I recently purchased a 90 FJ62 that is in great shape except the A/C doesn’t blow cold. The switch with blue light illuminates and the fans work but just regular temperature air. It wasn’t on the road much for last 4 years so not really a surprise. Instead of seeing if I can get it recharged with R12 or troubleshooting, I’d prefer just to upgrade to R134 as I plan to keep the truck for years. Any recommendations on shops in the general SF Bay Area that are best to do this upgrade and replace parts and any estimates of what it should cost? Help appreciated!
FJ62 A/C Upgrade in San Francisco BayArea (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SCJensen
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- air air conditioning bay area fj62
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Congrats on your purchase! Pics?
Why not do it yourself? If you enjoy learning all about your cruiser and plan to keep it etc.
You'll probably need some transmission work/flush plus trans cooler for Bay area hills and taking it to the Sierras that you can tackle yourself.
You can find an FSM and study up. It's easy to recharge it with R12 or doing the swap to synthetic.
Otherwise, Mudrak in Sonoma is a good recourse for you. Or find cruiser brothers in Stockton, little further away. Also, there are a ton of FJ62 owners in the bay area that could help out.
Why not do it yourself? If you enjoy learning all about your cruiser and plan to keep it etc.
You'll probably need some transmission work/flush plus trans cooler for Bay area hills and taking it to the Sierras that you can tackle yourself.
You can find an FSM and study up. It's easy to recharge it with R12 or doing the swap to synthetic.
Otherwise, Mudrak in Sonoma is a good recourse for you. Or find cruiser brothers in Stockton, little further away. Also, there are a ton of FJ62 owners in the bay area that could help out.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks. I had Mudrak do a first thorough service on the truck and they did a great job. Didn’t think to ask them about the A/C at the time.
WarDamnEagle
SILVER Star
Any AC shop can do this conversion - easily. Nothing special about a Land Cruiser AC.
Your list of replacement parts should most likely include the following:
Expansion Valve ($30)
Evaporator Core ($78)
All 5 soft hoses (send them to coldhose.com, rebuilt for $198)
Receiver/Drier ($25)
perhaps Compressor ($275)
R134A, two cans, $8/can
green o-rings kit, $15
Only other part may be your a/c radiator (in front of main radiator) not sure where to source one.
Expansion Valve ($30)
Evaporator Core ($78)
All 5 soft hoses (send them to coldhose.com, rebuilt for $198)
Receiver/Drier ($25)
perhaps Compressor ($275)
R134A, two cans, $8/can
green o-rings kit, $15
Only other part may be your a/c radiator (in front of main radiator) not sure where to source one.
WarDamnEagle
SILVER Star
I am not an AC expert by any means but I think my '85 4Runner was "converted" with a green o-ring kit and some R134A. Why all the other stuff?
Agreed any good AC shop can do it. If you want the cheapest option, I’d just go to an AC shop and have em charge it up with r134 and see if that doesn’t work. Unless you have a bad leak this will at least get you cold AC for a while - but eventually it’ll fail. If that doesn’t work at all you know you have a bad leak, a bad compressor, or other components. If you’re a “while I’m in there” kinda guy, then do what @Gundo said and set it up for another 30 years. I’m in Oakland if you want any advice.
I converted my 60 with just the fittings and draining of the mineral oil out of the compressor only, and adding PAG oil. Been fine for years.
My only point is that not knowing the full history of a 30 plus year old a/c system means that if you don't fix it right the first time, there's a high likelihood of parts failing in the near future.
Of course, you could get lucky, but running 175+ psi on the high side through those old hoses can cause leaks, and there goes your labor $$ and R134A.
The green o-rings are great, but remember, there are several in the evap core you can't get to without removing the entire assemble, which is worth replacing "while in there", as is the expansion valve. The evap core is exposed to all the gunk, grime, dust and dirt and they really get quite clogged - see photo below.
Of course, you could get lucky, but running 175+ psi on the high side through those old hoses can cause leaks, and there goes your labor $$ and R134A.
The green o-rings are great, but remember, there are several in the evap core you can't get to without removing the entire assemble, which is worth replacing "while in there", as is the expansion valve. The evap core is exposed to all the gunk, grime, dust and dirt and they really get quite clogged - see photo below.
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
The right way is to replace all the parts that said... easy cheap way make sure there isn't any freon in the system then get a retro fit 134a fittings they screw right on to the oem charge ports and get a can of 134a a big one that has the gauge on it and spray it into the system through the low pressure fitting. You can get this from wal mart and do it in the parking lot. Ive done both ways.
Tommy
Tommy
- I wouldn't mix mineral with synthetic. You need a "clean" and vacuum pulled system.
- Synthetic pressure you can't gauge by looking for bubbles in the little spyglass
- Synthetic you need a specific amount of grams of in the system and its a small amount, so the wallmart bottles aren't great for this, they only show pressure.
- A vacuum pump with a high and low gauge is really cheap and is really all you need.
If you get a vacuum pump, you can quickly test if your system will hold a vacuum so you don't have to through new parts at it.
Its easy to get R12 on E-bay and to fill it up to the pressures the system like to work under. I did it in a way where outside of the vacuum pumping, I didn't release any R12 into the open world.
One banana job..
- Synthetic pressure you can't gauge by looking for bubbles in the little spyglass
- Synthetic you need a specific amount of grams of in the system and its a small amount, so the wallmart bottles aren't great for this, they only show pressure.
- A vacuum pump with a high and low gauge is really cheap and is really all you need.
If you get a vacuum pump, you can quickly test if your system will hold a vacuum so you don't have to through new parts at it.
Its easy to get R12 on E-bay and to fill it up to the pressures the system like to work under. I did it in a way where outside of the vacuum pumping, I didn't release any R12 into the open world.
One banana job..
Old Nick
GOLD Star
Second this. Just recharged mine with 134 and it’s blowing very cold. Took all of 5 minutes. Great suggestion.
The original system (R12) uses mineral oil for lubrication. R134a systems use PAG oil as the R134a won't carry mineral oil and you don't want to have the compressor run dry.
Or have air/moisture in the system... R134 hates that even more than R12 does. Hard to purge out the air of the lines with some of those do it yourself R134 cans. It'll probably run fine for years, even with air/water breaking things down slowly on the inside. Easy to avoid though.
FWIW: R134a + air=Hydrochloric acid
Also remember that R134 is lighter than 12. So you’ll put LESS 134 in than the stock spec for r12. IIRC, the R12 spec is something like 1.7-1.8lbs. My pressures were happiest here in Phoenix with approx 1.2lbs of r134.
My 1988 fj62 is getting its AC converted right now at Torfab in Seattle. To switch it over from r12 to r134 with everything they are charging me $546. Includes removal of all AC fittings and installing new o rings, new receiver drier, and conversion fittings. Labor 3 hours.
Drier (denso ac drier) $42.95
high side 134 conversion fitting $12.10
low side 134 conversion fitting $12.86
R134 per LB $14.50 (2 items each $8.53)
AC O-ring kit $16.70
the rest is epa/ shop supplies (oil maybe?)/ taxes.
Drier (denso ac drier) $42.95
high side 134 conversion fitting $12.10
low side 134 conversion fitting $12.86
R134 per LB $14.50 (2 items each $8.53)
AC O-ring kit $16.70
the rest is epa/ shop supplies (oil maybe?)/ taxes.
Sounds fair and worth it if you're switching, to have it done right.
