240D AC worth fixing?

[Überlandung Geländewagen]

Hey all,

For as long as I've owned my 240D the air conditioning has never worked. I used to work at the beach over summer which made it tolerable, but last summer was almost unbearable, especially because I have no tinted windows, and I don't plan on tinting them because I'm not a fan of the look. Anyways, a new condenser and switching to 134a can be pretty pricey, and am wondering if it's worth the money, and roughly how much did it cost? A friend of mine had a 300D a while back and the ac system sucked, but don't know if he had the "new" conversion. I wouldn't want to sink a lot of money into a lackluster system.

[Sugar Bear]

Do you know why it doesn't work and which compressor do you have York or GM R4? Had the system been left sitting unsealed for any length of time?

[JHZR2]

You need to know what’s the matter. Could be just one bad o-ring, or could be the evaporator.

The one thing that would condemn all but the best vehicles is a bad evaporator. Anything else is pretty serviceable.

[Überlandung Geländewagen]

System appears to be sealed, I haven't tampered with it but unsure about any previous owners. Looks like the it is a GM R4.

[Sugar Bear]

What is you goal, how nice is the car? If budget allows and the car is a keeper pressure test the system with nitrogen, if it holds pressure replace the drier, evacuate and re-charge with R12. If it needs a compressor I'd replace the R4 with something else e.g., a Sanden.

Good luck!!!

[Benzadream]

What "Sugar Bear" said x's 100. The best (most inexpensive) you can hope for is IF the system is tight, you might get away with a filter drier and recharge.
You dont necessarily need a new condenser to make the 134a switch.
At any rate, once you start swapping components, etc, the price is gonna spiral up quickly.
Also, sounds like you might need to have the work done as opposed to DIY? Hard to keep costs down if that's the case.
Another thing to consider, (if your system is tight and leak free), is to go with R12 as it was originally designed. It'll cool much better than 134a ever will. Yes, it's a much more expensive refrigerant, but there's no comparison to its cooling ability.
BTW, if your car had ac from the factory, your windows should be tinted. Granted, it's slight, but better than clear glass.
As usual, no easy answers.

[JHZR2]

I agree on going with r-12. For a DIY person, leak checking can be tough. You might want to start with using a HC refrigerant for testing, find and repair leaks, then do the rest of the job. I used this approach along with some UV dye in my 300CD and had great success in finding where the issues were. In mine it was in the expansion valve.

If it’s an evaporator unfortunately you’ll need to think long and hard about the job since it’s very involved and things may never be the same after.

[BillGrissom]

I use Duracool HC refrigerant and their PAO 68 oil in all my cars, incl 1984 & 85 300D w/ R4 compressor. I re-rubbered with barrier hose. HC works with mineral oil, so is drop-in replacement for R-12 and even works slightly better. Ignore the EPA's "must first convert to R-134A" rule, apparently a concession to AC shops. Idiots claim "explosive", but they didn't study engineering combustion like me. Never a fire reported in millions of cars.

[vwnate1]

Yes, it's certainly worth it and depending on how handy you are with simple hand tools and following instructions YOU CAN DO THIS ! .

Many here are well experienced Mechanics or DIY'ers and so enjoy dumping $2,000 (+/-) into it know they'll be successful .

As mentioned first you need to know what typ of charge it has currently then add some correct gas and test the system, a fellow person here hipped me to a $20 electronic leak detector and I found the leak in 5 minutes flat .

As long as the blower works you should be able to resurrect the system, I suggest not using R134a, it's okay but not as good as R12 or the stuff Bill suggested .

Give it a whirl, begin now and by next Spring when it gets seriously hot you'll drive in comfort .

[Überlandung Geländewagen]

Right on thanks everyone. Car is a keeper for sure so I don't mind putting a little money into it. I'll definitely check out the duracool and see if I can possibly knock this thing out myself