Alex Pennace
August 13, 2006

Notes on Automotive Air Conditioning

The air conditioning in my 1989 Lincoln Town Car works fine. A 1990 Volvo 240 that I am frequently called to work with does not have a functioning air conditioner.

Refrigerant

The car has not been retrofitted to R-134a. I intend to instead retrofit it to R-406a.

Tools

On August 2, 2006, I won eBay auction 230013527869, an R-12/R-134a manifold gauge set. I cannot determine if the included fittings will fit an R-12 system, because I seem to be unable to find the high and low side fittings on this 1990 Volvo 240.

Retrofit Notes

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency mandates that each kind of automotive refrigerant has a unique set of hose connections in the car. This creates the situation where a can of R-12 cannot connect to an R-134a hose, or an R-12 hose cannot connect to an R-134a air conditioning system. When changing a system's refrigerant from one type to another, the fittings need to be changed.