It all started when the preparation for getting The Rattler down to East Peoria Illinois for the 35th anniversary show was done. Or so I thought. I took the car in to have the ignition checked as well as the alternator and battery and it was determined that the battery needed replacement which was done. This was on August 1st.
Upon returning home from the shop, by boss called and said there was a leak on the floor of the shop which was caused by refrigerant coming from the evaporator. So, I took the Fiero back the next day, August 2nd and it was decided to get a new evaporator as soon as possible so a new one was located in Texas and flown up next day for installation on Monday, August 6th, just two days before heading down to East Peoria. So, I had the recharge of R-12 put in and made it down to the show without any problems, or so I thought. The compressor seals were leaking badly I found out later and luckily, we made it back home with cool air.
When we returned home on August 12th, I made sure I could get in the shop the next day to have a new compressor installed. On August 13th, the transformation took place which entailed evacuating the R-12 refrigerant and flushing out everything in the system to convert to R-134 which is a lot less expensive to replace. The accumulator, compressor, orifice tube, seals, drains, fittings and service valves were all replaced. Pag oil and dye was added to lubricate the system and check for future leaks.
The conversion from the old refrigerant I believe was a good decision since the system is 32 years old and since I had to replace everything, I am now satisfied I did the right thing.
