While I've been saving up money for my future Cutlass I've been perusing craigslist to get an idea of prices. I've noticed that a lot of cars I see have the AC and sometimes the heat disconnected, why is this? Does it make the car run poorly? I ride a motorcycle all the time so for me one of the biggest benefits of a car is that it comes with it's own climate control so I don't know why anyone would want to get rid of that!

Thanks

Ben

 

Because if the heater or AC quits working they don't want to spend the money to fix it. If in a warmer climate as you are, then they don't care about heat. The AC which is desireable in a warm climate like yours is at least a $1000 to repair/replace, so they don't want the expense. When you see a car that is for sale, that has AC, and they say "needs charging", what it really means is that it won't hold a charge of freon, and be prepared to spend bucks to get it repaired.

 

Why is it so expensive to get the AC repaired? Is it a lot in parts or a lot in labor or a lot in both?

Ben

 

A/C parts, R12, and especially knowledgable labor are very costly and then there all the mightaswells. If it leaked out, there is a reason. Many convert over to R134, which means new hoses, recalibrate POA / STV, new drier, etc.
Many modern mechanics do not know much about the old systems also (at least in the dallas area)

Many people remove the A/C units to lose weight, if they plan to race the car.
In TX, it is more of a life support system, esp. for those with a fixed roof.

My system leaked out its R12, so I plan to have the whole system rebuilt and or checked out so hopefully it will be reliable for many years to come.

 

Both, I have about $400 in parts, and I was quoted $450 to replace the old with my new parts.

 

Ah awesome, thanks for all the info everyone One more question: How difficult is it to do all the labor yourself on a scale of 1 to 10? 1 being like changing your oil, and 10 being rebuilding an engine?

Ben

 

I would saw a 5 or maybe 6 if the heaterbox and all needs to come out. Of course I never rebuilt an engine...
I plan to do all my A/C labor myself.

BTW, you should change your avitar to a non-eating one. I feel hungry every time I see it.

 

Those tamales were pretty tasty!

If you lived near by I'd offer to lend a hand just to gain some experience, but texas is a bit far for me :P Let us know how the replacement goes.

Ben

 

I retrofitted the R12 unit on my 1990 Buick Estate Wagon to R134a. It wasn't that hard to do. The only 2 things that are difficult to come by are the manifold gauges and vacuum pump. I think you can rent R134a manifold gauges from most auto parts stores. The vacuum pump is another story.

FWIW, converting an R12 system to R134a will work fine but you aren't going to get super-efficient cooling from it. The R134a doesn't cool as well when put into an R12 system. I've heard you can compensate for this by putting in an oversized evaporator and condensor.

Some day over the rainbow I plan on redoing the AC in my 71 98. I think the surest bet is to get a BeCool or other aftermarket system. The old R12 compressors are just too big and the old suction throttling valve system is inefficient IMHO when compared to an orifice tube.

 

Converting an R12 system to R134a does not take new hoses, POA recal, etc. On my 71 Cutlass, all I needed was a schrader valve since the system already had r134a oil...total cost on my car, including labor was $35.