Hey guys. I bought my 240d over a year ago with a rebuilt ac compressor and a system that was leaky. After driving all over town getting opinions I settled on an independent shop that quoted $300 for changing the compressor to drier hose and recharging with r12. This included new o-rings and a new drier. Everyone else in Charlotte wanted $800 to start with. The bill came in at around $700 and I know that the drier was not changed by looking at it. That was 5/01 and the system is down again according the the fog in the drier glass though it is still cooling. I have 3 cans of r12 from moons ago and the leak appears to be around the return hose the goes from the expansion valve back toward the compressor. I am nowhere near the mechanic that some of you guys are but I have added r12 to systems before and observed a system being evacuated. Question is; should I try to rent a vacuum, try to find this hose (unable to find that name of hose in Fast Lane) and give a go at this or write a blank check to another mechanic and hope that they do me right?

As a side point, I was looking through old AC threads and noticed that newer 300's can have an under dash exchange leak problem that can cost upwards of $2500 to fix. I broke out in a warm sweat as newer 300d WAS my next dream car.

I wrote about diagnosing, repairs, and other info regarding A/C systems. Look for a reply I made in the Tech Forum entitled "are the aux fans related to a/c charge?" dated 9-15-2001. The info contained in that thread will provide some useful info that you can use to help you with your problem.

Good Luck!
Tom

__________________
America: Land of the Free!

1977 300D: 300,000+ miles

American Honda: Factory Trained Technician & Honor Grad.
Formerly:
Shop Foreman;
Technical Advisor to Am. Honda;
Supervisor of Maintenance largest tree care co. in US for offices in Tex.

You might want to consider converting to the newer (and far cheaper) refrigerant, I think it's 134A. I recently had a good, local radiator and A/C shop do the conversion, they charged $135 for everything. I can't tell the difference in cooling so it seems to work just fine. The R12 is just going to continue to be a problem so I'd just get rid of it and save money in the longer run.

__________________
LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

Living in Charlotte I would NOT recommend converting a 123 car to r134a. You will not have adequate cooling capacity for the summer.

I would not waste your precious R12(I've heard as high as $80 per pound for it now) without fixing the leak first. Usually the most difficult part of fixing a leak is finding it first. Replace the hose or whatever you need to do, then evacuate and recharge. Don't forget to replace the filter/drier this time.

Good luck,