Posted on 5/30/2025
If your car’s air conditioning system was built after 2015, there’s a good chance it uses refrigerant 1234yf instead of the older R-134a. Both refrigerants do the same job—cooling the air inside your cabin—but they’re not interchangeable. The switch to 1234yf wasn’t just about performance. It was driven by environmental regulations and the push for safer, more sustainable automotive systems. So, what exactly is the difference between these two refrigerants? And what should you keep in mind when servicing your vehicle’s AC system? Here’s what you need to know. The Purpose of Automotive Refrigerant Refrigerant is the chemical compound that circulates through your car’s AC system, absorbing heat from the interior and releasing it outside. It shifts between gas and liquid states as it moves through the compressor, condenser, and evaporator. For decades, vehicles used R-12, and then R-134a became the industry standar ... read more