Frosty Ice-cold Air

The Air Conditioning did not work when we purchased the Clenet, something that we really didn't give much thought.

As we were driving back towards Three Oaks from Auburn, Indiana for this weekend's A-C-D festival and Kruse Auction, we discussed picking up some replacement dash lights for the Clenet. As we approached South Bend, IN along I-80, I entered "auto parts" into the GPS unit which immediately redirected us to the nearest auto parts store.

While searching for replacement dash lights at a nearby Advance Auto, Mario happened upon a conversion kit for older 12R A/C equipped vehicles. The kit contains three canisters of new R-134a refrigerant, replacement high and low pressure valves, a handy re-filling tube with pressure gauge and DVD to follow along. All this for the whopping sum of $26.99. We walked out of the store with the A/C conversion kit and the lights we originally wanted.

Arriving at Ken's house thirty minutes later, Mario popped the DVD into my laptop and watched the tutorial a few times to ensure he was confident the process was as easy as the guy portrayed.

We already had the system checked earlier this summer at the Ford dealer who told us the system was evacuated, but not recharged. By following the easy instructions, Mario had the new valves installed within a few minutes and had begun pumping new refrigerant into the A/C system before I could get back outside to the driveway. As he was attaching the second canister to the fill tube and shaking it vigorously as instructed by the DVD dude, I placed my hand in front of a dash vent that had already begun to blow cool.

By time we finished the final canister of R134a, the A/C was blowing ice cold. We'll now monitor the A/C over the next few weeks to see how long it will hold this charge.

Easy, easy, easy!

Ron Zarantenello