This is a very pertinent topic for those of us in California who own cars with the Freon Air conditioner.
I own a 1987 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon (and 96 Volvo 960).
Any ideas and recommendations as how to convert my existing Freon (R12) based A/C to the new R134 without much expense. I bought a kit from this company which claims to do just that w/o having to morgage the farm.
http://www.id-usa.com/retrofit.htm

Any comments?<edited><editID>TheVolvoMan</editID><editDate>38095.7789930556</editDate></edited>

i saw a conversion kit for the r134 system on ebay. this saves the expesne of having a mechanic do it. the nice thing also is this kit is an original volvo kit.

And so far had you had any problems with coolling.

well i didnt install it myself. when i bought my car, a mechanic did the installation as i did not want to mess with the conversion myself. but i was looking on ebay for volvo parts and a conversion kit for a friend and i saw a few up for sale. so as long as you have some idea what ur doing and if u follow any instructions that might come with the kit you have you should be ok

The kit itself (should cost no more then $35), has the parts needed for the converstion. If you do follow the instructions carefuly, anybody can do it.

Very important: After charging the A/C cylider in your car, , or checking pressure, NEVER disconenct the hose from the cannister or the Pressure guage side. Because it will drain all the A/C from your cylider.
Allway disconnect the hose from the car's side first, then immidiately screw the cap on it. Now you can either connect new R134 Cannister, or the pressure guage.