I have a '91 5.0 with 62k original miles. About 12 years ago, I had the system vacuumed and recharged with R12 and 4oz of mineral oil was added (it had Freeze 12 before). Worked great! That is until COVID hit and I stopped driving the car. Now, the system doesn't blow cold and I am assuming it's empty (more on that later). I can see dirt around the front seal of the Denso 6P148A compressor, so again, assuming it's leaking out of there.
I cannot find a shop local to me (SoCal) that wants to even touch this thing because of the R12. Yes, I do have more cans of this stuff and I want to use it
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
So, I am stuck with trying to learn and service this car myself and hopefully be able to pull this off with the help and knowledge shared here. I would like to start with the basics and just simply diagnose the car with a set of gauges, an air compressor and soapy water. I will need some guidance here.
I was able to borrow a set of 134/410A gauges.
Would this be sufficient? Can someone please point me to a set of adapters so it can work with my R12 charge ports?
When removing the cap on the high side, it started to hiss out freon, so I quickly closed it back up. I understand the caps are the the primary seal here, but should have that happened?
How bad of an idea is it to turn car on and engage the AC while diagnosing this? Wouldn't it further ruin things in the system?
Thanks for your help!