I really appreciate the comment! I’ve thought about starting one, but kind of forgot about it. I might reconsider! I just don’t want to be another guy on RU-vid always trying to sell things. My goal is to be no BS, informative, and straight to the point.
Wow great video. My MK1 was purchased after the conversion. The previous owner (or whoever did the conversion) forgot 2 major things. They left the Schrader valve out and put a small hole in the condenser. Repaired everything and got my vent temperature on max cool at 41° not bad since they didn't replace the 30 year plus compressor. Great job Ollie keep it up👍
@@walterbutscher8438 you’re very welcome! Glad that the videos are helping people out. If you have any suggestions for content, feel free to give them. No promises that I’ll film it, but I will try.
I found this video to be very informative. I've got a 1981 Rabbit Diesel that doesn't have AC, and I'm starting to research how hard it would be to add. I live in FL, and the summers here are so bad that the Rabbit can be dangerous to drive, especially with the humidity and rain without AC. This gave me a really good idea as to what parts I would need to complete a system. Hopefully someday I can find a donor car and get all the bits that would work.
As long as you get a heater box that has AC, that’s the big part. The wiring is easy to do yourself. Then just get custom hoses made. Just make sure to wire in a trinary switch. This car doesn’t have one, so running the AC is always a gamble as the trinary switch cuts out the compressor in under or over pressure situations.
Thanks Oran! I’m going to be honest, it took quite a bit of effort to film and edit. Hopefully it helps some people out who want AC!! Now we need to make a video about removing AC, because it seems as though everyone always wants to delete it and doesn’t know how to align the alternator.
@@oransands pull it and do the heated side vents mod. Removing the evaporator will increase airflow which negates the decrease in airflow due to the heated side vents mod. It’s great for driving in cooler temps
Should be very similar. Just watch out when cleaning out/flushing your low side hose as it has that mini accumulator like thing on it. I’m not 100% sure what it does or how it looks inside..therefore I am not certain the best way to flush that component.
Great video and well put together. Makes me want to go and do my non working ac now. Was this ac system retrofitted to run R-134 and if so are the oil volumes added the same according to the chart?
@@chrisgosselin5242 I’m running a hydrocarbon based refrigerant (r-12a) is what it’s called. But yes, I used the same amount of oil. If you’re running r134 you could probably look up what the oil to refrigerant ratio is supposed to be in general. There is a sweet spot for the amount of oil. However, I’ve never heard of using different amounts of oil when converting a car.
I was just told I my alternator is finished. Is that something that can be fixed in a home garage by someone new to this (I have the mechanic's manual) or should I just head to my local mechanic?
I personally don’t take anything to a mechanic. If you want to learn, now is your time to start. The alternator is simple to remove. Your instruction manual should describe how to remove it.
My compressor looks like it is beginning to fail. I probably will replace it. The car is already r134 my question is do I need to remove my timing belt cover? I see yours is off. Are there any hidden bolts i need to be aware of. Thanks
If you search on or the VW cabriolet owners Facebook page, then you can definitely buy the unit used. I am not familiar with the right hand drive vehicles, but to me the whole unit looked like there wasn’t anything preventing installation in a right hand drive system. You might have to get custom AC hoses made, but that is super easy now a days. The wiring might take a bit of effort, but even that shouldn’t be too hard. Just make sure the radiator fan comes on when the ac is switched on. Aside from that, it’s a pretty independently wired system.
@@OlisGarage Nice one cheers, I will have a look at the owners club. I don't think in the early 80s aircon was standard in the UK England on most cars. Thanks for the advice 🙏
@@mick9419 funny enough, it was somewhat standard in the us and everyone removes it. So definitely have a look. Grab the condenser as well (heck grab 2). Or just shop around for a custom condenser and just make up custom lines. I’d probably go with a new universal parallel flow condenser and then just make up lines. That will be a better system in the long run. Plenty of websites can sell you custom AC lines.
None of my actuator work and one of the options on the controller leaks when selected. I cant find the actuators for sale nor the control switch. What do you do in this case. Between that and my refrigerant leak, I'm temped to just give up on ac. I can see why so many do. Ac for this car is so expensive and hard to fix.
Honestly I think you just have a vacuum leak in the system causing it not to work properly. Cabby - info com has a guide on how to test all of that. Where is the refrigerant leak? It’s up to you. If you want to give up on it, that’s ok. I want working AC in my car because it’s amazing and makes the car much more fun in the summer when it rains. I always recommend not cutting or breaking components if you remove the AC stuff so that you can later reinstall it.
@@OlisGarage So I guess I cant link to vw vortex, whatever. Quick summery cause youtube deleted everything twice. Anyway the ac control sys holds vac even when the vehicle is off except when foot vent is selected. Even at high rpm the actuators don't work without assistance. I don't know where the refrigerant leak is, it just doesn't have any. The engine has a vac leak by design and I don't know what to do about it. If I pinch the hose described in the post on vortex it stops hissing. Just search this on google, first vw vortex link if you're interested. Search this-> Big Air Hose from Air Box to Crankcase Ventilation Port - Unmetered Air?
You’re confusing a few things. Don’t worry about the “designed leak”. The system was designed that way. Look at the vacuum diagrams a bit closer from your vehicle. There is ONE hose that runs from the engine vacuum system to control your vents. Only one. That hose provides vacuum to move the vents. If your vents don’t work and that one hose has vacuum, then focus on the vacuum distributor in the dash. Again, cabby - info com (can’t post link) has diagrams and instructions for testing that system. It sounds like you might have to replace a diaphragm and the vacuum distributor. Finding a refrigerant leak is a bit difficult, but one problem at a time. Vents first :)
Could you share where you bought your new a/c hoses from (I just need the rubber A/C Suction Hose)? I am following your video, and its going along great so far. But I just would like the purchase new hoses in case mines are bad.
@@a914freak yes this is true, as the suction hose is the longer of the two rubber hoses, and thus more rubber area to crack. I have found that for my scirocco, it was easiest to source a/c hoses from the facebook group.
Great video! I’ve been looking for a guide on this for a while now. Did you recharge with R12 here? Do you have any part number info on the dryer? I’m debating switching to R134a but I’m kinda nervous about it.
I did not. I ended up switching to a hydrocarbon based refrigerant. You can look up “r12a” if you want more info. Drier part number is in the description. My thoughts were the following: I swapped the oil over to a more universal oil (not mineral like used in r12 or PAG like in r134a). If I don’t like how it performs with r12a, I can always change it to r134a. Realistically, once you’ve taken everything apart, it’s not too hard to do that again if you want to swap oil to the oil specifically designed for your refrigerant. I think people have descent success running r134a. I just wanted to do an experiment and run r12a. I’ll eventually make a video reporting on my results with r12a. Probably near the end of the summer.
I’ve thought about R12A, too. Do you have a part number for the compressor? I have an American Rabbit and the big old York in it probably has to go. They say the seals are likely torched on it and I can’t find a rebuild kit online. Do you have a part number for the drier you used? Does the drier have to be R12A or R12 specific? Would it work for 134A?
The part numbers for the compressor and drier are all in the description, but I'll post them here too. Let me know if for some reason you don't see them in the description. They are the VW part numbers. Drier: 171820191B. The brand I used is "air products" Compressor: 191820803A. my compressor Behr/hella brand The York style compressors are really cool because they don't need you to run oil in the AC system, at least that's what iv'e read online. You probably are correct; it probably does need to be replaced. You might have to shop for some new mounts for the newer style compressor. But, everyone is always removing AC from cabriolets, so those mounts are always easy to buy. My understanding is that the drier would work well for either r134a, r12, or r12a. It contains a desiccant, which should work well removing moisture and debris from either one of those refrigerants.
If you know the thermostat is good, can you be lazy and skip removing the PS pump? Just make sure to flush a few times, and drain it out the lower rad hose?
I would still remove the thermostat for two reasons. One, there is coolant above it. That coolant might slowly leak down, but you won’t be able to properly flush the coolant system like I did (run the car without a thermostat). Two, that o-ring needs replaced at some point. So if you don’t know when it was last replaced, suck it up and take off the extra few bolts. I know that’s why car repairs always go long, but do it right and only do it once.
@@json8172 haha, that’s true! Apparently the rack is hard to remove when the engine is still installed. I’ve removed it before but that was with the engine removed. It was pretty easy then
@@json8172 I’ve quit paying people to work on my cars. They don’t care about them like I do, and I can’t blame them when they maybe make $15/hr or so. So now I just do it myself and make sure I take my time to do it right.
