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 propane 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.

 

[75gmck25]

It definitely looks like you blew a hole in the evaporator (evaporator looks a lot like a heater core). Relatively easy to replace the evaporator, but as was mentioned, once you open it up there are other parts to check and update.

- if it’s already R134a, you can probably just replace parts, pull vacuum to remove the moisture, and then recharge. A/C shops usually use an automated machine to vacuum and recharge, but you can DIY with a vacuum pump and inexpensive gauge set.
- always replace dryer/accumulator and orifice, and use new green o-rings on all fittings. They may have also switched the orifice from GM white to Ford Blue (blue is supposed to work better with R134a), or even added a variable orifice (mixed reviews of how well they work).
- compressor and condenser should still be fine
- hoses may be fine, but should be updated to new barrier hose if they are original and not in good shape

I’m sure I’ll think of more items, and there are other things that may have failed. For example, many converted systems add a high pressure cutout switch, since R134a pressures are higher than R12. Your original system only had a low pressure cutout, which protected the compressor. Excessive pressure may be why the evaporator failed.

 

[Blackbird]

Does revving the engine have any factor in the pressure in the AC system? I will admit I revved the engine a bit while idling since it seemed to be idling weird/low and I wanted to see if it would help at all. Nothing crazy. Like revving it up to 2,500-3,000 rpms probably

 

[Blackbird]

Also. Here’s some pics of the AC unit. I noticed the side of the silver cylinder under the hood mentions R12/R134A so maybe the system is already updated?

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[NLD79K10]

Looks like someone already did an R134a conversion on it by the way there's adapters on both the high and low pressure port.
R12 used screw on fittings instead of the quick release ones that R134a uses.

 

[82SquareBurb]

Should just need a new evaporator / accumulator and orifice valve. One thing that will make high side pressure spike too high is if the fan is not cooling the condenser, so make sure your fan is good to avoid any such spikes.