Air conditioning

[mckenzig]

Our ST162 Celica has the factory air conditioning unit fitted and it appears in good condition.
This unit uses R12 gas and as this is not available what do i have to do to change this unit to the later gas?

[2jzhilux]

You are supposed to change all the o rings in the system to r134a ones and drain the compressor oil and refill it with r134a oil and put some adapters on the lines.
But my last few personal cars ive had i have degassed the car and put r134a straight in using the adapters and they work fine .
If you do any work on it remember to replace your reciever drier

[Talasas]

He's got it pretty much spot on there. The real pain cost wise will be replacing the oil in the compressor. You *could* dismantle it yourself but the front seals on some of those Denso units require a special tool to be replaced and good luck trying to source one. I'm also not sure but you may need R134a type gaskets for the compressor as well, they're not that pricey if you buy the from the USA (~$40).

Otherwise you can get a "pro" to do the job but they like to charge an arm and a leg, ahh the good old AC industry, they've got the perfect monopoly going.

[briney]

in addition it doesn't hurt to add some ester oil to the mix ( ROC68,etc. ) about 100mL should be fine. no, the o rings don't have to be changed. some cars have trouble with the condensor being a bit small. and yes, a new receiver drier is essential.

[Dale]

Yep just the adapters, new receiver drier, compressor oil... for something so simple r134a "conversion" aren't cheap

Take it to someone who will test the system for you first (cost me $30 to get the system in mine, they waived it if I got the conversion done by them though)