TurboDennis
SILVER Star
We all have our own opinions, I agree r12 is better, but also very toxic for the environment. that’s why I said have it evacuated and it holds a vacuum fill and enjoy. The fact that he has r134 style adapter would lead me to believe he already has r134 in his system, And possible running a mix of POG oil and the older style oil. The op also has weird reading on his gauges. In the end we all just want everyone to be able to save some money and time by accomplishing repairs with a little guidance from the site. Nothing personal here. hopefully he gets it dialed and will let us all know how he did it and it worked out? Also good luck buying r12 you have to have a license to obtain and it is stupid expensive. You can buy r134 4 bucks for 12 ounces any where.
Look, im all for saving the planet, but the truth is that a handful of car buffs using this stuff in the their vintage cars/trucks is not going to make any difference when CFC refrigerants are still produced and used by the ton on industrial scale in countries that couldn't care less about the environment. And if we're being honest, HFC refrigerants like R134A aren't all that great for the environment either... A good, tight, R12 system is less harmful to the environment than a leaky R134A system. And an R12 system is more likely to be leak-free.
OP should do a thorough flush of the system regardless of what refrigerant he ends up charging, but staying with what the vehicle was originally designed for (R12) will result in a better, more efficient system and be cheaper in the long run as well. It's true that you technically require the proper EPA licence to buy it in US, but in reality its commonly sold on ebay and CL without any sort of verification of your credentials.
R12 is completely banned for sale in Canada, regardless of what kind of licence you possess. It's 100% illegal to charge into cars under any circumstances and doing so is punishable by EXTREME fines and jail time. Yet i still know some guys, who know guys, who go to great lengths to source the stuff and use it in their vintage cars. It's just THAT good.
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