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2013 Chevrolet Suburban
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Help with leak

Old Oct 20, 2019 | 2:40 PM
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Default Help with leak

Hi - Any help would be appreciated. I have a leak coming from a hose that I need help to identify so I can see if I can fix it myself. When the car is on and the heat is on I see the leak. Please see pics



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Old Oct 20, 2019 | 4:12 PM
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It might be a good idea to mention what year and type of car you have.

Tom
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Old Oct 20, 2019 | 4:37 PM
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Originally Posted by BLKonBLK
Hi - Any help would be appreciated. I have a leak coming from a hose that I need help to identify so I can see if I can fix it myself. When the car is on and the heat is on I see the leak. Please see pics


That is one your A/C pressure lines from the receiver-drier or condenser tube that is running into the cabin, connecting it to your A/C evaporator, located in your climate control box. It is way too small to be the heater hoses, which I can see to the upper right of your A/C tube. The heater is also located in the C-C-B, as well, but the heater uses the engine coolant to heat your cabin heater (basically, it is a small radiator with a fan) at about 16 PSI when hot, and at the 190-210 Fahrenheit temperature range.

The A/C system uses a refrigerant called "R-134A" to cool your cabin, using the evaporator. The accumulator is the aluminum canister that is located in your engine bay, between the evaporator and your condenser, located in front of your radiator, which cools the R-134A refrigerant down, after it cycles through your evaporator. It operates at about 30-40 PSI on the low side, to 175-225 PSI, on the high side, while the engine is running normally with the A/C turned on. With engine or A/C in the "Off" position, it settles down to around 70-75 PSI hi/low. I would not work on this system yourself if you are not a professional tech. It is simply not worth the risk of being harmed at all.

I have seen people try to “do it themselves” and the results can cause serious injury, particularly if one is not wearing mechanic’s gloves and some serious eye-protection. Also, it is illegal to vent the R-134A to atmosphere. Professional techs use a very expensive recycling device to recover the old R-134A, so that they can repair the mechanical A/C issue, then the Atmo must be purged from the repaired unit to minus -30 PSI pressure for a period of time, as oxygen/nitrogen does not mix well with R-134A, and reduces the efficiency of the entire air-conditioning system and can lead to corrosion due to moisture in the air, which will eventually lead to further issues, later on in time.

Last edited by oilcanhenry; Oct 23, 2019 at 12:27 AM.
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Old Oct 20, 2019 | 5:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Silverfox103
It might be a good idea to mention what year and type of car you have.

Tom
On recent study, it is possible that this line runs to the second A/C evaporator located somewhere in the rear of the vehicle. I am not familiar with these secondary A/C systems, but it looks like both of the A/C lines that I see are not routing to the condenser nor the accumulator, but look like they are headed to the rear of the vehicle. I have never worked on, or studied, the rear A/C systems on a Tahoe or a Suburban, so I am not at all positive about this. It is more of an educated guess at this point in time.
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Old Oct 20, 2019 | 6:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Silverfox103
It might be a good idea to mention what year and type of car you have.

Tom
2008 Tahoe ltz
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Old Oct 20, 2019 | 6:15 PM
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Thank you for that detailed breakdown, Off to the mechanic I go I guess

Originally Posted by oilcanhenry
That is one your A/C pressure lines from the receiver-drier or condenser tube that is running into the cabin, connecting it to your A/C evaporator, located in your climate control box. It is way too small to be the heater hoses, which I can see to the upper right of your A/C tube. The heater is also located in the C-C-B, as well, but the heater uses the engine coolant to heat your cabin heater (basically, it is a small radiator with a fan) at about 16 PSI when hot, and at the 190-210 Fahrenheit temperature range.

The A/C system uses a refrigerant called "R-134A" to cool your cabin, using the evaporator. The accumulator is the aluminum canister that is located in your engine bay, between the evaporator and your condenser, located in front of your radiator, which cools the R-134A refrigerant down, after it cycles through your evaporator. It operates at about 30-40 PSI on the low side, to 175-225 PSI, on the high side, while the engine is running normally with the A/C turned on. With engine or A/C in the "Off" position, it settles down to around 70-75 PSI hi/low. I would not work on this system yourself if you are not a professional tech. It is simply not worth the risk of being harmed at all.

I have seen people try to “do it themselves” and the results can cause serious injury, particularly if one is not wearing mechanic’s gloves and some serious eye-protection. Also, it is illegal to vent the R-134A to atmosphere. Professional techs use a very expensive recycling device to recover the old R-134A, so that they can repair the mechanical A/C issue, then the Atmo must be purged from the repaired unit to minus -30 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of time, as oxygen/nitrogen does not mix well with R-134A, and reduces the efficiency of the entire air-conditioning system and can lead to corrosion due to moisture in the air, which will eventually lead to further issues, later on in time.
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Old Oct 22, 2019 | 7:22 AM
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This was actually a pretty easy job. All you had to do is change the T connector. Here is a video I found on youtube how to do it and save you some money

thanks,
blkonblk
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Old Oct 22, 2019 | 8:37 AM
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I just did similar last year on our 2005 6.0 Yukon Denali; used a little green plastic tool (designed for this) to remove broken fitting.
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Old Oct 22, 2019 | 10:38 AM
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didnt look like a hard job for do it yourself and that T part is cheap, oilcanhenry made it seam that it would be more difficult than it is

Originally Posted by Cusser
I just did similar last year on our 2005 6.0 Yukon Denali; used a little green plastic tool (designed for this) to remove broken fitting.
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Old Oct 23, 2019 | 12:40 AM
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Originally Posted by BLKonBLK
This was actually a pretty easy job. All you had to do is change the T connector. Here is a video I found on youtube how to do it and save you some money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZh3Iu4LYa4

thanks,
blkonblk
Very interesting. I couldn't see the plastic "T" heater parts in the OP's photo's, so these tubes are going to a rear heater and not a rear A/C system. Well, I am not familiar with the larger SUV's four-door heater and A/C systems and now I know more then I did.I saw the main heater hoses from the engine, but not the T-off connector
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