I'm on a first time adventure into AC repair. :confused: I am replacing the dryer/accumulator and compressor on the 82. The evaporator side fitting on the dryer came right off but the hose side was a real bear. After much persuasion (and some very unkind words :mad ) I was able to break it loose. Once apart I noticed the dryer side fitting had decided to keep about two threads worth of the hose fitting metal. :cry


So what are my options? Can the tube end be cut off, a new nut put on, and the tube reformed? I really don't want to change the whole hose assembly because from the looks of it, the hood will have to be removed to get to the condenser fitting.

A friend says they make barbed fitting/clamp for this. Is there such and do they work?

Dane

 

i just put one on my 77. dont know if they're the same , but you can get it off the condenser without taking the hood off. try a crowsfoot socket and it should come out. you can get ends put on them, but you have to take the hose off to do it. i did that last year and it didnt hold up very well. bout a month ago i changed the acumulater, manifold(hose) and put in a new screen. dont know what the name for that thing isbut its a little screen that fits in the hose. kind of a filter i guess. anyway , it's only been 109 here so far this summer and the ac blows so cold an max cool on the highway that i have to put it on normal and turn the fan down. best the a/c has worked since ive owned the car. do it right and do it once. i didnt and it cost me about 300 bux. thats cost on the freon and parts cuz i work at a gm dealer. good luck, hope this helps. regards, fng

 

I replaced the hose fitting a few months ago. A previous owner, Bubba, had the low side to the compressor cut and re-clamped with 2 hose clamps. Taking the hood off is about the easiest thing to do on these cars in my opinion. I unbolted the hood from the hinges and left the hinges on the car. There are only 2 or three more bolts holding the hood support. I marked the top inside corner, both horizontally and vertically where the hinge bolts to the hood and made sure to realign to those marks on installation. I used a carboard box on the aircleaner to support the hood as I unbolted it, leaving one bolt in per side until my wife could come help stabilize it. It is very light and the 2 of us had no problem lifting it over the front of the car. Once it's off there is plenty of room to work on that condensor connection. BTW Autozone has that hose assembly availble for oder online for like $59.00. It's a pretty good fit, long enough for my 79, nice fit at the compressor, but I had to bend down slightly the low pressure side a little as it was hitting the hood when it closed. Be careful on that becuase I'm sure aluminium won't take much of a bend. Other than that it was a simple repair. The hardest part was getting the accumulator back in there under the fender. I think the whole evaporator can come out with the accumulator attached as an assembly, but you might want to verify that. Did you replace the expansion orafice too?


[Modified by isosceles, 11:37 PM 6/23/2003]

 

FNG,
Good idea about the crows foot. It never occurred to me use one. I'll check it out tomorrow.

Isosceles
I think I'll get the hose from AutoZone as you suggest. If I have to remove the hood so be it. I'm planning on using one of the variable orifice tubes and changing to r134a.

Thanks for the help.