I am not sure how to use the charging chart that was sent to me via that
link from George. I am thinking of pulling the entire system and blowing
out the lines and such with compressed air.

How do I know if there is too much oil or moisture in the system.

Strangely the outlet temp from the evap is only about 12C. My toyota which
came from factory with r134a cools down the 7C in the same exact conditions.

So what are the obvious signs of a stuck/closed expansion valve?

Does honda use expansion valve?

What temp are the lines supposed to be at?

How do I know if the receiver drier is starting to plug up?

Thanks

"George Macdonald" <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message
news:3mvdb0t1mj7ait0n830stv176nfvgkupst@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 28 May 2004 05:13:13 GMT, "Steve" <idontthinkso@pissoff.com>
wrote:
>
> >I have a 1992 honda civic that used the old school R12 refrigerant. My
> >brother a few years back did a motor swap on the car and of course
swapped
> >out the compressor for the a/c at the same time. The new compressor is
off
> >a brand new car so its r134a compliant. To get the a/c working again he
> >took the vehicle to a shop that supposedly changed out the seals and
> >evacuated and rechraged the system with r134a refrigerant.
> >
> >All was working well up until this spring when my a/c stopped working.
> >
> >I recharged the system with a set of brand new gauges and genuine virgin
> >r134a refrigerant. All was working well up until my curiousity uncovered
> >something quite interesting.
> >
> >My a/c blows about 10-12 degrees celsius which is acceptable for ambient
> >temp of about 20 degrees celsius. I decided to hook up a set of gauges
to
> >my car and found the readings to be quite off from what I think they
should
> >roughly be.
> >
> >The low side suction pressure is about 23-28 psi and the high side is at
a
> >crazy 250-260 psi! The line to the condensor is extremely hot which i
> >already know is not normal. The car cools reasonably well so I'm lost as
to
> >what could be wrong. According to my honda service manual a excessive
high
> >discharge line pressures and abnormally hot condenser lines indicates a
> >restricted refrigerant flow in the system.
> >
> >here are some observed items:
> >
> >1. the receiver drier is the original R12 receiver drier (the shop was
> >stupid enough not to change it out to comply with r134a)
> >2. There is a small refrigerant leak from the acme fitting on the low
side.
> >3. The discharge line into the condenser is insanely hot
> >4. The suction line is noticably cold
> >5. the receiver drier feels very warm to the touch and the line going to
> >the evaporator is also very warm to the touch.
> >6. The ambient temperature isn't hot enough to make the suction line to
> >sweat.
> >7. The high side pressure before starting the car is only at 90 psi. As
> >compressor run time increases the higher the pressure and the higher the
> >condenser line temps.
> >8. When the compressor cycles on and off the high side pressure can
> >fluctuate as much as 25-30 psi. When the compressor pumps the pressure
> >shoots up very fast and when it stops it drops fairly rapidly down about
> >20-30 psi before really coming to a stop. After the cycle starts over
again
> >with discharge pressures getting higher and higher.
> >9. I highly doub the system is overcharged b/c the low side pressures
are
> >so low.
> >10. The compressor i am using is brand new straight from honda.
> >
> >
> >With ambient temps on the cooler than average side and a discharge
pressure
> >so high I can only imagine what the end result would be when the ambient
> >temp shoots to over 30 degrees. My a/c would literally explode!
> >
> >I can't see how the system is restricted other than two places. The
> >expansion valve or the receiver drier.
> >
> >The expansion valve couldn't be stuck closed b/c I get a decent amount of
> >cooling
> >The expansion valve couldn't be stuck open b/c the evaporator doesn't
freeze
> >over
> >The receiver drier is the original r12 drier so that should be an obvious
> >sign of bad a/c retrofitting. I will change that out
> >
> >I was good at fixing R12 a/c systems in older cars but this retrofitted
> >civic is a tough one to figure out. I don't want to take it to honda and
> >spend 500 bucks to fix it when I have all the equipment to do it.
> >
> >Can someone tell me what the heck is wrong?
>
> I think you're probably on the right track with the receiver/dryer but
> while the system is open take a look at the oil which is lurking around at
> the fittings and in the receiver. Did the shop which did the conversion
> flush out the old R-12 petroleum-based lube? Which synthetic oil did they
> replace it with - I'd assume there'd be some lube left in the "new"
> compressor, likely PAG - but what did they add to bring the lubricant up
to
> the correct level?
>
> Take a look at the Forum at www.aircondition.com and search the msgs there
> for "black death". PAG oil is particularly hygroscopic and a mixture of
> moisture and old petroleum-based lubricant has led to the formation of a
> thick black sludge which plugs the A/C lines. If your low side gets to a
> low enough pressure and there is even a minor leak which allows moisture
to
> get sucked into the system, bad things can happen even with PAG only; add
> in some old R-12 lubricant and you get the "black death". I hope yours
> hasn't gotten that bad yet but putting in fresh PAG without changing out
> the old receiver/dryer, which probably had some moisture in it, was a
major
> blunder IMO.
>
> Rgds, George Macdonald
>
> "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who,
me??