A/C Question.

Ok I found my leak. bad "O" ring. Now my compressor does not cycle. The gauge says the pressure is good. (cheap Wal-Mart gauge) It cools ok, not great like it used to. Any Ideas? TIA.

Ok so it cools but the clutch doesn't cycle?

So the clutch engages when you call for A/C and the doesn't let-go as long as you're in the A/C mode?

Could be the freeze switch (which "normally" causes the cycling)...
Also could be that your system is no longert getting cool enough to cycle (since the switch isn't getting cold enough) --

Did you change Refrigerants?

I did the r134a retrofit about a year ago. It cooled better last year. had a leak and fixed it. Now it dosen't seem to work as well.

There were a few differnt oils used in the R134 kits -- some are more compatible with the mineral oils used in the R12 stuff (what oil did you end-up with PAO, PAG, POG?) it could be that the oil in the system is actually more of an issue (oils with poor miscibility will slug in the compressor - not only will the compressor temps/pressures be higher, but overall cooling is reduced since some of the effort is spent just pumping the oil slug...) IMHO PAO seems to be the worst for this -- especially in combination with other.

I cleaned the system as best as I could, changed the receiver dryer and the expantion valve. I ended up with the PAG oil. Do compressors loose there efficiency and need to be replaced or do they just go out all together? Am I barking up the wrong tree here? I was looking for an easy fix (I know those don't exist) Thanks.

OK, you say you fixed the o-ring. That means you had to open the system. Did you pull a vacuum on it to purge all the air before charging? If not you are asking for problems. I have gotten away with out sucking down the system by opening the high pressure port while putting a full can of freon in the low pressure side to sweep the air out, but these days it is definately a no no with the feds.

I did the relay wire switch on mine. Mine cooled fine(87 model) but after a little bit of driving the ac pretty much sucked so the windows came down and the ac off. I saw on JU where you can take the relay off closest to the fire wall on the passenger side where there are three together and swap two of the wires. I think it was an orange/black and a green. I put the green where the orange/black was and the orange/black where the green was and that thing stays cold all day long. Might not be the same problem for you but it is worth a shot. Good luck.

should you replace the compressor when you do the r134a retrofit? Is there an r134a compressor or will a rebuilt unit work?

Unless your existing compressor is hosed, you don't need to replace it.