mudbuggy
1/2 ton status
Hi All,
I was doing the ac thing, finished it all up and parked the truck, meeted the hvac guy, got the house squared away, went back out to the truck and fired it up. I have a large leak on one of the two lines that run to the rear ac system. The leak is within a foot of the rear fitting that is in the floorboard. The vehicle in question is a 1989 GMC V1500 suburban and I have a few questions regarding some 'modifications' to the system.
1. Can the lines just be capped off up under the hood?
- while the line that has a leak in is being made locally, I can't have the open atmosphere able to get in it, I would think that there are specific caps made for that. The hose runs from under the hood about 1 foot of alum to rubber (2-3 feet) then back to alum for the complete run of the body where it attaches to a bolt in bulkhead at the rear of the vehicle.
2. Wouldn't the system operate while the rear ac lines are capped off?
- I would think that it would just be a smaller system or load on the compressor since all components are there for the front system
3. Following the 'capped off thought process' would the system then be the same or close to the k5 ac refrigerant level?
-The sticker under the hood states that 5.87 pounds of r-12 needs to fill the coolant level to the 'full' mark. Cant remember exact verbage, but that's close.
4. The company that I talked today said it will take 2-3 days to make the line, isn't possible for the common joe to bend the line?
-I bend all kinds of stuff what is so different about ac lines
5. Are the fittings available to the common joe?
-Its not like this stuff is super duper secret, but is an ac cert required to purchase
I have other things to repair at the rear of the truck, so the more I think about this the more I like the idea of capping off the lines. There are a few crossmembers that need attention, most of the rear body mounts, the spare tire area. All that metal has rotten away.
btw I have tested the system three times now. the first time I couldn't hold a vacuum at all. I found that one of the two fitting going to the ( can't remember the name at this point in time) thingy in front of the radiator had a broken off fitting. Couple of weeks later I tested it again Found the orings on the back of the compressor were leaking. Last night I pulled vacuum on it down to 28, went to work, came home put the guage set on it, it still had vacuum on it but went up to 15. thought what the hell (again) and loaded it up. Can't find the leak without the compressor working right? Found the leak on the smaller of the two lines running to the rear system.
Pic included




I was doing the ac thing, finished it all up and parked the truck, meeted the hvac guy, got the house squared away, went back out to the truck and fired it up. I have a large leak on one of the two lines that run to the rear ac system. The leak is within a foot of the rear fitting that is in the floorboard. The vehicle in question is a 1989 GMC V1500 suburban and I have a few questions regarding some 'modifications' to the system.
1. Can the lines just be capped off up under the hood?
- while the line that has a leak in is being made locally, I can't have the open atmosphere able to get in it, I would think that there are specific caps made for that. The hose runs from under the hood about 1 foot of alum to rubber (2-3 feet) then back to alum for the complete run of the body where it attaches to a bolt in bulkhead at the rear of the vehicle.
2. Wouldn't the system operate while the rear ac lines are capped off?
- I would think that it would just be a smaller system or load on the compressor since all components are there for the front system
3. Following the 'capped off thought process' would the system then be the same or close to the k5 ac refrigerant level?
-The sticker under the hood states that 5.87 pounds of r-12 needs to fill the coolant level to the 'full' mark. Cant remember exact verbage, but that's close.
4. The company that I talked today said it will take 2-3 days to make the line, isn't possible for the common joe to bend the line?
-I bend all kinds of stuff what is so different about ac lines
5. Are the fittings available to the common joe?
-Its not like this stuff is super duper secret, but is an ac cert required to purchase
I have other things to repair at the rear of the truck, so the more I think about this the more I like the idea of capping off the lines. There are a few crossmembers that need attention, most of the rear body mounts, the spare tire area. All that metal has rotten away.
btw I have tested the system three times now. the first time I couldn't hold a vacuum at all. I found that one of the two fitting going to the ( can't remember the name at this point in time) thingy in front of the radiator had a broken off fitting. Couple of weeks later I tested it again Found the orings on the back of the compressor were leaking. Last night I pulled vacuum on it down to 28, went to work, came home put the guage set on it, it still had vacuum on it but went up to 15. thought what the hell (again) and loaded it up. Can't find the leak without the compressor working right? Found the leak on the smaller of the two lines running to the rear system.
Pic included