e30 a/c - does anybody have an idea how much these cost to convert to R134?

Looked at an E30 325ix earlier today and it was pretty decent, it needs a couple of jobs but there is a big one that I discovered while checking the car over - a/c isn't working.

The current owner never used it but out in the desert I really need/want working a/c. I also don't think the system has been converted from R12, so I guess it'll need new seals and a receiver/dryer at the very minimum, possibly also the compressor.

So I guess the question is - anybody got a ballpark figure what changing the system over to R134 is going to cost me? Anybody done it on an e30?

Sonic converted the a/c on my car to r134. IIRC, he used a kit with a compressor from Pelican, but I just looked and couldn't find the receipt. Regardless, it needed a charge the following summer and was starting to get weak by the end of the first season I had the car. I haven't had a chance to put a can of freon in it to see if that makes it blow cold again. It did work well when I bought the car.

Edit: the basic kit from Pelican is $17.75 + another ~$20 for a receiver. Their compressors are kinda pricey, so you would probably want to investigate other options. I don't have a clue what the labor would be.

Assuming everything works (ha!) you don't need to change the compressor. The flavor of oil is the problem. Remove the compressor and drain it, For the rest of the system, AdvanceZone sell cans of flush that you jam into the hoses and spray. You'll need the green o-rings. Vacuum and install R134a. Pelican sells a R134a retrofit kit that has the port adapters that you'll need, plus a bunch of o-rings. It's the best price out there that I found.

It's pretty simple. There are equal numbers of internet screamings of "professionals only" and "do it absolutely by the book" and on the other side "I just shot a can of R134a in, same o-rings, oil and dryer and it's fine."

I got brave and did this on an E36 that had a broken compressor clutch, so I needed to replace the compressor anyway. I would do another one in a heartbeat. In fact, recharged a friend's Saturn and will now have a friend for life.

How about propane?

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learning-me-running-an-r12-ac-system-these-days/47842/page2/

Yup, when I converted mine I bought the conversion kit with compressor from pelican. It was a few hundred. Worked well though, and wasnt too hard to install, but all of these systems will need all of the o rings replaced by now as they are 25 years old.

EvanB wrote: How about propane? http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learning-me-running-an-r12-ac-system-these-days/47842/page2/

This. Work great. $9 worth of gas and it cools better than R134a ever will (at least w/out retrofitting larger condenser and evaporator)

Just completed an 800 mile road trip in my friend's Galant VR4 that I converted to R134a and it worked great.

A few notes:

1. Yes green O-Rings are needed. Cost around $4 for the O-rings and swapped them in an hour. Would have been a 20 minute job if he had ratcheting wrenches. Lube the O-rings with R-134 compatible oil when installing.
2. A new receiver/dryer was $8 from a local parts store so we changed it out. System had been open for quite a while.
3. Removed the compressor from the car, flushed it, added the right amount of compatible oil, reinstalled it.
4. Flushed the other components with a spray-it-in-the-hose kit.
5. Added the balance of the oil with a pre-charged can from a parts store. Dyed oil so we can spot leaks later.
6. Vacuum the system, hold it on hard vacuum for at least half an hour with the pump running. Shut the valves off and the pump off and monitor it for half an hour. No needle creep? The system is sealed and good to charge.
7. Open all the vents, open the windows, turn the A/C to max.
8. Start charging. Hold the car at 1500 RPM or so. Compressor kicks on, charge until the low side hose (big hose) coming from the evaporator gets "Beer Can Cold" and the low side stabilizes above 35F measured on the gauge to prevent icing.
9. Drive the car and enjoy it. We had 45 degree air coming out of the vents on an 85 degree day at 80 MPH, more than enough to cool a Galant VR4 without tinted windows.
10. If you experience compressor cycling/lack of cooling when its really hot out (100F+), you may have the system overcharged. RTFM for what the high side pressure switch kicks out at, make sure that on a hot day with the engine fully warmed your high side pressure is UNDER that.
11. If you experience compressor cycling/lack of cooling when its COOL out (60F or colder), you may have the system undercharged and its cycling off to prevent the evaporator from icing. Add a little juice to the system, but make sure you don't exceed high side pressure. Baby steps, guess and test will get you a very good working retrofit.

I didnt bother to figure out capacities or anything since it was originally an R12 system, just charged with gauges until it was reading right and blowing cold.

I had my e28's air conditioning converted a couple years ago and it wasn't all that expensive - less than $200 if I recall correctly. They replaced some seals and orings, but the compressor itself was retained.

One may ask why you're looking at buying an all wheel drive iX if you live in the desert...

In reply to stuart in mn:

Because I don't like partaking in Donner Parties (that happened something like 60 miles away) and I have a choice of two passes to go to work over at Lake Tahoe - one 7200' high, the other one around 7000'. We get the occasional "dusting" of snow up there .

Thanks for all the advice. At the moment I don't know what the problem is with the a/c apart from "it doesn't work". The current plan is to check for electrical issues first, if I can't find any I'll probably have the local radiator & a/c place check over the system and take it from there.

93gsxturbo wrote: 9. Drive the car and enjoy it. We had 45 degree air coming out of the vents on an 85 degree day at 80 MPH, more than enough to cool a Galant VR4 without tinted windows.

With the propane/iso-butane I'm getting 43F at 70mph with 104F ambiant temps. No need to change any of the o-rings and only added a couple of oz of mineral oil since the system was completely empty. I replaced one schrader valve that was leaking.

Best of all, the gasses were $9.

I need to look into the propane.. certainly sounds a lot less toxic than the freon

I offered propane but my friend wanted R134a.

I am cooling my house with propane, works fine. Had a bad compressor/condenser when I moved in, got one free from a friend that worked, desoldered the old, installed the new, evacuated, and charged off my grill tank. Rock n roll.

There is a pretty good write up and parts list in a sticky on e30tech.com s forum. I haven't done it myself yet. It it's on my to do list.