Im trying to figure out why my AC wont blow cold in my E36 so I went and bought some cans of R134 thinking I could just see if it was low on refrigerant. I popped the hood to locate the AC fittings but was dumbfounded when I realized that it uses R12. Quick phone call to autozone told me that you cant buy R12 anymore? Why is that? What can I do to regain my AC without doing a ghetto retrofit (If its even possible)?
because its a CFC that eats the ozone layer. r12 is no longer produced, they just recycle it and you CAN get your system recharged with it, but at a high price.
A retrofit will be seals only. Pretty basic from what I understand. 134A has been used over here for a long time now.
Just change the service fittings, good idea to replace the drier bottle, evacuate the system for about 45 minutes and charge up with 134, but multiply your R12 system capacity x .8 for the correct about of 134.
Just get a cheapy refit kit, as long as it isn’t leaking freon it will work. 01audiS4 did it to his supra using one of those cheapy kits with the tiny cans, worked rather well.
I just retrofitted my 84 Supra with a cheap auto parts store kit the other day. Blows nice and cold 
because R34 is stupid expensive a pound
Yes, this is the CORRECT way to do it.
Anything less won’t give you great results.
You really want to vacuum the system down then refill it to proper spec.
And of course, R134a is going to be phased out soon - just like R12 was.
what are they replacing it with.
be warned that r134 molecules are smaller then r12 molecules. so something that WASNT a leak w/ r12 will probably be a leak w/ r134 (hoses that arent in great condition, fittings that are starting to corrode, ect)
but on the plus side, r134 retrofit kits already have a leak sealing substance in them, so any small leks will be plugged, its just the big ones that will screw you
since the e36 was produced 1991-1999, and r12 was banned by 1995, you maybe very well be able to easily replace any shitty r12 parts with factory r134 parts with little effort… as long as bwm didnt go crazy redesigning the system for r134
R134a ha about 10 more years of shelf life in the automotive field, they they are probably going with something like puiron.
I was told that if a car uses R12 stock, switching to R134 will damage the AC compressor and you will be SOL in a matter of months. Truth?
google says most e36’s came with r134compatable compressors
what year is your car ?
I went out and bought a cheap AC retrofit kit to change from R12 to R134 but I cant seem to figure out what is going on with my stock fittings. Took this picture last night of how that car was when I bought it.
What did the PO do? How do I retro the new kit in?
ANY help would be great!! It was 101 down here yesterday so I need AC ASAP
Another thing to remember is that R134 in a R12 system will never work as well as it originally did. R134 is not as efficient as R12.
There are hundreds of other refrigerants you can use. My dad got all hopped up on this one time, driving around with a thermometer in his vents seeing how cold he could get it to blow… frigging engineers.
One of my buddies brought me some stuff called freeze12 to use on his car which is supposed to be ok to use now on R12 cars that don’t want to do the retrofit.
i bought the changeover kit for my vigor years ago from napa. it was maybe 40 bucks and worked very well.
i just rippid the a/c out of my old car cuz it was r12 and didnt blow cold.
Not sure what the problem is. That’s a stock R12 service valve on the low-pressure side of the system, and a sight glass on the high-side, just as it should be. Get yourself an adapter to screw onto your low side. If you’re not going to evacuate the system, the you’ll need to have to car running while filling the system.