Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

I have a 30 year old diesel pusher, dash air went out, I took it to a radiator shop recommended by a mechanic friend of mine. They specialize in retrofitting older classic cars with air conditioners, they had several very Cool classic cars in the shop. Right now they've replaced the compressor and the dryer redone all the freon and the expansion valve and I'm at about $830. He's recommending to replace the condenser. He says he thinks we'll get more cooling air out of the system that the condenser is 30 years old and the new ones are more efficient. He says it's working now but he's trying to give me an option to bump up the efficiency. That's an extra 310. I've checked pricing on forums for this kind of work and it seems to be way reasonable compared to some of the things I've seen. I'm not an AC guy. I just want some opinions on people that are knowledgeable than me about doing this work and the pricing. TIA!

This is really hard with such limited details.
Any chance you can get hi and lo pressures from him at 1500 RPM?
Feel under the dash and with your hand compare the temp of the pipe going into the evaporator and the pipe out. They both should be about the same temp and cold. You will want to get your hand on the pipe as close as possible to the actual evap.
At the very least, using a reasonably accurate thermometer, run the engine at 1500 RPM and report back the temp out the center vent. Even for a non-AC guy this should be easy enough to do. Also report the ambient at that time.

This would be an ideal thermometer to use, and only $7.17 cost

https://www.amazon.com/Supco-ST02-Stain ... 273&sr=8-5

Frankly, if the compressor failed, the condenser should have been changed at the same time, because the resulting debris from a failed comp would have loaded the condenser up with metal fragments, which will eventually travel in the system and clog the expansion valve and eventually cause the new comp to fail as well

Is this system still R-12 or was it converted to R-134a?

R134

Converted to 134A

It sounds like this is a good shop giving you excellent service at a reasonable price.

R-12 to R-134a conversions like this one can use all the help they can get. Exchanging the original tube-and-fin condenser for a parallel-flow type is great advice, and not only will improve condensing efficiency but also cabin cooling to some extent.

Regardless of the reason for replacing the compressor, changing the condenser, which is required by most compressor manufacturers anyway, will also lock-in the compressor's warranty.

As already suggested, pick up a good thermometer so that you can keep tabs on the vent temperatures.