Restored the A/C on my brother's 02 GMC Sierra yesterday. It's had a slow leak for probably five years. We've just been charging it up in April and maybe once more towards the end of summer. Even when charged up, though, it's performance was Meh. Much better than nothing but not what it should be. Back in late January I found the leak on the condenser. We had die in the system and I found the leak with the UV glasses and blacklight flashlight. At that time we ordered:
You can see the wet area to the right of the hood latch on the condenser. Out came the condenser, the accumulator, the compressor and clutch, the lines and the hoses. I drained the oil out of the new compressor to confirm the volume. It checked. I went back in with the same amount and same type of oil but with oil with dye in it. Next the new compressor and clutch went in.....
While I was working on removing and replacing the compressor, Sean flushed the hoses and the hard lines and replaced all the o-rings and seals. He then put a ziplock bag over each end with blue tape to keep things clean. Next we flushed the evaporator. It was replaced maybe six or eight years ago by the shop that works on my company's trucks. Nothing really came out of the Evaporator other than dye. We flushed it until we were getting clean flush out of it. Then I went in with the new accumulator and started putting the lines back in, leaving them slightly loose so I had some movement at the other end. I forgot to mention, the old orifice tube didn't look too bad considering Sean took delivery of this truck in October of 2001 and it has 192k miles on it. Just a little metal......
Going back together.....
Once I had all the connections tight I put the pump on it to start pulling the system down while we buttoned up the rest......
We pulled vacuum for about 1-1/4 hour. By that time, we had the truck buttoned up....
Then we charged it up.....
It was a long day. We got started at 9 and wrapped up about 6:30. The new compressor is silent. The pressures looked good. The old compressor, with the condenser leak, just didn't have the umph to get as high of pressures as you want to see on a warm day. Admittedly, I haven't been out for a ride in it yet. I charged it to as close to spec as I could get with little cans. I think it is going to be a very nice upgrade for the truck. Anyway, that was our Saturday. Another project off the list. Thanks for following along friends.
- Delco new Compressor and Clutch assembly
- Delco new Condenser
- Delco new Accumulator
- new Orifice Tube (Four Seasons)
- 8oz. PAG oil with dye
- Three cans of R134A
- A complete O-Ring and seal kit
You can see the wet area to the right of the hood latch on the condenser. Out came the condenser, the accumulator, the compressor and clutch, the lines and the hoses. I drained the oil out of the new compressor to confirm the volume. It checked. I went back in with the same amount and same type of oil but with oil with dye in it. Next the new compressor and clutch went in.....
While I was working on removing and replacing the compressor, Sean flushed the hoses and the hard lines and replaced all the o-rings and seals. He then put a ziplock bag over each end with blue tape to keep things clean. Next we flushed the evaporator. It was replaced maybe six or eight years ago by the shop that works on my company's trucks. Nothing really came out of the Evaporator other than dye. We flushed it until we were getting clean flush out of it. Then I went in with the new accumulator and started putting the lines back in, leaving them slightly loose so I had some movement at the other end. I forgot to mention, the old orifice tube didn't look too bad considering Sean took delivery of this truck in October of 2001 and it has 192k miles on it. Just a little metal......
Going back together.....
Once I had all the connections tight I put the pump on it to start pulling the system down while we buttoned up the rest......
We pulled vacuum for about 1-1/4 hour. By that time, we had the truck buttoned up....
Then we charged it up.....
It was a long day. We got started at 9 and wrapped up about 6:30. The new compressor is silent. The pressures looked good. The old compressor, with the condenser leak, just didn't have the umph to get as high of pressures as you want to see on a warm day. Admittedly, I haven't been out for a ride in it yet. I charged it to as close to spec as I could get with little cans. I think it is going to be a very nice upgrade for the truck. Anyway, that was our Saturday. Another project off the list. Thanks for following along friends.
