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Do I need to switch back to mineral oil to use R12 or can I use ester

91ranger on Sat August 21, 2010 12:59 AM User is offline

Year: 1991
Make: Ford
Model: Ranger
Engine Size: 4.0
Refrigerant Type: R134A

I had a leak in my evaporator, and after the repair I converted it to r134a. Blows great moving, but doesn't cool worth a crap sitting still. I used ester oil with the retrofit after flushing the metal shavings from the discharge side first. Would you recommend flushing all the ester out, and going back to mineral oil, or evacuate the R134A, pull a hard vacuum and charge with R12 and keep it ester?

HECAT on Sat August 21, 2010 7:31 AM User is offline

After recovering the R134a, I would take the opportunity to do an inspection of internal cleanliness and oil quality. If it all looks good, you can button it up and charge R12 on the ester. If you see any concerning issues, flush again, make sure its good and dry, and refill with mineral oil.

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FLUSHING TECHNICAL PAPER vs2.pdf 

NickD on Sat August 21, 2010 8:02 AM User is offline

Back then when your Explorer was a lot newer, Ford was recommending a full firewall forward conversion for R-134a, they even offered a kit for some of their vehicles to do this. At your expense.

Just wanted you to know, you are not the first to have this kind of problem.

mk378 on Sat August 21, 2010 9:12 AM User is offline

Loss of cooling at idle could just be the fan clutch. If it's old or even the original one that came with the truck, try a new one, it would help with R-12 also. If you're still running the original FX-15 "black death" compressor, replace it with a FS-10 before it blows up.

91ranger on Sat August 21, 2010 1:38 PM User is offline

Thanks for that tip mk378. The compressor has been getting noisier the past year anyway. I just ordered a FS-10 from Autozone as you recommended and picked up 8 ounces of mineral oil at Napa as autozone didn't sell it. They still sell mineral oil if anyone needs it. I also picked up some R12 at a mom and pop type part store. Just showed them my certification # and got it for $15 a can. Once the compressor arrives and I get the job done, I'll post on how it went.

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