$500.00 for A/C recharge?

[bcr4d]

My A/C is blowing out luke warm air, called Porsche of Arlington and was quoted $500.00, freon and labor to charge the system. I almost threw up a little in my mouth. Does anyone know where I can get this done outside of a dealer and how much it should cost? R 12 freon - 90 C2. thanks:twisted:

[FrankyV]

My A/C is blowing out luke warm air, called Porsche of Arlington and was quoted $500.00, freon and labor to charge the system. I almost threw up a little in my mouth. Does anyone know where I can get this done outside of a dealer and how much it should cost? R 12 freon - 90 C2. thanks:twisted:

Spend $75 at Autozone and you can get everything you need to do it yourself in 30 minutes.

[bcr4d]

Spend $75 at Autozone and you can get everything you need to do it yourself in 30 minutes.

Sounds good, but I was under the impression that you couldn't buy R12 or it wasn't available anymore, at least without a permit or something. Anyway, I'd like to hear more about the $75 Autozone plan. thanks

[Racer29]

My A/C is blowing out luke warm air, called Porsche of Arlington and was quoted $500.00, freon and labor to charge the system. I almost threw up a little in my mouth. Does anyone know where I can get this done outside of a dealer and how much it should cost? R 12 freon - 90 C2. thanks:twisted:

Take the same or less money and convert the system to 134a. After that DIY

[magnetic1]

R12 is $$$$

[Vicegrip]

Take the same or less money and convert the system to 134a. After that DIY

If done right I would expect it to cost well more than $500. The condenser needs to be improved and the lines replaced You also need to remove the oils from the system and evacuate the air and moisture.

R12 is more efficient than 134. A system that was originally made to run R12 will cool better with R12 that R134. R12 is now very expensive to purchase. (Unless you bought 60 pounds of it before the tax kicked in ;) )

[magnetic1]

. (Unless you bought 60 pounds of it before the tax kicked in ;) )

My dad is in HVAC and he horded TONS of the stuff... :shock:

[Vicegrip]

Price Club had it for somthing like .39 per pound in 30 pound jugs just before the laws kicked in. I still have about 20 pounds of the stuff and no old car to put it in. All my cars are R134. Yes, I have EPA certs. No, I do not work on other peoples car A/C systems.

Next up for hording is R22 for the house. Once again it works better and at lower pressures than its replacement R410. OTOH the newer systems are getting clever.

[Postmark]

Call Jay at Wittstatt Auto in Falls Church. 703.533.3000 Really understands the Porsche AC systems. Have had my 993 re-charged there for $125. Do not know what it will cost you but he will give you a detailed explanation and analysis of your issues. Good luck

[racer]

Since I've never really focused on this subject ... isn't "recharging" the system an equivalent to "adding coolant" when a radiator goes low? But should it need a recharge, or go low, unless there is a leak somewhere? Why spend money every year "recharging" it.. I would think diagnosing a leak and correcting is cheaper long run, no?

[Potomac-Greg]

I'm surprised you didn't get charged $500 just for calling Porsche of Arlington! The Autozone recharge is OK, and I was able to revive my AC that way but it never lasted. I thought I had a leak, but I had Convenience Car Care do a full evacuation and recharge and it's been blowing cold for 2 years now.

[Ben K]

These old cars were designed with porous lines for the coolant gasses, which is why then need to be recharged every so often. (or at least ours was)

[Dr K]

Don't do the R134a conversion. But do replace your a/c lines with non-porous ones that will decrease your future requirement for R12.
Peter

[bcr4d]

Call Jay at Wittstatt Auto in Falls Church. 703.533.3000 Really understands the Porsche AC systems. Have had my 993 re-charged there for $125. Do not know what it will cost you but he will give you a detailed explanation and analysis of your issues. Good luck

thanks, I'll give him a call Monday.

[Rick Lee]

My 993 started blowing less than ice-cold air last week when it was about 114 deg. here. 14 yrs. and the a/c has never been serviced. So it doesn't owe me much. I was all set to dive in and upgrade the evap. and do the whole job, when it blew ice cold again last night. I hope it can hold out until cooler weather here.

[edevinney]

R12 isn't as pricey these days as it has been, probably as cars age out. I just sold a bunch of R12 for about a dollar an ounce in 14oz cans. The 30lb tanks are even cheaper. There must be some extra $ involved for handling R12 (recovery machinery, etc), but 4x the cost of a similar job on a 993 seems excessive IMO. Good luck.

[Richard Curtis]

My 993 started blowing less than ice-cold air last week when it was about 114 deg. here. 14 yrs. and the a/c has never been serviced. So it doesn't owe me much. I was all set to dive in and upgrade the evap. and do the whole job, when it blew ice cold again last night. I hope it can hold out until cooler weather here.

In my 1995 Ranger, this was the symptom of low refrigerant (R134A). A recharge and I was on my way. Only time the a/c has been serviced since new.

[TriTom]

tracing down a leaking line in the 35ft of a/c line in these older cars (I am told) is very difficult and of course $$$! No good answers- howabout Retro Air? Anyone heard of them? Results?

[spike17128]

Check out www.griffiths.com/
This website has a lot of details and solutions for your AC system.

[dnwong]

I bought some stuff called freeze-12 which is a R12 compatible product. Have not tried it yet. But sounds good. Need to vac out the old 134a that the previous owner put in that has leaked out mostly.

Anyone with a vac? Might need it to change out a compressor on an old Astro Van that I have (another thread).

[86911TLCAB]

who needs ac...just take the top down...smile.

The 134a conversion was done in my E30...and while not as cold...it is better than nothing...