No AC

[agallant]

Yesterday i was driving when i herd a hissing sound comming from under the hood. I thought nothing of it untill when i got out of the car and could still here it. I poped the hood and noticed that a line which goes from the radiator to the compressor or through the forewall( i wcould not tell where it went) was spraying coolent on to my headers aboiut where the dip stick for the transmission is. This is a solid steel (or what ever else they use) it is not a nylon hose. When i got back in to my car the AC did not work.

Considering that the fluid that was leaking out was green in color i can not understand why the AC is not working any more, before this it blew cold and fine. Any one have this happen to them before?

 

[Glacier991]

The refrigerant probably had dye added to it - it's not uncommon. You have lost your coolant charge. You'll need to replace the cracked/leaking line ... evacuate the system and recharge it.

 

[agallant]

how do i evacuate the system?

 

[cjbarron5]

if you dont know how then legally you cannot do it it "requires" a special machine or at least a vac pump

 

[paul99explorer]

Just watched my friend's dad do it with a small electric air pump and a short hose that attached to the system. Basically, he just sucked as much air out of the system as possible before recharging. There's a harbor freight hardward store close to here. I wonder if they would sell a hose/adaptor. I saw a small air pump there like the one he used. Anyway, it worked well. We're gonna go visit him in the bighouse tomorrow. He's outta cigarettes (kiddin').

 

[Glacier991]

There is a thread (with other links in it) on converting to 134 in the "Useful Threads forum". Long but lots of good info on most everything auto AC (not just conversions). Evacuating is not "vacuuming", it is establishing a very low vacuum and holding it for about 30 minutes so any non-condensibles (air and water) are removed. I have used the Harbor Freight little air powered one, and described my findings in that thread. Simply put, it's not good enough and most folks do not have an air compressor than can supply enough air for that long without burning up. My advice? unless you have a gauge set and an electric vacuum pump, let a shop recharge it once you have done the mechanical repair.

 

[agallant]

They have these kist at VIP for $40 that is the new coolent with a pressure gauge. my friend did it to his Tahoe and it worked fine for him. can i hold the pressure with that?

 

[Glacier991]

No. The system has to be in a vacuum state held up until the introduction of refrigerant. If the charge is simply low, those kits can work. If thesystem is completely discharged and open to the atmosphere they WILL NOT WORK AT ALL. Let's explain. You can add refrigerant, and you will get some cooling. But you will have air and moisture in the sytem. Over time the moisture will create acids that are bad for the system and the air will rob you of cooling. For a system that has had a major failure and parts replaced, total evacuation and proper recharg (with some oil added) wil save the day over trying to "kit" your way through in fact the kit may hasten a complete demise. By all means do the repair yourself, but in this case I think you will be ahead to let a shop evacuate and recharge it.