This past Monday, the guy at the auto parts that does most of the auto a/c parts sales in our area said that 134 prices were going as high as 4X the current price. He offered me a 30 pound jug for $289. My Dad uses a good bit of it, so I called and told him about it.

Also on Monday, I made a point of looking at the can price at Wal Mart. It was $6.16. Today my Dad called and said they were getting $11 per can at AutoZone. I was at Wally World again today, so I rechecked the price and it was up to $7.78.

I don't know if the price will stay up permanently, but if you need some, you better get it now.

Good luck,

Larry:

Following your last thread, I've been checking at various places because I go through a bunch of it (leaks in various cars).
Some guys are just saying 'supply and demand'. Nobody has been able to confirm or deny what you heard about it being discontinued.
Autozone in Grand Rapids, MI wanted $13 for a can.

Glad I bought a case of them last year at $4

Don

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

we just bought 4 pallets of 30# at work. price was $200/keg. our parts manager is expecting it to hit around $375 before the summer is out. DuPont stock must be down, time to make some more money !

most of the other mechanics at work are using freeze 12 outside of the shop with great results.

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____________________________________________
74 240D rolling restoration, daily driver
ASE Master Truck Technician
I enjoy my work so much I had to buy a diesel to play with !

Yes, that's all we need, it was bad enough when so many people were using junk refrigerants in R12 systems, now they'll be in the 134 systems as well.

Up 'til now, I didn't have to worry too much about recovering 134, because it was always 134 in the systems. I had to be careful when recovering 12, because who knows what was in the system.

Most of these Mavericks out there that are throwing all this junk in the system, RARELY put on the correct fittings, which by the way is a violation of Federal law. THEN they bring the car, or someone else brings the car to a shop for service. If the incorrect refrigerant gets recovered, it contaminates the ENTIRE container of refrigerant.

The shops typically have a 12 and a 134 recovery/recycle machine and that's all. They rarely have a machine for all the various junk refrigerants. This means that they can not legally service these systems, and most will not due to the extreme penalties that they potentially face. Who can blame them.

PLEASE use the correct refrigerant in your car, or AT THE VERY LEAST, install the correct fittings so that the guys at the shop that are working hard to put food on the table and shoes on the baby, just like everyone else, have a chance.

Have a great day,

I had to get some electrical connectors yesterday from the local parts store... it was just under $11/can for the 134A here.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Does this mean that R134a is going to be more expensive than R12? I'm not too worried about R134a since only one of our cars use it. The rest are on R12. I even have a couple of the small cans of R12. I bought them back when you could still buy it at your local parts supply but I've never needed to used them. I'm holding on to them like gold.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

R12 prices are coming down. I bought a 30 pound jug about a month ago, delivered to my door for $425 total cost.

I fully expect that 134 will equal or exceed the 12 price by the end of the summer.

BTW, it's driving me crazy that I can't change the title of this thread. I misspelled sight in the title and I haven't been able to edit it.

Have a great day,

How many cans of 134 are needed for an SDL? Pardon the dumb questions,but if the system needs recharging,how many cans are needed?Is it more cans equal colder air??

db,

There is no way to know how many it will take to fill it back up, but if it is empty, it probably will take about 2.5 or 3 pounds. The cans are 12 oz. each so they are only 3/4 of a pound. Thus, you might need as many as four cans.

All that said, if it is low or empty, there is a leak. If you have not already located and repaired the leak, make one of those cans of 134 a UV dye can. You can get these at Wal Mart or most anywhere that has alot of 134 stuff. Then when it leaks back out, you can use yellow glasses and a black light to find the leak.

Good luck,

Larry...always a genurous source of information...thanks.

I doubt it will approach anywhere near R-12 prices this year. My storeroom supplier told me the prices have been leveling off the last couple weeks and they're not expecting it to climb much more in the near term.

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85 300CD
83 300TD
78 240D (daughter)

I guess it depends on what you call "anywhere near." I just paid $425 for 30 pounds of R12 and just got a really good deal on 30 pounds of l34 at $313. That's not too far apart.

R12 prices are coming down and 134 prices going up. It doesn't seem to be beyond the realm of possibility for them to equalize this year or next.

Have a great day,

If the price of R12 and R134a equalizes, I expect people to start buying up R12 again (why use 134a if they are the same price?). I think I will stock up on R12 now before it's all gone.

-David

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-Dave

Last year (March to November) the r134 price at Wallyworld was a whopping $3.64 per 12 ounce can.

My 560 had its AC converted in California to something called "Freeze 12". Can anyone tell me something about this? Is it bad? Did a search and found nothing to tell me any oppinions on this substance.