OK....As you all know, I am fearless!! So I pulled the old switch out and
just pointed that end of the van toward the Honda in case it flew off like a
projectile. Anyway, popped right off and the little valve behind worked like
a charm.  Popped the new one on in a about a minute.  No loss of freon.
Gonna take a spin. Thanks to all.
BTW-New switch and old one are made in UK by RANCO(?).  Says VW Audi on it.
Got mine on Ebay for 40.00.
Michael in San Antonio
91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo'

On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Edward Maglott <emaglott3@gmail.com> wrote:

> You might check with community colleges or tech schools that have an
> auto tech program.  The one where I work usually teaches AC stuff in
> the Summer.  You might get them to suck out the refrigerant, then you
> take the van and do your work, then they evacuate and refill with the
> refrigerant you provide or pay for.
> Edward
>
>
> At 05:15 PM 8/10/2010, Jeff Schwaia wrote:
>
>> Ah yes, expanded gas as opposed to compressed.  My bad...
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mike S [mailto:mikes@flatsurface.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 1:01 PM
>> To: Jeff Schwaia
>> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Replacing pressure A/C Pressure switch w/o losing Freon
>>
>> At 03:28 PM 8/10/2010, Jeff Schwaia wrote...
>> >"270 liters of oily freon gas"...  You must have the optional
>> >super-duper,
>> >heavy duty A/C system!  ;-)
>>
>> R-134a weighs ~4.25 kg/1000 liters at atmospheric pressure and room
>> temperature, so 270 liters is about 1.15 kg of freon. VW says the
>> Vanagon holds 1.35 kg of R134a, so really, he must have the
>> slightly-shrunken, light duty system.
>>
>