A/C Refrigerant/Freon Differences?? - Honda Prelude Forum

Paperchasin · 05-31-2007, 11:06 AM

I rode in my friends 92 SI yesterday and that thing was blowing out some COLD air conditioning almost right after he turned it on. I have a 95 VTEC and my A/C isn't nearly as cold and it takes ALOT longer to cool. I recently had my A/C serviced as well. Can anyone confirm if there was a change in refrigerant used between the 4th gen years? Maybe I just have a leak in my system or my compressors bad?

05-31-2007, 11:21 AM

Nope, you should be the same as him and use r134a. A/C systems are picky. They need to have the right amount of coolant to be efficient. More or less will just make it not work as good as it should.

You probably have a leak. When you had it serviced you should have had them do the uv dye, and it will show your leak. You can also just do it yourself. The process is very easy. Hell I just taught my mom how to do it this past weekend on her civic.

Year to year you can do it yourself, but every so often it is good to have it serviced. they suck all the old out, check for leaks, and fill it up to the exact amount needed.

ludehawk · 05-31-2007, 11:38 AM

wrong

92 = r12.
r12 cools better =D

05-31-2007, 11:49 AM

Hmm, odd. I have yet to see a 4th gen with r12. I must not have seen many 92s then :O Oh well, you're r134 so don't worry about it.

On another note, possible to swap stuff out so you can use r12? Is it that hard to get a hold of these days? I need all the cooling I can get...

petern101 · 05-31-2007, 12:29 PM

^first off, i think thats illegal unless your car came with it

and my dad told me once you go r134, you can't ever go back

r134 is few bucks per bottle, r12 is like 60 bux per bottle

05-31-2007, 12:47 PM

I figured it wasn't legal. But I mean, who cares. I don't have any emissions testing or anything here...

I would think its a part of the car, therefore its swappable, but who knows.

And I would pay the 60 bucks if it was worth it.

sean1121 · 05-31-2007, 01:26 PM

You could switch to R12, but you'd have to swap the ENTIRE A/C system. Plus, only certified techs can buy/handle R12, plus they may not touch it if they find out its been converted from R-134a. Just food for thought...

petern101 · 05-31-2007, 01:28 PM

^wow i just noticed you sig'd me

i'm flattered

Paperchasin · 05-31-2007, 01:59 PM

thanks for the input guys...
i know that the older stuff is being weeded out due to its environmental hazards and once the supply of the old stuff is gone, it'll be gone forever...so if you are wanting to switch to the older stuff, you might have to go through the trouble of switching back a few years down the line...

sean1121 · 05-31-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petern101

^wow i just noticed you sig'd me

i'm flattered

You got it! I had to, its so true!

red92s · 06-01-2007, 06:53 AM

My 92 is . . .errrrr, was . . . R12. R12 is a better refrigerant, but you need a license to deal with it. You can buy cans on Ebay, but will need to provide your license info at auction close. It's also very expensive.

H22_PWR · 06-11-2007, 10:38 AM

IMOP it seems like its too much truble to swith to r12. The only thing that makes me think this way is the problem with obtaining the r12 coolant. I would recomend to check for leaks and recharge it if needed. I have 94 and the AC was not bad at all. Just make sure everything is running ok. Thats only an opinion.

red92si · 06-11-2007, 06:44 PM

My 92 still has R12 in it. I haven't serviced the A/C since I bought it in '99. Mostly because I never use the air conditioning. I haven't had it on in at least 2.5 years.

GroundZero112 · 06-11-2007, 06:49 PM

^ are you sure it still works? beccause thats what I did, stopped using it for about a year and then summer came, and it didn't blow nearly as cold as before.

red92si · 06-11-2007, 11:18 PM

I actually turned it on two days ago just to see if it still works and it was cold as ever in about 10 seconds. Then I turned it off. It was the first time I had tried it out since I stopped using A/C.