Hi there,

This is my first post on the forum but I just went through what you are looking at in my 2001 8.1L 2500 Burby. Symptoms were exactly like yours. I took it in several times over the last year both indie and dealerships and $2800 later I had basically all new hardware in the vehicle including controller board and it was maintaining a full charge of R134a. The only thing know for sure was that light on the dash would blink and then shut off.

The shop foreman of my local dealership kept the truck for a week and isolated the problem to a harness issue where a powered line in the vehicle had developed a cut in the line and was grounding itself out. I'm not sure if it was directly tied to the AC harness or one going somewhere else in the vehicle, but it would make the controller think it wasn't getting enough voltage and turn itself off.

After repairing the harness, I have had no issues whatsover with the AC. It blows nice and cold at any temperature.

I hope that helps. I don't know if it could be an issue for you, but it was for me and I finally have a fix. Chasing the AC issues were really a pain in the neck for me.

Thanks,

Bill P.

 

wmhpickering welcome to the forum

 

I don't think RACERX Knows what he has running thru his a/c system. R12a is a hydrocarbon, it comes from the same family a propane and butane. Why on earth would you want an extremely FLAMMABLE gas pumping thru your a/c system. Don't endanger yourself or others use the proper refrigerant. RACERX should not be telling people to use R12a.

 

I know exactly what it is. It is butane based propellant, I said it was a Hydrocarbon and NOT a ChloroFlorocarbon as R-134a is. And it is only extremely FLAMMABLE IF the system is punctured AND exposed to FLAME. ALL A/C systems are sealed so under normal circumstances they should NEVER be exposed to open Flame. Speaking of which IF a CFC system is exposed and ignited not only is it flammable it is poisonous since Chlorine and Flourine are both halogen gases.

This refrigerant isnt made in someone's basement. It is made in a factory under DEP specifications like the rest of them are. I bought mine from a factory in Michigan. And since we have arrived at this point. Ask yourself HOW safe is R-134a? Is it any safer to the environment than R-12? They used R-12 for 40 years before they determined it isnt safe for the Ozone player then DuPont invents the replacement R-134a. Great, but just like prescription drugs for ADHD, no one knows what the long term effects of R-134a are. Next year will be the 20th year of R-134a.

R-12a uses less refrigerant in the system. 1/3 of a R-12 system and 1/2 of a R-134a system. So even if your system did have a leak in it, it would leak out slower because the system operates at a lower pressure and it is a larger molecule so there is seldom any leaks past the vinyl or nitrile seals, especially if you use the 2 ounce seal conditioner. And speaking of leak detection also may I add that you can detect for leaks if you use 12a using the old fashion tailpipe sniffer that they use in many states for the inspection scam.

In the end, it is your car and you can use what you want. I bought a case of R-12a and I put it in 3 cars and they run cold. But the gasoline is more inherently dangerous if flammability is a major concern than is R-12a.

 

evens906... your post reads amazing similar to this one from a honda forum from 3 years ago...are you one in the same ? just asking.....

 

The whole R12, R22, etc were bad for the ozone layer was a hoax. The hole opens and closes in a cyclic nature synched w/ the sun. They took the data when the hole was growing and said "OH MY, THE SKY IS FALLING" and did away w/ the stuff that worked. Probably the same group that argued that the next Ice Age was coming back in the 70s and now argues that we're about to burn up.

Just heard that they are planning to replace R134a. Guess Dupont needed more profit.

 

The ozone layer maybe a hoax, and the hole open up and what not, but does R12A react with the different a/c system oils? Does it corrode the a/c lines? Does it brake down the O-rings? If the manufacture recommend R134A why not use R134A? My god are we that dumb, that we have to use a flammable refrigerant to save a couple of dollars? Lets think safety here, use what is recommended by the manufacture.

 

Granted some of that stuff could be a ruse. I remember being in the 3rd grade when my friends father who was a science teacher was all on that "we are headed towards the next ice age" and then 10 years later it was "the beginning of global warming", who knew?

But in any event, R-12a is biodegradable being a compound derived from butane(C4H10) than compared with any of the DuPont or Dow Chemical or Union Carbide recipes using Chloro-flouro-carbons. Plus, US Patent Law specifies you cannot put a patent on any naturally derived concoctions.

I put this R-12a in my G van and I took it to PepBoys last year when it was like one of those 90 degree days and when I got there a huge hunk of ice fell off the neck for the evaporator. That was an awesome heat transfer. You would expect icing up on the evaporator at the orifice tube and lack of cold air flow in the car but that didnt happen at all. The only real problem is the van wasnt built with rear AC but rear heat so it takes all year for the whole thing to chill.

In my Suburban I had to use 4 cans because of the rear AC unit also. Max cold requires I turn on the rear unit to get continuous clutch cycling. Same system in a pickup so I figure they designed it to cool the cubic footage in a 2door cab solely and then extra vents in the wagon versions. *Likewise but opposite the van, this was built with rear AC but not rear heat so in the winter time it takes a while for the windows to defrost in the rear.

The 3rd car I did was a Grand Cherokee a couple of weeks ago when we had a hot spell for a few days. 2.5 cans and I got it down to 50 degrees at the vent.

Now all I need is some real hot days to make use of it.

 

R-12a is miscible with ALL refrigerant oils. It cannot break down nor decompose O-rings because it is an organic compound. Furthermore ALL A/C systems use only 2 types of O-rings. The vinyl seals which are green and/or the nitrile ones which are blue. Those seals were specified for inorganic compounds like R-12 and R-134a. Corrosion of A/C lines? I have never heard of that nor seen it, post a picture to show me what it looks like. In my experience with Volvos and Chryslers it is the evaporator that fails. In Fords it has been the seals on the hoses. On Mitsubishi it is the compressor(because these idiots put it in on the bottom of the engine and when you lose the splash guard it always gets wet when you run through water).

You can complain about how flammable it is but like I said it is a sealed system. You should be more concerned about how flammable brake fluid is if it touches a shorted wire harness or exhaust manifold or how flammable gasoline is if the fuel line isnt put on tightly or how flammable a plastic bag can be if it melts on the catalytic converter. All of these are examples I have seen when a car has burnt up. As a matter of fact I was driving a Ford Super Duty F-450 5-ton dually bus (20ft) in December and that damn thing burst into flames on me. NO LIE!!! Apparently the rear heater shorted out an electrical panel behind the dash and I am sitting there watching black smoke come out from the dash at the bottom of the windshield. I called the fire department and when they got there the entire drivers area was burning. This bus was less than 1 year old with only 45,000 miles on it. Scary. But it wasnt R-12a that caused that.

I dont think alternate sources are dumb....unless you work for the R-134a Trade Association?

What is recommended by the manufacturer is sometimes nuts. Ford wants you to replace the entire control arm instead of just replacing the ball joint. Cadillac wanted you to replace the entire engine if you had a Northstar instead of doing a head gasket job(WHICH IS WHY YOU SEE SOOOOOOO MANY OF THESE 1995-2005 CADILLACS IN THE JUNKYARD).

 

Sitting on 23+ gallons of a liquid that is intentionally designed to be as extremely flammable as possible, it's contained in a plastic container that itself is flammable when heated... the few pounds of Freon in the A/C system that may be flammable at high temps and is contained in more metal then my fuel, is the least we should be worried about....

Oops I think we got a bit off topic, sorry OP'er