Years ago I converted my 1992 Volvo 240 from R12 to R134a. The conversion was a success and for the past 5 or 6 years I've been motoring around in my wagon cool as a cucumber in the Washington, DC summer heat.

The last couple of weeks I noticed that the air conditioner was not working well at all. So I looked into it last night. Air vent temperature was around 63 degrees F and the air compressor was cycling on and off every couple of seconds. No obvious leaks that I could see anyplace.

I stopped by the local auto parts store and picked up a can of R134a with dye and a gauge to hook up to the low pressure fill port. I hooked the gauge up to the low pressure fitting and pressures fluctuated between 20 and 40 psi as the compressor cycled.

I added the can of 134a and immediately the compressor kicked on and stayed on. Pressure moved up to around 30 psi constant while the compressor was running. Air vent temperatures quickly dropped to the 45-50 degree F range.

This morning I had 45 degree F air on my way to work.

I'll keep an eye on the vent temperature and use a UV light to search for leaks over the next couple of weeks.

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