Thanks Surf.
Yes, the car is exceptionally clean and has just broke 65,000 mile in our care.
No service records tho..:confused:
We paid $3000 for it a few weeks ago, so we are very happy!
You can find the story if you look at my posts.

I am a little bit surprised that it is 134... My Suburban was converted and has stickers everywhere!

I dont know Mike.... It looks like a screw on piece a bit....

My concern as well. As nice as it looks you would think the previous owner was a stickler for details. Therfore, making sure the stickers were in place or at least records in the glove box.

I have never done this, but possibly there is a way through carfax or local DMV to identify the previous owner. Assuming you bought this from a dealer. Then you can trace down, PO willing, what has been done to the car.

Her is a better pic of the upper hose...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rACupClose.jpg

And here is a pic of the lower...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...MerAClwerE.jpg

Both look like screw on fittings, but maybe thats the way they are made?

Bought from a private owner... no records... we are the 4th owners.
Carfax came up clear and accurate for milage.
I will email the previous and see what I can chase down!

Confirm that is is R134a.
Today we vacuumed it for 20 mins... and it held seal. The tech says the was nothing much in the system... I guess we will see...
We put in 0.93KG of R134a... that is 80% of the 1.1KG of R12 specced for a 124 chassis.
We started her up hit the AC button and the Compressor kicked in as did the Aux fan.... Wow!
We seem to have another problem as the side vents and defrost vent blew hot for a min. But then the center vents began to cool and we have cold air coming from them!!!!!
Yeah!!!!!
I fiddled with the controls, and after a min or two I heard a pop from behind the dash and the defrost vent closed and the side vents began to blow cold too!

So we have A/C!

I will have to test the vac pods, system, and monovalve for issues now we have A/C!

Just in the nick fo time....

Yeah!
Hey LGB.... the total cost for us so far is about $160 for plugs, and OVP.... fuel filter, and vacuum hoses are still in the box, and I hope to do them this weekend for him..... if he is ever home!
I am lucky to have access to a A/C pump and a supply of 134a.... so the recharge will cost me nothing except buying lunch for the Tech!

a/c
 

hold up guys.the manifold hose set is a common leaker and therefore a common replacement.PROBLEM the only new sets of hoses available for THE LAST 3 YEARS have had 134a fitting on suction hose.you had better check the discharge fitting for a better clue as to whether it was converted. david poole european performance dallas tx.

The suggestion to take it to an independent MB shop equipped to do A/C is a good one. There is no tellin what's in that system. It could be propane which is highly explosive. The first thing the shop should do is take out their $200 sealant tester. This unit will check to see if some idiot put a sealant in the system that will destroy his $3500 A/C machine. The he should run a sample of the gas through his $500 refrigerent identifier so he knows to put the stuff in his R12 tank, his R134 tank, or his junk tank. He can then evacuate, charge and leak check once he knows what he is dealing with. That's the only way I'd do it

The discharge fitting?
What is that?
See my post #18 for photos of the 2 fittings... or did I miss something?
Why do I need to take it to an independant MB indie for this... surely an good A/C guy is knowlegable enough to vac and check and A/C system?

To answer your first question, it looks like a 134 fitting, but it could be for some other drop in replacement for R12. All drop ins like FRIGC, for example, are supossed to have their own distinctive fittings. To answer your second question, you could go to a mobile air shop, but you would pssibly miss an opportunity to learn more about your car at a Mercedes shop. Why are you afraid to take the car to an independent MB service facility?

I am sorry, but if you read my post again, I pointed out the two fittings that we can see... pic in post #18. Did you look at them Zen?

We are not "afraid" to go to a MB indie for something that we cannot handle or figure out, but this car is my sons, and cost is the problem... he is 17, still at High school and earning only $6-75 per hour at this time. Now he has a car he will be able to look for something better paid.

The Tech that recharged the system is not a MB A/C expert, but he works on cars for a living and charges and recharhges A/C systems all the time as part of that.... he suggested checking it and he offered to do it for free.... that seems like an offer we could not refuse... and now we have A/C.

Congrats. Hopefully it will continue to work. I did look at the fittings in the pic which is why it is hard to tell from a photo what type of refrigertent they are for. Mobile A/C service is way more complicated than stuffing a kilo of gas into a service port. You need to be sure what refrigerent is in the system. You need to evacuate the system for a period of time to remove all condensible gasses and moisture. You need to measure how much oil was removed during the process and add the same amount so the compressor doesn't grenade. After recharge you need to leak test the system with an electronic detector or dye. Finally you need to monitor high and low pressures after startup to be sure fans are working properly, expansion valve is functioning, etc. If the low side goes into a vacuum, you can grenade the compressor. If the high side gets up to around 400lbs, you can blow off the charge.