1969 Camaro - looking for advice

[wptski]

Adding 134a with some oil is what we call a Death Kit. In the mid 1990's they started selling kits with a couple of cans of 134a, some oil & a couple of cheap fittings. Vague instructions. Adding 134a compatible oil to an R12 system with mineral oil and traces of r12 still present. The two oils don't mix. It works for a while, then the whole system needs to be replaced.

Those kits more than likely included POE oil the best choice if there is a trace of mineral oil. I'm sure you've heard of Refrigeration Technologies who make Nylog products? They say that up to 10% mineral oil can be in a system when POE oil is used with no damaging results.

[lannie]

We didn't run the AC with R134 for more than 30 or so minutes max. Hopefully we didn't do any damage with the limited run time with R134 mixed oils.

We will attempt the recommendation of flushing, bench testing, calibrating or replacing as needed and going back with R12

David

[lannie]

Do you have links for flushing/testing of expansion and POA valve?

[bohica2xo]

Do you have links for flushing/testing of expansion and POA valve?

The old forum had a great post about testing POA valves. Sadly some of the pics have gone missing.

messageview.cfm?catid=20&threadid=16311

Basically you fabricate a fitting for the inlet side of the POA and let it vent to atmosphere. Feed it compressed air & see where it regulates.

.

[Dougflas]

Due to the old age of most POA's, Try not to supply over 75 PSI instead of 100 PSi.

[lannie]

thanks for the support guys, I will keep you posted. Hopefully we will have time to work on the camaro soon


David

[lannie]

Once we flush, test and have an empty system, how much oil needs to be put back in before we charge with R12?

[bohica2xo]

After flushing to bone dry, with a new accumulator, the spec is 10 ounces of oil.

Read more here:
http://vintage.mitchell1.com/PClubData/ ... 806002.pdf

[Promod]

The '69 Camaro under hood a/c kit arrived yesterday from Classic Auto Air. I did a quick look over of everything and my initial impression is that it is of acceptable quality. I was surprised at how small the condenser is but as long as it blows cold I guess smaller doesn't matter.

I'll report back once the install and ops check is complete and let you know the results. My schedule is pretty full for the next couple weeks so it may take a bit.

[lannie]

Quick up guys.

This weekend I had a few hours to work on the camaro. We removed all components, hoses etc. Did a complete flush. The system did have some oil, but the oil appeared to be mixed with water, two different color oils, one brownish and the other was more an orange tint. But I did notice the oil was not mixing.

After the flush. we installed the new expansion valve, and new dryer. Since we didn't have an option for a new POA, we cleaned it several times, and put mineral oil and let it soak in oil. All the hoses look nearly new. Replaced all the o-rings.

We charged the system with R12. And with in minutes had cold air. We ran it for 20 minutes or so while adjusting the freon levels. The ODA temp was near 95degf, the car inside temp was near the same temp and dropping with AC running, we had 58-60 vent temps.

Yay! , Then the condenser sprung a leak and we lost the charge. No more yays It appears it had a weak spot in one of the tube bends. A very small pin hole.

So we are in the process of locating a OEM replacement.

Where is the best place to purchase a direct fit condenser to avoid having to re-plumb the tubing?

Thanks for the support guys

David