2001 Suburban AC help

[glueguy]

I had a catastrophic event that now continues to build. I need help!

 

Vehicle is a one owner, 166k miles, AC system not charged in the 7 years I've been in its life. I replaced a mag clutch a couple of years ago when the AC would randomly stop blowing for variable periods of time before starting to function as normal again all on its own.

 

Driving in traffic, AC blowing cold and all is well. At a stop light there is a loud shriek. At first I think bearing but it's not quite the same sound. It only lasted about three seconds and then stopped. As soon as it stopped the AC started blowing warm at the same fan speed. My wife thinks that the noise was very close, like under the dash.

 

I put the gauges on it this morning. Even pressures on both side, approx. 95/95. Magnetic clutch appears to be turning. When I took the gauges off the high side port continued to hiss. I couldn't see a Schrader valve in the port and don't recall if I could see it before I connected the hose. Put the fitting back on, opened and closed a couple of times but no change. I stuck a small screwdriver into the high port to see if the valve was stuck down, and, well, let's just say I let the smoke out in a forceful way. Got a good spray of compressor oil when this happened. I unscrewed the high side connector from the gauge hose, and this stopped the venting.

 

I need some direction at this point. First I need to figure out what happened with the high pressure fitting and how to get that sealed again, and then troubleshoot what failed.

Thank you!

[txab]

If you have equal pressures with compressor running it's toast. time to rebuild the entire system. Once the compressor lets go it blows crap all through the system. High pressure fitting has developed a leak, quite common. It will be replaced when the rest of the system is replaced.

 

Btw, replace the condenser, don't even try to flush it once the compressor lets go

[glueguy]

Thanks txab. What would be my list of parts (not part numbers, I'll figure it out). Compressor, condenser, expansion valve, receiver drier, orifice tube? More or less than this? What about the rear AC system?

 

Can I avoid the evaporator in the dash?