A/C in my 63 bonne.

[GARY F]

this question applys to any old car with factory A/C.i finally went to fix the a/c/ since i restored the car. my electronic leak detector found a leak where the line goes into the expansion valve. took apart, put in new o-ring. put a little r-12 back in and no leaks anywhere. put the vacuum pump on ,drew down to 28. it held there for 5 hours  the next day i charged it with r-12, pumped out nice cold air at about 50 degrees.today, two days later, which is today, i started it up and turned on the a/c and no cold air, comp. running. got the leak detector out and found the rubber line that goes into the low side showed it was leakung ,not from the ends with the clamps but about 4 inches of the hose. no real amount of r-12 on the hose. question can a hose 53 years old be so porous that the r-12 leaked out no bubbles or liquid in the site glass.

thanks for your reply

[Larry W]

Fifty three year old tires will deteriorate and leak through the sidewall, so I suppose an A/C hose would do the same. Both will break down on the outside and also within. I would take the original hoses to an A/C repair shop to have new ones fabricated.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Larry W (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

IF they use the newer barrier-style hose, you might need to take the car along and measure the actual hose length needed rather tan match the orig hose in the newer hose material.  Seems that the current replacement ACDelco hoses for older vehicles now have the barrier-style hose material, built to OEM specs.  Problem was that when we tried to install those new pre-made hoses, they didn't bend as the original hose did and we had to send THEM out to get the rubber sections lengthened before they would fit the vehicle.  Of course, the original barb fittings will need to be changed, too, as they'll pierce the barrier part of the hose.

 

Your experiences might vary . . .

 

NTX5467