spectaculous

Get a flashlight and peer through the grill to get a look at the condenser. If there is a leak, you should see a wet oily area near where the leak is. Mine was on the driver's side up at the braze/weld where all of these condensers seem to have the leak...

Pretty sure that was me with suggestion, tho i wasn't the first to try it out. Had to wait 20,000 miles or so before i had to replace that filter again. We had these thin plastic cutting board sheets we used in the kitchen. i stole one and cut it to the right width to slip under the filter before i pull it. i've done this job now like 3 more times since the 1st change, and every time there are leaves laying on top of the dirty filters.

I am coming up on my 5th full day since i replaced the condenser, and its looking like i won this one. AC is still blowing cold and easily can handle the heat Houston is throwing at it. One other question, i forgot to ask: did any of you replace the dexron VI you lost from the condenser change? how much do i need to add back to the transmission?

i had this problem a few years back after my first filter change. when you go to pull the old/used filter, there will be leaves sitting on top that will fall into the blower fan if you don't slip a sheet of cardboard or plastic underneath the filter before you pull it. i used a telescoping mirror to find where the leaf was. and then i stuffed my hand in there and fished it out with my fingers. i could barely get it.

I tried to buy a new dryer, but advance Auto said it was integrated with the condenser, so I hope it was in there. Thanks for the knowledge! I didn't think about the residual moisture may have raised the pressure slightly like that. That's probably what it was. I want to say I was near 35 psig on the low side when I stopped. I know it was at least 30 psig and was definitely not 40 psig. The can weight loss accounting wasn't nearly as easy to figure out while I was in the middle of it all. I weighed a 12 oz can of freon as 15.something oz on the scale and then by the time I weighed it during charging, I had added the can tap and the weight of the yellow hose was added. I just kept adding each can until it felt empty and had no feel of liquid sloshing around. When I closed the valves and removed the empty can, it too a sec or two to depressurize, so I figured at most was an ounce of gas left or it was the low side system pressure. At worst, I added 24 oz instead of 22 oz...

I did. I pulled vacuum for 15 minutes then closed all the manifold valves and waited another 15 minutes to see if it held vacuum. The gauge appeared to move ever so slightly off the 29/30 inches it started with. So I repeated the process again to see if my eyes were seeing things. They saw slight needle movement again. I definitely could see the leak spot on the old condenser I pulled. So I figured the only place I could have a legitimate leak is on the refrigerant connections to the condenser when I hooked it back up. I gave it my best effort to tighten that 13mm nut down. I really couldn't make it any tighter that it was, so I thought that maybe it is that harbor freight manifold gauge set could've been leaking. I tightened the 6 connections on it the best I could when I put it together but I decided not to wrap the threads with Teflon tape. Maybe I had a leak on those connections or my eyes were not in the exact same spot to reread after 15 minutes. You can probably guess where this story is headed-- I finally said f*ck it" and continued pulling vacuum on the system for an hour or so while i reinstalled the parts I had removed to get access. Added PAG 46 oil. I think it might've been 2 oz. Then I added what I thought was 22 oz of r134a. AC was nice and freezing last night and this morning, so now I play the waiting game for the next couple of weeks or so to see if I my system is leak free. What should the high and low side pressures be if I have the proper amount of freon?

just tackled this sh!t today. good god, it didn't go nearly as smooth as the YouTube video made me think it would. 8 or 9 hours. with some healthy breaks mixed in there. fingers crossed that it is leak free. I really don't feel like tearing it all back apart to fix it if it isn't good...

I appreciate your offer! and i may just call on you when i get going on it if i run into any problems. I bought a harbor freight (i know. i know.) manifold gauge set and 2.5 cfm vacuum pump the other day. I figure if i can get one use out of it, i've gotten my money's worth. I've got the thermometer (thermopen) and digital scale already. just need to get a can tap. didn't you replace your high and low pressure side lines/hoses? what are the part numbers on those? i might go ahead and change mine out too, to be safe... i have been adding freon every 3 or so days to stay cool until i can find a free saturday to do all of this. i am assuming i will need to either let it fully leak out the current way it is doing on its own or i will need pull it all out with a reclamation tank before i begin breaking any connections, right?

add me to this sh!t list. A/C has been struggling getting worse here in houston over the last few days. Called my dealership. They wanted $126-something to diagnose, said it would go towards repairs tho. I asked if its worse case scenario and is the condenser, how long and how much? they said $1200 and a month or two wait. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK THAT NOISE. of course yesterday it is really struggling, so i went and looked all over for a leak. pretty sure it is my condenser, because it has an oily, wet stain on the driver-side near the top braze spot. I was able to find a $199 Tough-One brand replacement condenser at an Advance Auto around here. But i will say these things are slim pickins around here. i had to try 3 places before i lucked into that one. question i have is: after condenser replacement... if i pull a vacuum on this thing, how much PAG 46 oil will i need to add back into the system before i refill with r134a? the Advance Auto computer says 7.1 oz needed total, but i have read people saying you add only 2 if you replace the condenser? whats the right number? if you pull a vacuum, won't all of the oil be removed as well? SCHOOL ME PLEASE.

my 2014 CC has 82K and some change. No issues yet.

This thread is a perfect example of this forum-- too many irrelevant posts! 3 pages of posts with a good half of them posting real low mileage numbers . If you just got your truck, you don't need to post in here. I had to read through all of your posts for nothing. I know i'm not in the running for the highest. Just rolled 45K today. No maintenance needed except for the routines... I'm thinking i'll be lucky to get another 10K out of the stock SRAs.

None of the intervals you have recommended follow what the manual says. Let's assume most of us drive what would be considered "severe service"... automatic transmission should be serviced (fluid & filter) at 45k miles. The manual doesn't even give an interval for changing differential fluid, so 32k is unnecessarily early number to pull out of your ass. Also, the original iridium plugs should easily make the suggested 97.5k mile interval the manual says to change them at. On my last Chevy, I changed the plugs at 96k like the book said and it wasn't stumbling around for that last 30k I had drove it. I agree with your assessment that if well taken care of, these trucks should make it to 300k. But what the book says is good enough.

If that site is legit, then Mobil1 Advanced Fuel Economy 0W-20 was the highest ranked 0W-20. And since the owner's manual states that "SAE 0W-20 is the best viscosity grade for the 5.3L and 6.2L V8 engines", that would make it the best GM-approved oil for those engines, at least wear protection-wise. Good to know that what I've been doing is right!

Installed my Bak Revolver X2 on Monday. I have the 6.5' standard bed. No gaps anywhere. Install was easy. Best tonneau cover out there IMHO.