[DMCForum] Re: Fridge Run Repair status

["Walter Coe" <Whalt@xxxxxxx>]

It looks like Andrei has me beat in the toy department.  I
think the only thing I have him beat in is a/c specific
tools.

> Yeah but you also have a lead on where to get good A/C
hoses made at
your place.

Rich, who's place are you talking about?

A little recap for you on how the hoses are done: Cut the
hoses at the compressor leaving an inch or so hose still
attached to the compressor fittings (or just cut the metal
lines where the hose starts).  Get under the car and pull
all the hoses off the car (disconnecting them from
evaporator, accumulator, condenser).  Bring all the fittings
& hoses over to Amazon Hose & Rubber in S. Tampa.  They lay
it out on a table, measure the lengths, but for the two main
ones going to the compressor I tell them to make them a foot
longer and tell them not to crimp the fittings on the
compressor end.  I have to leave everything there for a day
or so because someone has to refurbish some of the fittings
such as both that go to the compressor and the one that
holds the orifice tube in the evaporator.  They cut the ends
off and weld new parts that crimp into the hoses.  The rest
of the fittings are off-the-shelf replacements.

Later I pick the hoses up, put them on the car, drive the
car back to them, have them cut the compressor hoses to
length and crimp the fittings on.  Then drive it back to my
house and finish the job.  Total cost was $190 & change from
Amazon.  The reason for making the hoses longer is because
the factory made them too short such that they get cut on
the fiberglass underbody.  A little slack goes a long way to
prevent that as well as filing down the sharp edges.

Older VIN cars lack the over-pressure protection devices,
but apparently DMCH sells some kind of conversion thingy for
it.  I'll be sure to ask them about it next time I talk to
them.  But Rich, your car is a late enough VIN that it
already has these devices.

If we do the hoses on your car, I'll go on and have the ones
from wrecked VIN 5030 redone so that the only thing left to
do is put them on your car and crimp the compressor
fittings.  Some mechanics have no qualms over using
pre-assembled hoses and bending the lip on the car's frame
to get them in place.  I don't recommend this.  That is why
I like to do it the hard way.

>From my observations, original hoses tend to leak as a
function of mileage (60+K miles) instead of age.  They leak
worse in the engine compartment where they are exposed to
more heat.  The evidence of this is that the outside of the
hoses will be all oily from the refrigerant taking the oil
with it as it leaks.  If you do an R-134a conversion then
expect leaks sooner.  If you are happy with putting up with
leaks, then remember to add oil each time you add
refrigerant.  When people repeatedly  add refrigerant then
the compressor gets damaged from lack of oil.

Damn that's long winded... as usual...
Walt

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