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#1
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R12 Replacement - pretty happy
Today I evacuated the AC system of my 1983 300D non turbo and refilled it with Envirosafe R12 replacement. I bought the kit for $60 (with shipping) but was disappointed that the fittings included did not for my car. Fortunately I had help from an AC expert who had the right fittings, but I will be calling Envirosafe for a refund on those parts.
Anyway, the kit came with four cans of replacement, 1 can of stop leak and 1 can of oil. I ordered a 5th can and ended up using all 5, plus the oil, which the compressor appreciated. I had some trouble with my compressor and belt but the envirosafe works very well. At least, today while driving it got down almost to 40 degrees in the vent. Granted, it was not a hot day outside so I want to see how it does when summer gets here but for the most part I am glad I did this instead of trying to refit the whole system to R134. Anyone else have a good experience with this product? |
#2
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Yes. I can report a very similar experience. Worked well all summer last year and seems to be good to go this year.
__________________
Current fleet 2006 E320 CDI 1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped former members 1984 300D "Blues Mobile" 1978 300CD "El Toro" |
#3
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I have used Duracool in my 65 Newport since ~2000 with no issues. It is a HC refrigerant like Enviro-Safe (formerly Freeze-12, I recall). That was after first converting to R-134A. The EPA bizarrely requires that, but not why I went R-134A first (~1996), I just didn't know about HC refrigerant then. I have since converted all but my 96 Voyager to Duracool. HC is even smarter today since R-134A will soon be outlawed (bad green-house gas & O-zone hole theory seems to have floundered). My 300D's were converted in the last few years. I used PAO 68 oil in them (Duracool's "Oil Freeze" or such), which is the best oil for any refrigerant (mixes w/ residual PAG or mineral oil) and should help an R-4 last longer (stays put in compressor).
One 300D has the original R-4 compressor and one has a Sanden (w/ RollGuys' bracket). They cool about the same. The biggest problem is that the electric helper fan doesn't come on until the refrigerant is real hot, so the AC doesn't cool well when sitting at a red light. RollGuy posted how to wire it so the fan always turns on w/ the compressor, though the fan will then run on the highway when not needed. The $60 price sounds high, but parts do add up. It only takes two 6 oz cans to charge a W123. I also ran into the fitting issue. As I recall, both factory (R-12) ports on my 300D are the same size. On most U.S. cars, the R-12 high-pressure port was smaller. |
#4
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its also easy to wire a switch inside the cabin that you can use to turn the aux fan on and off with. if you forget to turn it off it is ok because it won't run with the car off.
__________________
1981 NA 300D 310k miles |
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