76 Cadillac R-12 A.C System

[jmoffo]

Good Morning:

I have a '76 Cadillac I use as a show car ONLY. The A.C. was not working when I acquired the car in November. Original owners said that they used to "recharge it every spring and it would last for 4-5 months"! Nonetheless, the car sat, basically, unused for 3 summers until now! The Thermal Limiter Switch blew the last time, I replaced it, and my cousin (who had 5 cans of r-12 left from his grandfather) recharged the system two weeks ago. He added about 3 pounds of r-12 and 2 oz of oil, and the old girl came back to life. The A.C. was so COLD. Saturday, I took the car out of the garage for a car show, and guess what? The A.C. was blowing barely any cold air....by the time I actually got off the highway, it was cooler to open the car windows!!! I will NOT recharge with r-12 until I can get a good solid guy to see where the leak(s) is. I want to keep the car original..so no coverting to 134 for me. Does anyone know where I can begin to get this resolved....anyone know of a place in North Jersey I can get the car to for extremely good, reliable A.C.service that handles r-12!? Help it is getting hot!!

[The Ape Man]

Maybe the refrigerant oil you added contained dye. If it did then you can get a special light and glasses and the leak will jump right out at you. If there was no dye then the usual service will include recovering all the existing refrigerant, checking if the system will hold a high vacuum, looking for leaks and recharging. Awful parts stores will have the glasses and light if you want to try it on your own. You might try calling STS (Somerset Tire Service) they have a decent reputation in New Jersey. "Technicians" might want to sell a lot of parts that your car "needs" so let them know that it worked perfectly but slowly leaked and you aren't interested in a new condensor, receiver drier or any other parts unless they can be shown to be a liability. You may have simply not seated the charging valve stem or could be on the other end of the spectrum with a difficult leak. You are correct not to change to anything other than R-12. There is no substitute that's worth changing to.

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by The Ape Man

. You might try calling STS (Somerset Tire Service) they have a decent reputation in New Jersey.

I'd pass on STS, I had a bad experience with them recently

I highly recommend Rumbello Auto Repair in Whippany N.J.(973) 515-8818.
It's a small shop on Rt. 10 but they are honest, reasonably priced, known their stuff, and won't push you into any unnecessary repairs.

[Fleet]

Right, Ape Man.
That dye was put into my '76 limo some years back. The mechanic was able to trace the leak (an a/c hose).
Yes, the R-12 is great (but expensive). It blows very cold with both my limo and my '69 Fleetwood Brougham.

[jmoffo]

There was a dye put in a couple years back. The sticker was on the Evaporator. Maybe I should check it out with a black light? Johnny Bravo, Whippany (for Rumello Bros.) is far from me. I am closer to Montclair, and I work near Paramus (The Caddy never comes to work in a high school parking lot, however!!). I did not want to spend hoards of $ getting the system back up and operational, but I guess after all those years and summers not being used, it is time.

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by jmoffo

Johnny Bravo, Whippany (for Rumello Bros.) is far from me. I am closer to Montclair, and I work near Paramus I did not want to spend hoards of $ getting the system back up and operational, but I guess after all those years and summers not being used, it is time.

It's not a bad drive, they are right down Rt. 10 from Rt. 287, or up Bloomfield Ave. to Rt. 10 or 287.
Nevetheless, I think it's well worth the trip for the peace of mind knowing you're not getting ripped off.

Chances are very good any place you take it down in your area will bang you hard on the price, or screw something up, mabey both.

[The Ape Man]

You can always check with Consumer Affairs to see how many complaints are on file about repair shops.

So Mr. Bravo, you had a problem with STS so the whole chain should be avioded? What was the problem?

[jmoffo]

Do you know if Rumbello is open on a Saturday? I would like to try them!

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by jmoffo

Do you know if Rumbello is open on a Saturday? I would like to try them!

Yes, they are open on Saturdays until around 12:00 PM.
Rich, the owner is on vacation this week, but his brother, or one of the other guys are there. Better give a call first and find out what is the availabilty of R12. They might have to order some, most people just retrofit to 134a when they find out the price of R12 these days.

Regarding the STS debacle:
After charging $89 for what was supposed to be a $79 alignment my girlfriends car pulled to the right and the rear tire camber was visibly out of wack. I went back the same day and complained, they were very unpleasant and obviously annoyed. I was surprized at the sudden change in demeanor of person who had cheerfully taken our $89 that morning.

The rear tires, he claimed, was an "optical illusion". I was also told that was best they can do and was refered to the computer aligment printout. I looked over the printout carefully when I got home, almost all the adjustments were out of spec. The car still pulls slightly, and the right front tire is feather edging.

Mabey "apeman" needs more the one bad experience to convince him, but that was the last time I'll use STS.

By the way, STS was never very helpful when I was shopping for tires either, I've always got the best deal at Firestone.

[jmoffo]

Sorry to hear about the misfortune at STS. Alignment issues have always perturbed the hell out of me

I saw how close Rumbello Bros is to me. My two sons were born in Livingston, so it is a breeze to get there. I am going to call them. Would it be okay to say you sent me!?

THANKS

[The Ape Man]

Originally Posted by Johnny Bravo

Mabey "apeman" needs more the one bad experience to convince him, but that was the last time I'll use STS.

By the way, STS was never very helpful when I was shopping for tires either, I've always got the best deal at Firestone.

Sorry but I'll never know. I do all my own work. That would include the spacer kit and installation not included in an 89 dollar alignment. If you can see the camber is out of whack then the car either needs springs replaced, has bent or worn parts or if you are lucky can be adjusted with some spacer gizmos. So you are driving on a public road with a car that has visable camber problems and pulls to one side? When do you plan to fix this?? No wonder you know where to buy cheap tires. My guess is they told you that your ride needs some $$$$ put into it to be safe but you know better than that. Please fix your car and keep the roads safe for all of us.
I have no interest in any auto repair places. Like I said it's not hard to research by checking with Consumer affairs.

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by jmoffo

I saw how close Rumbello Bros is to me. My two sons were born in Livingston, so it is a breeze to get there. I am going to call them. Would it be okay to say you sent me!?

THANKS

No need for a referral, they are fair to everyone. However, as I said better call first as they get busy sometimes and it sounds like they may have to spend some time on your car locating and repairing the leak.

Too bad you lost all that R12 your cousin put in, that would have saved you a lot of money if you had the leak fixed first.

[jmoffo]

Johnny,

Now that we are on the subject....do you know a good car detailer in the area? I need a RELIABLE guy to detail the engine bay for me without lousing up anything!

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by jmoffo

Johnny,

Now that we are on the subject....do you know a good car detailer in the area? I need a RELIABLE guy to detail the engine bay for me without lousing up anything!

Try this place: http://denvilledetail.com

[jmoffo]

WOW...couldn't have asked for better service......

I will give them a call!