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#1
03-26-2008, 01:23 PM
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Aftermarket A/C
Hi
I am trying to fix my father-in-laws A/C on he's euro 1984 300D, The system is after market,i guess it was added when brought to the USA. I have resealed the system and charged it. It holds good. it was originally a R-12 but the PO changed it to R-134a.The problem is it sucks. it hardly cools, the expansion valve (also changed) does not even get cold.I know R134a is not as good as R-12,but compared to my 79 300D(R134a) he's car is sad. My question is would a new compressor help?.A Sanden SD508 is what he has,looks like its been on the car since the installation. The low side pressure is about 50-60 psi to get any cooling, the high side is not much more than that(what should it be). I am also going to stick with R-134a R12 is just too expensive. Thanks in advance.
__________________
1979 300D. 
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#2
03-26-2008, 01:30 PM
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The AC is aftermarket only in a strange way.... all ours are that way... some kind of trade agreements at the time caused to be done that way.... you can tell because we all have US threads on the AC system...and even the German FSM shows the US threads .... so they knew it was going to be that way..
If you factor in everything you may find that your impression of the cost of R12 is not correct...since you have an AC preformance complaint sticking to R134a may make it harder to bring his car into ' approval' status. There are a lot of threads in the archives about fixing AC systems.... You are lucky that you have the Sanden instead of the Delco.... so you are one step up there...even if you have to replace it you are just dealing with a better design... What tools do you have ? What kind of DIY experience do you have ? Greg
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#3
03-26-2008, 01:32 PM
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I wouldn't spend much money tying to "fix" a R-134a system in LA. The R-12 charge is probably only $150, you are going to spend a lot more than that on replacing components. Somehow, AC work always ends up costing $1000 anyway.
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#4
03-26-2008, 01:34 PM
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Quote:
 Thanks
__________________
1979 300D.
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#5
03-26-2008, 01:35 PM
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What kind of vacuum pump do you have ?
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#6
03-26-2008, 01:42 PM
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Back to your original question..
a new compressor will probably not be what is causing your problems... LOTS of other things which are more likely to be wrong or in need of service causing the lack of performance... UNLESS you are getting squealing from the AC belt and it won't turn by hand...
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#7
03-26-2008, 01:54 PM
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Quote:
Thanks
__________________
1979 300D.
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#8
03-26-2008, 02:07 PM
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" close match"... we need more information about that... expand upon that description of your matching operation...
What brand and type and size vacuum pump did you get ? A wrong expansion valve could certainly cause this...but I would find it most amazing if you were able to find and install a wrong one...
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#9
03-26-2008, 03:11 PM
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I have a 1984 euro 240d that came with an aftermarket ac system, probably the same one that is on your father in law's car. I ended up having to go through and replace everything to make it work well. You can buy a brand new sanden 508 compressor on ebay for around $125. You can also buy r12 on ebay for about $25 bucks a can if you have your r12 certificate. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a system with 134. I live in phoenix and have driven 123 diesels charged with 134, freeze 12 and r12. The r12 definetely works the best.
__________________
Bob Jenkins
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#10
03-26-2008, 04:19 PM
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Sometimes taking the system all the way down and making sure everything is as good as you can make it is the least work , trouble and cost in the long run...
But it is hard to see that sometimes... In some cases doing it again will mean replacing some of the new parts you have installed...and of course all your labor from the first attempts is gone... hopefully the knowledge of how to do it will be around for the next run at it....
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