Well that sucks

[Blackbird]

Took the kids out for a quick spin in the 83’ C10 because they love riding in it. Let it idle at the house when we got back because it was running a little rough. Wasn’t idled more then 30 seconds and Freon started pouring out of the vents like smoke. Turned the truck off immediately but it still slowly poured out like this for 10 minutes. Popped the hood and the A/c box in the back left was hissing and making a “bubbling” sound. Does this pretty guarantee a full A/C rebuild will be required?

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[PrairieDrifter]

That's a first!! For me anyways lol.

I would imagine it's just the evaporator. In the firewall box. If you get it taken care of quickly you should just be able to replace the evaporator.

I'm also not an a/c expert.

 

[ali_c20]

I would guess lines or evaporator core. I would do a full rebuild as you are already have to work on it and the other parts are old and can fail too.
Is the system using R12 or R134a ? If R12 you have to swap some parts to be compatible with R134a.

The linked article below has a lot of info about refrigerants:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/air-conditioning-dos-and-donts-refrigerants-and-the-law/

 

[Blackbird]

I’m not sure what system it uses. It’s a 1983 Silverado. What’s the easiest way to tell?

 

[CheemsK1500]

I’m not sure what system it uses. It’s a 1983 Silverado. What’s the easiest way to tell?

It would originally use R12. If it was properly retrofitted for 134a, it should have R134a sized ports on it or adapters on top of the R12 ports. Outside of that, there’s no way to tell unless one of the components has been explicitly marked as 134a (some replacement compressors will come like this.). Regardless, you’ve clearly lost refrigerant, so you’re going to have to use 134a or pay insane amounts for R12.

 

[Ricko1966]

It's the evaporator. Evaporator leaks are a reason I am not a fan of charging a/c with freon or other flammable gas.

 

[Scruffy49]

Saw that in one of the Reddit groups yesterday. Impressive vapor display. Evap or line popped, update to modern replacements, R134 it, call it good.

I have 4 cans of R12, but not the correct working hose/gauge set anymore. R12 works better, but not worth the headaches.