Source for rear AC fittings?

[v30]

Cold Hose

AC Hoses, Hose Kits and Fittings, AC hose repair

coldhose.com

 

[75gmck25]

When I had my new A/C hoses built they found that GM used a larger diameter hose fitting than normal for the evaporator connection, probably because the orifice tube fits in there. The A/C shop just took two fittings of the right size, cut them apart and braised them back together to make an adapter, and then crimped it on the new hose. Only took him a few minutes.

 

[82SquareBurb]

Any tips on how best to flush my rear evaporator unit? I know the expansion valve is inline back there, and from what I know so far the exp valve may block the flow of solvent, my plan is to get as much of the mineral oil out as I can. May just undo the fittings and flush it separate from the rear lines. Also wondering how to retrofit the rear hard lines that span the length of the truck, I am thinking I may need some weld on O-ring male fittings, then just have an end on the #6 and #12 hard line to the new hoses. Not sure doing a double flare to -6 and -12 AN lines would be an easier route and not leak. I have the crimper tool, and an (aircraft) flare tool, but no way to remake the hard lines with the soft hose sections. They are still good, so I guess I could roll with my 43 year old originals as well if they pass the leak test.

 

[gmbellew]

id definitely disconnect the rear expansion valve when flushing. and while it is out, throw it in the freezer and make sure it closes and operates properly.

 

[82SquareBurb]

Looks like a good amount of the oil gets down into the hard lines, drained out a little over 2 ounces from mine.

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Gravity helped collect the oil

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Replacing the old barrier hose with new - just used a dremel tool to cut the ferrules off:

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and found some JB weld patch work in the section that runs over the rear axle, I may burn this off with a torch/wire brush and braze some AL-3 rod for a more permanent patch.

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More to come.

 

[82SquareBurb]

More work on the rear lines, and fittings:

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All cleaned and ready for the new hose: (can see the old hoses in the background)

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Some of the new fittings, I wound up ordering WAY more than I will need, so I have a few options depending on if I wind up replacing all the hoses/fittings, which so far looks like it will be a complete overhaul. The hoses look OK, but not sure I want to trust 40+ year old hoses.

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Next is tackling the rear evaporator unit, getting it flushed, replace the TXV, sorting out the noisy fan and redoing the suction and discharge hoses. Once I have that cleaned up, it should all start going back together.

 

[82SquareBurb]

Rear AC unit getting some love:

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All flushed out

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New expansion valve installed.

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Lines flushed, and all buttoned back up

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Coming together under the hood, have a few more hoses to crimp and fit up, but slowly going back together.

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[82SquareBurb]

During the flushing, most of the mineral oil was a light tan/brown color that came out of the rear lines, and evaporator, compressor - but for some reason the oil coming out of the front evaporator was red in color. Apparently a leak detection die/ester based oil?

Sent nearly a gallon of denatured alcohol through the front evaporator, and finally got it to run clean.
Here is a shot of the catch bin after five flushes through the main evaporator core. I was worried this might be mineral oil, but apparently this is an older ester based leak detection additive. I still went overboard making sure I got ALL of it out, just in case. Added about an ounce of PAG 100 to the condenser, an ounce or two in each evaporator, and will throw a few in the accumulator to get to 11 ounces total.

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[edgephoto]

I would be interested in knowing where you got the fittings. How did you crimp the ferrules?

 

[82SquareBurb]

I would be interested in knowing where you got the fittings. How did you crimp the ferrules?

Most of them are from rockauto, the UAC brand. I am using an iGleelee (amazon) generic crimp tool. The tool was less than paying a local shop to crimp the hoses.

 

[82SquareBurb]

UAC has an online catalog that was a huge help for me in sizing all the fittings, most are the female O-ring type, with a male fitting on the high side line to the rear. The biggest challenge for me has been splitting the high and low side to the rear AC unit.

Link to the UAC catalog: https://www.uacparts.com/legacy/UACproducts_Fittings.html

Once I found the part number for the sizes I needed, I just used rockauto's part number search tool to gather them up, - since most the AC fittings all come from the same warehouse shipping was about $11 bucks, so not too bad. I think in all, I have about $50 in fittings, and another $65 in hose.

 

[edgephoto]

Thanks for the info.

 

[82SquareBurb]

A bit more detail on the fitting information for doing a full workover of a Suburban with rear AC, (when retrofitted with a Sanden SD7 compressor) might be helpful for others. UAC seems to be the defacto source for most suppliers like vintage, coldhose, atco, etc. so these numbers should cross over depending on where you source the fittings.

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[saltdog]

This is awesome info! Just got my truck back from the spring shop- great ride, but they screwed up my AC so was thinking worst case I'd be building rear lines. Turned out to be way easier- they loosed the rear line connection to receiver. Easy fix today, but ya never know!

 

[Hunter79764]

Thank you! This looks like a great head start for my suburban... Some yahoo cut the lines and stole the compressor out of it from the previous owner, so a full breakdown with sizes etc should be a huge help if/when I rebuild it all. Bookmarked!