air conditioner, recharge Options

[Sebotage]

so i didnt get a cute lil celica booklet with my car to tell me what kinda refrigerante this thing has, anyone care to fill me in on what to use? its a 98 incase that matters...

[Bitter]

1994 and later, all cars are R134a.

older cars are R12. R12 works better as a refrigerant than R134a, which is why when converting you add about 20% more R134a to the system than there was R12.

a fully charged and 100% working R12 system will cool as well as a full charged and 100% working R134a system. R12 systems use a different oil than R134a systems, as such many of the rubber Orings and seals are not compatible with the R134a oil. leaks are to be expected in a conversion where Orings are not replaced.

additionally, R12 hoses are permiable by R134a due to R12 molecules being larger than those of R134a. R134a hoses have a special barrier layer inside to keep the refrigerant in, R12 hoses do not have this layer because it was not needed due to the larger molecules. So no matter what, a converted system is going to loose some refrigerant over time, short of replacing all the rubber hoses as well, and rebuilding the compressor with R134a compatible seals, and changing out all of the Orings.