated?
I've heard people swear on it both ways, but I'm not taking any chances.
Where do you add the remaining PAG oil? the compressor came with 3oz.
I would not trust what the compressor said it came with. Dump it out and add 3-4 oz back in. Then use an oil injector to put the rest in. Also, I used esther oil.
Great informative video 👍👍👍👍 I just replaced everything on my C10, R4 compressor, condenser, dryer, evaperator, and hoses. My question is how much oil do i need and where do i add it to? Hope you can help and keep up the great videos.....
I had to call the dealership. Also, use ester oil and not mineral oil.
Took Cadillac to shop75 DeVille they couldn't do nmessed up paint ina area gas dripped. Said part was missing or needed
great content, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
What brand/model solvent blowing unit are you showing at 9:09? It looks quite handy!
Whatever was available at Oreilly's
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades, thanks.
Was the evaporator same, as used on R12? ,
Is it better to upgrade to multiflow evaporator and Block type expansion valve?
Syed Wajahat Ali evaporator is the same. Switching to an expansion valve is unnecessary. The AC Blows I’ve cubes in the Las Vegas summer heat just fine with an orifice tube.
I see you reused the compressor cycle pressure switch. I've also read that you can/should replace it with a R134 switch since they operate at different pressures. Is the new switch required?
I’ve done a number of these retrofits and never found it necessary.
LOVE THAT BD BOY...LMBO...TY!!! ICING ON LIFES CAKE...
Im working on reinstalling the ac in my crew that was taken out by previous owner, where could i find the high pressure line from condencer to evaporater?
I found everything readily available through oreilly's. if not, get one from the junkyard as a template and have a custom shop guild one for you. Also, try LMC truck and the other online retailers.
Hello, what were the low and high pressures you got at ~90 degrees, I’m trying to figure out what is ideal. Thanks!!
Pressures are too inaccurate to judge. Basically, they'll tell you if you have a blockage. if the pressure differential is too big or if your high side is much over 200, you probably have a blockage. There is a graph in the video. But I never go by pressure to judge a charge. The only way is by weight. Everything else is guessing.
1:00 hahah, very close but no coffee was wasted =D
Hey buddy I was just watching your video that a friend on a Squarebody group recommended to me & I was wondering if you could tell me about the product that you showed at about 23:57 in your vid. Is it also some kind of door edge guard? I hope to hear back!! Thanks for the awesome vid. 😁👍🏻
it's exactly what it sounds like. ordered it from amazon.
Everything was going great on my truck
Gauges were showing good
Putting in freon
2.5 small cans in it
Starting to cool then bam low side went super high and compressor started making all kinds of grumbling noise
Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated
What did the high side do? What work did you do to it? how old is the compressor? Basically, pull the orifice tube out and see if there is metal in it. It's hard to tell without being there in the moment, but most of the time if your compressor is making any weird noise, it's time to replace it. then you have to evaluate how far the damage spread. If there is metal in the lines, flush them. if there is metal in the condenser or evaporator, you have a better chance of getting pregnant than getting all the metal out. It's safest to replace contaminated cores. However, I wasn't there so I can't actually say for certain.
In pretty much the same situation as you... also really don't want to replace the evaporator core. The previous owner did a engine swap and never put the AC hoses back in after so the evap core has sat open for awhile... visually it's in good shape, do you think I can get away with just flushing it and replacing the orifice tube or should I replace it?
I would absolutely just flush it out and run it. I might also suggest a pressure test. Pull a vacuum on it for an hour, then let it set and make sure it doesn't leak.
Question, is it ok to use ester oil on a factory mineral a/c compressor after the r12 to r134 Convertion? Great video btw! Thank you
Thank you!!! The Esther oil is specifically for use when converting from r12 to r134a. It is compatible with both refrigerants and with the mineral oil.
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades really appreciate it! Happy 4th 🍻🍻🍻
What’s your thoughts on switching to the smaller .067 Ford blue orifice tube or a more expensive Vov? Looking on the forums seems like everyone has different preferences.
It has to do with your climate and refrigerant. I'm not smart enough on the subject to dial in my components like that. I just replace stock and it works well.
When flushing the evaporator does the expansion valve need to be removed? If not, can the flush come in from the discharge side? Thx much..
These trucks have an orifice tube instead of an expansion valve. You do need to remove the orifice tube because it acts as a filter for junk in the system. It's something you should always replace. If you are working on something with an expansion valve, I would recommend removing it and flushing the system that way. Also, it would suck to do all that work and have a $0.05 o-ring be the leak when you go to repressurize the system.
way way back in ac school the only thing they said about charging the system up side down with liquid rather then right side up gas is do it slowly and don't slug the compressor with liquid or it will lock up good sound advice so if you do it slowly and stop it to give it time to recover then start again giving it freon it should be fine
That is some great advice!
Dang! I got aducted by aliens doing this change-over!!
Thanks for the info😊
What would the capacities be for 86 suburban with front and rear ac r4 to 143a I have new compressor dryer orphis tube and condensor
I’m not sure specifically. I had to dig for mine. If you’re lucky, you’ll have the placard under the dash that’ll tell you how much r12 to use and then math out the r134 amount from there.
Dont charge liquid into the low side. That can damage the compressor
What???!!! This is an old comment but didn’t notice any replies so before anyone blows them selves up… don’t charge on high side hence the “HIGH” pressure. Very dangerous especially with the little cans that aren’t meant to handle that pressure. Even in residential we charge via low side typically before running system but if it’s running you do small spurts at a time to avoid sludging
Can someone please let me know the part number for the cycling switch since it was converted from r12 to r134a? The original one is meant for r12 and I can't seem to find any information on which switch to change it out to.
I didn't change mine. It still works fine.
What is the brand/part number for the condenser you got? Also where did u get it. My 79 k20 is missing compressor ac lines and condenser but I want to hook the ac back up
Mine is specifically for the K30 with a 454. it's p/n NRC NC3642A from NAPA
@@BurnoutsAndRotorblades i thought it looked a little different. I think the ports should be on the driver side on mine. Thank you for the reply
So how much money do you have in the system? Just trying to get a ballpark, trying to decide if vintage air is a better choice!
I think it was about $250 for parts. To do a custom line setup is way more expensive. I have a video about it on my channel. I did a custom setup on the Family Burnout Wagon
Where did you get the ducts and door seals from?
If you mean the stretchy duct, I ordered all of it from that jungle website.
اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على عبدك ورسولك محمدﷺ
We're did you get the parts for this project...thanks
A combination of Oreilly’s and Amazon.
@BurnoutsAndRotorblades
I have a 85 k5. I guess after watching your video I need to do the same thing..
Also do I need to change the compressor out to or will the old one be fine as long as it works?
@@davidolds1972 that depends on a lot of things. The textbook answer is; for the absolute best results replace the compressor, orifice tube, dryer, condenser, evaporator, and any compromised lines or hoses. I personally usually try to just flush the evaporator core because the passages are larger and it’s possible to get shavings and junk out combined with the very inconvenient location. Not replacing the other items is a gamble I would only consider if the system was working perfectly but sprung a leak. I always replace the orifice tube and dryer. If there is any metal on the orifice tube, the condenser is probably compromised and depending on what the shavings look like, so is the compressor. Long answer to basically say, do it once and be done with it.
I agree with you . The vehicle only has a 120000 original miles. But I don't know anything about it. I bought it like this .thanks for the help .What state are you in?
What model is your compressor?
Someone watched this video and tried to school me on my channel.
you know what they say, UA-cam University. . . .
1) You should never trust the amount of oil they claim is in the new compressor. You must drain, measure the volume, and then put in the correct amount based on the manufacturer's specs. Keep in mind, that many of the new compressors designated for older cars come installed with mineral oil....
2) Blowing out the evaporator with shop air introduces a lot of air. You should have blown it out with dry nitrogen.
3) For a retrofit, you should have evacuated 24 hours where the vacuum gets under 200 microns
Otherwise well done, as 99.999999% of all the other videos do not do the things you did of which are important to do.
Don't use compressed air....use nitrogen.
Who has nitrogen just laying around? Be realistic.