85A4Coupe

I have spent the last week shopping around for a dryer and orfice for my AC.... I am planning on replacing my 21 year old R-12 compressor for one designed for 134.

Chevy Dealer= $199.49 Special Order on Dryer, $29.88 for Orfice
Advanced auto parts= $79.99 Special Order on Dryer $6.99 for Orfice
Autozone= $69.99 S/O on Dryer, $4.99 for Orfice
Napa= $59.99 S/O on Dryer, $3.99 on Orfice

I found a wholesale ACDelco supplier here in town called Tropical ACDelco. They keep our local GM dealers supplied with parts. They had both parts in stock.....Dryer was $18.79 and the Orfice was 68 cents....

Moral of the story is it pays to shop around and here's a perfect example on how much the factory marks parts up.

Have any of you run into this before?

SunCr

I usually get 15% off at my local dealer, but the best pricing I've found for AC Delco parts is at The Last Detail - www.tld-corvette.com - where your Accumulator is listed for $40. Note the AC Delco replacement has two service valves as it is used across the line and some mount the low pressure switch on one of them. It will work in your Vette, but you may have to cut down the mounting bracket if one of the ports sits on the rim of the bracket. If you don't, it may sit up too high and strike the hood. The NAPA Accumulator is a dead ringer for your stock unit and all of the Accumulators out there will be compatible with R12 or R134.

85A4Coupe

I appreciate the link...I'll be checking that out!

I purchased the Accumulator from Tropical ACDelco and it does have the two service ports, and measures the same diamentions as my stocker so I don't think I'll have any problems with the swap.

As of right now i don't have any A/C issues but with winter approaching I want to have everything ready to redo the system.

I converted the system over to 134 about a year ago using the original compressor and it hasn't blown as cold as when it was 12 so I am under the impression that either my comp is worn out or not designed for 134 considering it's 21 yrs old now.

Thanks
Jesse

SunCr

PS - All of the Dealers in San Diego work through the same local warehouse and it maintains a lot of product that isn't available in Dealer stock, so I've gotten accustomed to asking if it's there. If so, I pay the Dealer and then drive over to the warehouse to pick up my special order the same day. Maybe there's a similiar arrangement in your area.

SunCr

The stock compressor will work fine with R134. Watch your pressures (if you have the Shop Manual, expect a couple more psi at each temp on the pressure/temp chart) and start with no more than 80% of the R12 fill aiming for a high side of 2.2 to 2.5 the temp of the air over the condensor. Make sure that there's nothing impeding airflow through the condensor and if it's full of stone chips and bugs, you may just want to replace it too - I think about $100. Finally, adjust the low pressure switch so that it cycles at 22.5 psi instead of 25 psi or buy a new switch (the last one I bought was all ready set for R134 and I didn't know until my lines iced up - I'm still using R12). Adjustment screw is between the terminals - turn it counterclockwise to lower the cutoff threshold, usually no more than one turn.

lt4dogman

Hi Jesse
You have a Private Message

85A4Coupe

There probobly is but I can buy direct from Tropical so I'd be foolish to pay the dealers price when I can drive 5 miles and save a bunch of money.