I have a 91 240 and I have only had it for a couple of years. My AC works, but it's no cold. I don't even think it was cold when I got it. I wanted to refill it and thought I could just go to a automotive store and get a refill, but I found out I may have an old system ie. freon or something else. I know I may need a upgrade kit or something like that, but I'm not sure how I go about checking to see if I already have it or not. Does anyone know what I need to look for and where I can look?

Thanks,
Thomas

 

should be a sticker under the hood that specifies the refrigerant type and charge. old stuff was R12, new stuff is R134a. if your car has been converted properly, it would have new style low side and high side access ports. Personally, I think A/C work, including recharging, should be left to professionals, who will evacuate the system, leak test it, then properly charge it. Too much R12/R134 is just as bad as too little.

the conversion kit consists mainly of a new reciever/dryer (thats the silver tank thing near the firewall), a new expansion tube, all new O-rings, and you have to drain and change the compressor oil as well as evacuate any remaining R12.

frankly, we are original owners of an 87 240 and its AC was never that great even when it was new. it died years ago and we never bothered to fix it (I live on the central west coast where its rarely that hot until you go inland). I have a 740 that has a R134a volvo factory conversion kit installed, it works OK.

 

Thanks for the info, I will look and see if I can find anything.

I live in Orlando and it's hot as hell. It's been in the nineties all month and it's not letting up. Miserable without AC.

 

Just found the sticker, it's R12. Does this mean I have to convert it? No way I can use R12?

Sounds expensive to convert.

 

r12 manufacturing has been stopped since 1995, it was a major contributor to the destruction of the ozone layer.

the volvo conversion kits aren't that expensive, a $100 or so for the parts, and an hour or two shop labor to install.

 

I just talked to a guy that has a couple of cans of freeze 12 he will sell me, I guess it's the synthetic equiv to R12. I don't have the parts and he said most people just side tap or can tap it in. Not really sure what that is.

Thanks for your help Pierce. btw, did you see my recent post that I just posted, with pic attached, in the 240 section where I'm trying to figure out what this hose is?

 

I read some bad stuff about those r12 substitutes. some of them will gum up your a/c system beyond the point of repair. some will 'poison' the expensive extractor equipment that a/c service places use, so the service places won't touch your car if its been used.

I believe you still have to purge the R12 out of your system before you install that stuff.

 

Ok, thanks for the info.