creich68
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2023
- Posts
- 20
- Reaction score
- 44
- Location
- North Carolina
- First Name
- Clay
- Truck Year
- 1991
- Truck Model
- V1500 Burban
- Engine Size
- 5.7
Hello All! New kid on the block, but not new to the 91 Suburban in the garage. I am the fortunate new-ish owner of the Suburban my parents bought new in 91. So many family trip memories that I had to keep it in the family. Being stored indoors it's whole life, it has been preserved well, especially after the deep cleaning/ceramic coating this past fall:
After sitting in a barn for many years and before driving it back from MO to NC, the local shop in MO charged the AC system in September. The charge lasted most of the fall (converted to R134a about ~8 years prior). I wasn't surprised that it had a slow leak somewhere so I took it to a new local shop near me in NC around mid May of this year to diagnose the leak and charge. Shop discovered that the ports leaked, replaced both, charged and said it was good to go....The freon leaked out in 4 weeks....
Second trip to local NC shop in mid June, they found a leak in the hose assembly that connects to the compressor. Said there was a hole in the hose that looked like it was spraying on the compressor (but according to them it was not there a month prior). They did not feel the compressor was leaking. System charged and out the door I go....2 weeks later I was under the front end looking at steering components, and noticed freon/dye on the crossmember and traced it to the back side of the compressor. Not only was it leaking, but I could hear a slight sizzle from the back side of the compressor (like it was bleeding off pressure from the system). I was on the path to a Sanden conversion when I stumbled upon a brand new AC Delco/GM Genuine compressor for $225, so I thought, let's give a new R4 a chance.
Reluctantly took it back to the same shop to diagnose the freon on the back side of the compressor. Mentioned that I tracked down a AC Delco compressor so if the original Harrison unit needs to be replaced, let's move forward with the new one. Also requested that the accumulator and orifice tube be changed out so the compressor warranty would be intact. I get a call 3.5 hours later that the compressor had been swapped but that they did not replace the accumulator/orifice tube (said it was not needed and refused to replace them). Needless to say the shop and I have parted ways due to poor communication and not standing behind their work on other occasions.
I say all of this to get the input from the many AC compressor threads I've read - seems like the common advice is always replace the accumulator/orifice tube anytime the compressor is changed since it's cheap parts while the system is already open. The question I have to you all is - should I find another shop to open the system back up to replace those parts, or roll the dice? I will say that my original Harrison unit was quiet and functioning correctly, just leaking freon (freon was clean and no debris noted in the system when they evacuated it for the work). I don't mind spending the money at another shop to have it installed if that means the best chance for the new compressor to survive.
I also kept the original Harrison because it was leaking where the new hose assembly bolted to the back, and still functioning. I think the technician might have used the wrong orings when the hose assembly was installed on the second trip, but that's a story for another time...I was also amused when the shop said they wouldn't replace the orifice tube because they had to take the grill apart to replace it at the condenser. I could be wrong but my original GM service manual shows the orifice tube in the line feeding into the front evaporator
I've learned a lot about AC systems from this forum over the last couple weeks. THANK YOU ALL for that education so far!
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
After sitting in a barn for many years and before driving it back from MO to NC, the local shop in MO charged the AC system in September. The charge lasted most of the fall (converted to R134a about ~8 years prior). I wasn't surprised that it had a slow leak somewhere so I took it to a new local shop near me in NC around mid May of this year to diagnose the leak and charge. Shop discovered that the ports leaked, replaced both, charged and said it was good to go....The freon leaked out in 4 weeks....
Second trip to local NC shop in mid June, they found a leak in the hose assembly that connects to the compressor. Said there was a hole in the hose that looked like it was spraying on the compressor (but according to them it was not there a month prior). They did not feel the compressor was leaking. System charged and out the door I go....2 weeks later I was under the front end looking at steering components, and noticed freon/dye on the crossmember and traced it to the back side of the compressor. Not only was it leaking, but I could hear a slight sizzle from the back side of the compressor (like it was bleeding off pressure from the system). I was on the path to a Sanden conversion when I stumbled upon a brand new AC Delco/GM Genuine compressor for $225, so I thought, let's give a new R4 a chance.
Reluctantly took it back to the same shop to diagnose the freon on the back side of the compressor. Mentioned that I tracked down a AC Delco compressor so if the original Harrison unit needs to be replaced, let's move forward with the new one. Also requested that the accumulator and orifice tube be changed out so the compressor warranty would be intact. I get a call 3.5 hours later that the compressor had been swapped but that they did not replace the accumulator/orifice tube (said it was not needed and refused to replace them). Needless to say the shop and I have parted ways due to poor communication and not standing behind their work on other occasions.
I say all of this to get the input from the many AC compressor threads I've read - seems like the common advice is always replace the accumulator/orifice tube anytime the compressor is changed since it's cheap parts while the system is already open. The question I have to you all is - should I find another shop to open the system back up to replace those parts, or roll the dice? I will say that my original Harrison unit was quiet and functioning correctly, just leaking freon (freon was clean and no debris noted in the system when they evacuated it for the work). I don't mind spending the money at another shop to have it installed if that means the best chance for the new compressor to survive.
I also kept the original Harrison because it was leaking where the new hose assembly bolted to the back, and still functioning. I think the technician might have used the wrong orings when the hose assembly was installed on the second trip, but that's a story for another time...I was also amused when the shop said they wouldn't replace the orifice tube because they had to take the grill apart to replace it at the condenser. I could be wrong but my original GM service manual shows the orifice tube in the line feeding into the front evaporator
I've learned a lot about AC systems from this forum over the last couple weeks. THANK YOU ALL for that education so far!
