When I bought my '87 the seller said it needed a charge and I thought, "That's what they all say," but the compressor worked and it seemed like something worth checking out.  The post-buy trip to the place that aired my old Nissan pickup charged me $75 to say forget it and gave me very little other info.

Figuring that $30 more wouldn't kill me I got a NAPA R134a conversion kit and tried that.  It held for a season, so I recharged again this year.  Come cool weather, I'll install the new receiver/dryer, clean out the lines and fill with Red Tek and see how that does.  If the system is complete and seems functional except for temp, it's worth playing with to try improving it.  You can always throw money at it later.

Stephen

--- On Thu, 6/26/08, Neil2 <vidublu@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> From: Neil2 <vidublu@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: '91 Vanagon GL, AC is OOC
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008, 7:24 PM
> Hey volks,
>
> Anyone know if the AC on a '91 is worth tinkering
> with/spending $$ to
> repair?  I notice a lot of owners just go without when they
> stop working,
> sorta like the Dom and kitchen sink . . .
>
> Don'na wanna throw good $$ after bad, as they say.
>
> --
> Neil2
> '82 Diesel Westy (Duckie)