hi guys. I am curious to know if anyone has replaced any hoses from their a/c units. I posted a thread a couple of months ago regarding a leak in my a/c system and the hose that was leaking was a discharge hose that connects from the condenser to the evaporator. It runs along the valve body cover and underneath the airbox. If anyone has any tips or insight on how to replace this please let me know as I am gonna take my car to the shop to have it recharged. The humidity is starting to get to me .

 

Man, what a long day... after being out for a few hours driving around the city trying to find my bro a car, I decided to tackle this project. Mind you, after 4 hours of greasy hands, arms, cursing and troubleshooting I am not finished yet. I did not think that replacing a hose would literally take this long. The original hose that I took out had a nice noticable pin hole in it. It was in fact rubbing against the transmission valvebody cover. So heres, what I did and I think I did alright for a beginner. First, I disassembled my K&N air intake setup with shield. Disconnected the ground for abs/traction. Second, I disconnected the PCM from the harness'. To remove the hose you will need a 24mm wrench along with a 21 or 22mm wrench to undo the nut. This end is connected to another hose attachment for the compressor and they both connect to the condensor located inside the radiator. After I disconnected the condensor fitting, I disconnected the other end from the firewall (it is the less wider hose that needs to be replaced) This hose runs all the way around the brake lines and is clamped down along the frame and is hidin underneath the brake control module. This was a very complicated process as removing the old busted hose I bent the living snot out of and removed it. but installing the new on I wasn't gonna risk any chances of bending it, so I went ahead and unbolted the brake control module via outside of the drivers side wheel well. I also disconnected the lines that feed into the module and the 2 lines that feed into the brake reservoir. At this point my car's battery is disconnected along with the other remaining things that I removed because installing the new one is such a pain in my a** that I just gave up for today and will be ready to finish it tomorrow God willing. If anyone is interested in this write up and would like more info message back. And for those Guru mechanics who can give me any tips on how I should go about finishing it off, I am open to comments. Just so you guys know I did have trouble trying to install the hose as 1 piece so I undid the nut which is connected to the 90deg line which connects to the firewall. A fair amount of meticulous thinking and working is required in this project so good luck to those who have the same issue.

 

What year Monte is it? Because if it's a 6th Gen, I can tell you that those A/C lines are well hidden and very hard to get to. Heck, even checking the freon level is tricky because you have to dig around to find the Low Side connector.

 

hey,.. its a 2003 SS and I hooked up the line the only problem now is connecting the EBCM. I accidently stripped one of the inlet holes for one of the brake lines . Man no kidding. This is probably one of the hardest projects I've ever done on my car and the level of frustration right now is ridiculously high. I'm gonna send it in to my mechanic to have the system recharged. I have a hunch that when I serviced my transmission via valve body to replace a PCS, the mechanic had to tinker with the hoses to remove the cover because it is right across the tranny. What'u think I should do about the stripped hole?

 

It might be possible to re thread the hole with a tap and die set.. I'm not 100% sure on that though. That's if the line broke off. If the bolt is stripped, it still can come off, but it's next to impossible. I haven't dealt much with stuff like this, but if anyone else has, please chime in.

 

hey my friend, thank you for your quick response, I do appreciate your feedback. Its the Left rear brake line that goes in the module/pump the line is ok, the threads for the bolt are ok, and it seems like the threads for the inlet hole are ok too because the bolt goes in half way by hand but as soon as you try to tighten with a wrench it stops turning and the bolt almost looks like its on an angle. I'm hoping I can re-establish the threads by removing the module. At this point there are no brakes on my car and I might have to tow it to a mechanic. Man..... and I was 90% done too

 

Just wanted to inform you guys that when I did install the a/c hose I sprayed silicon lube on the o-rings. Is this alright to do.. I asked for refrigerant oil at Canadian tire but they told me to use white lithium grease so instead I used silicon lube, and according to the bottle its good for rubber an weatherstripping. Any comments on this stuff?

 

Silicone spray shouldn't do anything to the o-rings. I wouldn't use lithium grease on them though. That stuff can come off the o-ring and contaminate the system. Refrigerant or PAG Oil is what's recommended by GM, though. The silicone will work for a while, but it can evaporate (hence why you have to reapply it every so often to weatherstripping seals.) PAG oil you should be able to get almost anywhere. It's not like if you were trying to get real Freon (the R12 stuff that kills the ozone).