Very enlightened, let's pick on the disabled. :rolleyes:

You know what the whole problem is???? WE ARE SPOILED!!! When we were 16 years old getting our first car....who cared about A/C? Now we are older..I am 50... and I work in an air conditioned clinic. It is 68 to 70 degrees in here all day. Now I go outside and it is 92 degrees with 70% humidity and I expect my 23 year old Mercedes to cool me down to 68-70 degrees in the 11 miles I drive to get home. If I lived in a 3rd world nation and complained that my car is only blowing 50 degrees cold air on me, I think I'd be stoned.
Also, my other newer vehicles in our household will blow ice cubes. My daughter's 2000 Camry will blow 36 degrees all of the time. Our Honda Odyssey will blow 38 degrees. My 07 BMW 530i will blow 36 degrees. How do I know these things? Because I take my temp gauge from the vent in the Benz and like a fool I compare the temps in my other vehicles to my 23 year old converted Benz, expecting miracles from my car. Why don't I just drive the BMW every day?? I'm nuts!!! I just enjoy the big body Benz, and it's seats are more comfortable.
I guess reality will set in and by early June the Benz will take a 3 month rest in the garage and re-emerge when it cools off. I guess that's why it is 23 years old and only has 110,000 miles on it.

So in conclusion....we love our cars and we are all a little bit off

You're right, Brandlj. I didn't have a car with AC prior to 2004. I did ride a lot of miles though, both on motorcycles and bicycles.

Now, I don't want to live without it. That's why I insist on proper service. I want the system to keep cooling me for years to come.

By the way, try this link. Sums up what I think about the crap they sell at Auto Zone.
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22death+kit%22+ac

You are spreading misinformation, again. I won't get into a scientific diatribe with you because my goal is not to disprove you, people can look up the facts for themselves from reputable sources. Not the holy grail of a/c repair interdynadicks.:rolleyes:

Don't you realize that some people here just might do this for a living? It is entertainment, that's for sure. Sort of like listening to a teenager brag about his 400hp Mustang he built froom JC Whitey parts.

I smell a hippy. :cool:

The special olympics crack isn't funny, you should stick with the dungeon and dragon crowd, not a forum where some member have children with special needs. There is no excuse for you callous comment.

you're starting to sound like his own personal troll by following behind all his posts.

You might want to consider letting it go.

If the troll in question didn't follow a/c threads, ejaculating his opinion as absolute fact, then I wouldn't have anything to say.

Now it looks like his groupies are spewing support for him. Get real, if you did this stuff for a living, you would be livid.

-set to cold-

ohh yeaaaaaah its nice and cold in the SDL at idle

AC is cold? I get 14.1volts at idle. :P
Neither of my cars have A/C, Colorado isn't hot enough for me to bother getting them working. My 240 has a great heater and my 300D is a summer car so I pulled everything out and have only a $12 ebay blower for ventilation when I can't have the windows down.

Coming from an autistic childhood, I take complete offense.


There's no arguing going on, they're trying to prove to you that R12 runs circles around 134a anyday.

It is conclusive that R12 performs better in a w123 simply because the system was designed specifically and exclusively for R12.

R12 doesn't harm the environment when removed properly with a recovery machine. If that is what you are worried about think about how many people buy the 123a recharge kit at Walmart, use half the can, and empty the rest of the refrigerant into the air like nothing happened.

Why not just try propane for kicks.




W123's are just older systems that have their quirks. IMO the problem is the volumetric/pressure capacity of the compressor at idle. I notice a slow drop in temperature after being idle, it takes like 5 mins or so. I don't know the temperatures off hand but I'll check sometime tomorrow.

Honestly, I keep a slight foot on the gas idling for a while for some cold air :) (in neutral of course)

79 Mercy, sorry I jacked your thread with my opinions. Hope this helped.

Remember folks...
no matter how well the rest of the system is working you are going to have less cold air if you do not address the FINS ON THE EVAPORATOR....( UNDER YOUR DASH inside the car)
NOT easy to get to to clean... which is why most of our cars HAVE NEVER HAD THEM CLEANED... DWMorrison had a thread with great pictures of his project cleaning his...
Highly recommended procedure for all of us with 20 plus year old cars...

All things considered, if an AC system has no, or minimal leakage I prefer keeping an R!2 system on R12 whenever possible. Othewise, I'm not wasting my limited supply of R12.
In 1990, I cobbled together a "factory' AC for my '87 Isuzu pickup, using salvage-yard components, includina an oversized condenser from an '88 Trooper, some new bits including a new filter-drier, and R12. Cooled great and I had to add maybe 2 pounds in over 15 years.
My '84 Euro 300TD was cooling on R12 when I bought it, and is still coolng satisfactory after a year without any attention from me.
My tired 82 240D AC, converted to R134, without any component upgrades, is definitely inferior, but better tha nothing. I keep it parked in shade and almost never use the car in rush-hour traffic.
If I really need ccld AC, under severe conditions, I'll drive my 98 Altima.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Another important point to address. Im putting that on my to-do list.

Expansion valve is already messing up on mine, are they kind of in the same location?

Very close although I am not sure that helps any... the Txvalve is pretty much straight under/behind the glove box...and at the firewall.... and the Txvalve connects pretty directly to the evaporator...but enough over that a whole different set of access procedures are involved.
Be sure ( if you are able ) to take and share pictures and any problems encountered... the more different car types are sampled the better chance of getting people to address this really weak spot in the cooling circus.