He's not a jerk, he is trying to save you a lot of grief. Of course no one knows what has accumulated in your system while it was open, but it is almost certain your drier is contaminated. They are cheap and easy to change. If you want a trouble-free job, take it to a pro and have the system flushed, and a new drier installed. It will be really disappointing if a particle of crud gets in your evap valve and shuts down your cooling after a week of use! It will be even more disturbing if something circulates around and causes your compressor to have a fit! I like to leave a system on the vacuum pump at least overnight, too, before charging it, just to see if there is any moisture in the system (turn off the pump and watch the manifold gauge - it should hold at -30 inches of mercury for at least overnight - if it doesn't, you'll be wasting your money to put refrigerant in the system without fixing it.) Dick Benjamin ----- Original Message ----- From: <SFSurfDude@xxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 8:24 PM Subject: IML: A/C Question > I have decided to go over my A/C system before it gets a million degrees > here. I have had the car for 2-3 years with no A/C. I have taken all the related > hoses in and have had new ones made. I have a new compressor I purchased last > year ready to be installed. > I have made the decision to go with the old R-12 since the car designed for > that, my concern isn't about the cost but more with what the system was > designed for. > The parts counter jerk at my parts store claims I should also replace the > drier and clean out the rest of the components before filling the system. > Do I really need to purchase another drier? > Since I have the system apart, is there any way I can clean it out on my own? > > Regards, > > > Patrick Williams > High Desert, Southern California > 65 Ford F 350 Super Duty Dually > 64 Chrysler Imperial Crown Coupe > 64 Chrysler Imperial 4 door > 79 MGB Roadster > 89 Ford Ranger > 86 BMW 325es > Ford 9n >