Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Took the car for a re-gas today, and the compressor started to belch black/grey smoke, whilst connected to the gasser, all the years I,ve owned this car, the air-con has never been particularly good, I reckon the air-con in these 928,s should be re-named " slightly cooler air" emphasis on the "slightly", it,s at my friends workshop and they,re going to do an autopsy tomorrow.
Strange thing I did notice was the volt gauge reading low, just immediately before she blew ??

Thing is, if the compressor,s knackered, I don,t hold much hope of getting a used one, new is out of the question....., or do I just live without it, the car is on a limited mileage policy anyway and does,nt see much use, guess I have a sunroof though !
Without air-con, can you still get a modicum of outside air into the car ?
Is anyone running without air-con, do you miss it ? guess in my case, you can,t miss what you never really had.

Google Richard Armstrong at Ritech Systems. He is the man to get you a reasonably priced compressor and get the aircon back to full efficiency.

928 aircon is actually excellent when operating normally - great volume of freezing air and full climate control.

I see Richard sells exchange compressors for £195

Hi

My Aircon never worked and never missed it, I have removed the compressor now and the airpump so lots more room for my Nitrous stuff

I have the new touch switch panel (replaces all the window/sunroof/rear wiper switches) from Paul Champagne in The US, which are absolutely brilliant...I have one switch set to AUTO-OPEN everything..(both windows and sunroof) and it drops the temp a lot when you are driving...

They convert older 928s into one touch like the later GTS...if you touch a window or sunroof switch it goes all the way up or down on its own or press and release and the window or sunroof stops wherever you want it...

And they truly ARE touch switches, the slightest touch and they work, instead of hammering on the old switches and replacing the old ones every 18 months or so...

All the best Brett

The aircon can be made to work properly, and it's nice to have in the summer. Mine lasted 2 weeks after regassing so I got it repaired, it cost me £500 and worked fine after that.

If I were you I'd get it sorted, it might only need a new compressor.

FYI, and thank,s everyone for taking the time to read.
Had the system vaccumed out today, and on refilling it would only take around 14grms of refrigerant, turns out the clutch pack on the front of the compressor has expired, hence the stink!
We jumpered the wire from the compressor to the hot post, and nothing, only a small spark from the live connection.
So it seem,s if I can get a clutch and fit it , the system will live again, I,m telling myself it,s hard to justify any great expense if that does,nt cure it, as the car only does a few hundred miles per year. The rest of the year it hibernates ! and as previously mentioned the system was never very cold .
However she,s a really nice car, I,ve owned it twenty years now, and I think if I come to sell, after all I,m sixty now,( I was a relative youngster when I bought her,) the prospective buyer would be put off, with a non functioning aircon system.

I,ve looked on ebay and the net and there does,nt seem to be any compressors available at the moment, did remember seeing one a while back, but did,nt need one then

Here,a not very good pic of " Old Blue " the day Ifitted the American bumperettes
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3213/b ... tes022.jpg

No need for ebay Ken, but do contact Richard Armstrong

..., thank,s Adrian, I,ve got him book marked ?

Age doesn't matter here Ken. we're all youngsters once in the car. Your car looks great. Fix the air-can and don't bother selling the car.

..., cheer,s Lee, just took the car to my friends garage, he,s got the necessary lifts, and tools etc, he,s taking the clutch off tomorrow, hopefully be able to tell better when it,s off ?

Just an update, got the car back today, and in twenty years never had air-con this cold in this car. Fitted a re-con compressor from Euro car parts 12 month warranty, along with a new receiver/drier, vacuumed and recharged, working great, ice cubes ! (fingers crossed).
I had seriously considered not restoring the air con, but decided the car deserves it, and will be a good investment when/if I ever part with her, because invariably people looking for a good 928 consider this part of a well looked after car, ie if that,s not working what else isn,t
Thanks all for the help/advice

What gas did you get put in?

doh..., not sure Lee, I,d have to ask ?

If you could please. I want mine sorted and I know what gas was in it. I want to know if a re-con unit runs a drop in gas to replace R12. Thank you.

Get it refilled with R134a

You'll need a new dryer and it will need to be purged of the old oil/gas but the aircon people will do that anyway.

I was told it "may not be as cold" and the "R134 molecules are smaller" so it "might need topping up every year" but two years after it was done it's still working according to the new owner of the car.

There's all sorts of scare stories on the internet about how the compressor will eventually fail, the seals will leak, the hoses were not made for R134 and so on, but it worked fine on my car.

And USE IT! The aircon will benefit from being used often, on my Ferrari Mondial t the aircon was always on unless you turned off the HVAC completely. Even in winter it can be used to stop condensation.