134a ac nipple to large

[nasomi]

I'm trying to recharge the AC on my 318ti, it'ts never worked in the 2 years we've had it. Everything I read says 134a refridgerant, but the nipple is to large for the adapters from advanced auto/pepboys 134a kits. It's a 1995, not OBD II, and it has me thinking it uses R-12 refridgerant. Anyone know for sure? It's not marked anywhere I can find.

[wake74]

It should be 134a. That is what is in my 95 318ti.

[nasomi]

What's the build date of yours? It should be on the vin plate in the drivers door jam. I think it was a split year. there's no way to test that i know of. I did compare the nipple to another car I have and it's definitely not the same size.

[zoner]

All ti's should be 134a. Make sure you're trying to connect to the correct port (suction).

[nasomi]

It's the hard line with the black cap, there's really only one place you could connect it. If anyone could get a picture of the valve under their hood it'd be appreciated.

[bazar01]

The suction charging port is by the firewall behind the shock tower on the passenger side.
The one in the front by the radiator is the high side. Do not charge on the high side.

[nasomi]

Aha, that's interesting. Everything else said it was right behind hte headlight, but back there is quite diffrerent. Thank you I will check that out as soon as i get home.

[pdxmotorhead]

LOL and thats why they are different sizes.. !

FYI I've topped mine off a couple times over the last 8 years and I found its almost impossible to get the right charge using the little refill bottles, I finally bought a real guage set and don't have to dink with it.. The operating spec for the pump on the 95 is freeking tight, 5lbs too high and the pump will stall and like 4 lbs too low and it don't work for sh** so I highly recommend a real dual guage high and low side charge setup.. My theory has always been its really an R12 pump with a R134 expansion valve ....

Cheers

[nasomi]

I got it going, but I have a fierce leak somewhere, the o-ring must be all but gone. Just need someone to turn the hose on while i'm under hte car with a smoker to figure out where it's coming from. I can hear it easily.

[bazar01]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

LOL and thats why they are different sizes.. !

FYI I've topped mine off a couple times over the last 8 years and I found its almost impossible to get the right charge using the little refill bottles, I finally bought a real guage set and don't have to dink with it.. The operating spec for the pump on the 95 is freeking tight, 5lbs too high and the pump will stall and like 4 lbs too low and it don't work for sh** so I highly recommend a real dual guage high and low side charge setup.. My theory has always been its really an R12 pump with a R134 expansion valve ....

Cheers

I totally agree. I only charge by the exact weight written on the decal.
I vacuum the system and weigh the charge.
Too much and the engine feels like it is mis-firing when the system high side goes up the roof then high pressure switches fan to very high speed.
Too little and it barely cools.

[bazar01]

Originally Posted by nasomi

I got it going, but I have a fierce leak somewhere, the o-ring must be all but gone. Just need someone to turn the hose on while i'm under hte car with a smoker to figure out where it's coming from. I can hear it easily.

The right way is to use an electronic leak detector.
If you don't have one, put a dye and UV light will reveal the leak.

[nasomi]

I can hear it leak out as soon as I charge it, it takes about 5 seconds to completely empty from full, so it should be easy enough to spot.

It is tough to get to but I have a proper gauge, I just can't get it to stay because it leaks out right away.

[bazar01]

Using R134A refrigerant to find a big leak is quite expensive.
You need to pressurize the system with nitrogen to find the leak.
Fix the leak, vacuum then recharge the system.

[nasomi]

It is quite expensive, but blowing out $15 worth of 134a is significantly cheaper than any alternative I'm aware of. Buying a system to pressure ize the tank, buying the tank to hold the nitrogen, buying hte nitrogen, is probably going to cost me more than $15.

[bazar01]

Originally Posted by nasomi

It is quite expensive, but blowing out $15 worth of 134a is significantly cheaper than any alternative I'm aware of. Buying a system to pressure ize the tank, buying the tank to hold the nitrogen, buying hte nitrogen, is probably going to cost me more than $15.

That's true. If you don't have the hvac tools like nitrogen tank and gauges then R134a as a leak tester is cheaper. But that is not the trade practice for hvac techs and shops.
Good luck finding that leak.