Chris, thank you for the tip on jumping the condenser fan. I'll do it when I get things working.

Here is the whole sad story of my r-134 retrofit. I now have 32oz. of r-134 in the system, which is about 3oz. shy of a complete fill. The low-side pressure is between 25 - 40 psi. There is no cooling at all. The compressor is clicking on and off and seems to be working.

The small metal line from the evaporator to the condenser (the one that has the expansion valve) is ice cold to a point where it is dripping condensate all over the place. The metal line & large hose from the condenser to the compressor is very hot and the big hose from the compressor to the rec/drier is medium.

Here are some things I may have done wrong during the refit:
1) Blew out the condenser with 75lbs compressed air (not sure which direction)
2) Blew out the evaporator with 75lbs air
3) blew out the compressor with 75lbs air(although there wasn't a tight seal, so most of the air just came right back out)
4) I noticed that the old expansion valve was in it's pipe where the tab you grab to pull it out was flush with the end of the pipe. It came out intact and clean. When I installed the new one I couldn't get it in that far, so the tab (1/2 inch)was extending out from the pipe, but the valve felt snug and since the female part of that fitting is bell shaped, the tab fit inside.

If anyone has a clue what I did wrong and could explain how to fix it I'd appreciate it. JDL