Hey All,

Finally decided to recharge my '82 240 B21F from the remains of a 30lb can of R12 that I bought at Costco years ago and have been hoarding ever since. The last recharge was 3-4 years ago, and although things were still under pressure, there was a lot of bubble action in the sight glass and it wasn't blowing very cold any more.

The charge went well, I shut things down when I no longer saw bubbles in the sight glass - took in 1.4 lbs total. At 3000rpm engine hot, the readings were:
high side: 350psi
low side: 40psi (seems a little high?)
I had the R12 canister on a scale, and at this point, I was no longer pulling anything from the can.

Driving later that evening, I decided to switch the A/C on, and was rewarded with a "thud!" and quick metallic "clang!". Turns out that the front half of my split crank pulley shattered and jettisoned my A/C drive belt. Other than that, no extra damage. I can still spin the A/C by hand, so it's not seized outright.

So now comes the questions:

a) 40psi low side pressure seems high. Any ideas?
b) Anyone hear of a crank pulley shattering under load?

After I repair broken things, I'll see what shape the compressor is in...

Thanks in advance!

Greg