New guy with K1500 Burb AC problem

[scottfarkus]

Hi all,

 

Hope someone can chime in here. My 99 Burb lost its AC about 4 years ago. Had it to the shop and they told me it was a leak at the rear condenser. Wanted over 1K to repair. Didn't happen. I bought rear AC plug kit and just ran front AC for one summer. Next summer, no AC. Left it at that. Had other issues (common intake manifold leak which I replaced gasket).

 

Bottom line with this beast is that I've owned since new and it is gradually falling apart. Brakes have been bad from the get go (ABS sensors, frozen calipers, warped rotors, rotted brake lines), Fuel lines are rotting, Rear bumper rotting out, Frame looks like it may last another 3 years at most. This thing was used only on long trips and was garaged. It's only got 90K and engine and tranny seem fine. Anyway I'm stuck with it for now and would like to put AC back in service but am unwilling to spend big bucks for a vehicle worth only maybe 2K.

 

So I recharged AC w/ dye and found the leak in the system at the compressor housing seal. The compressor is still working as it will hold refrigerant and cool for a couple of months. Research indicates this compressor is famous for failing at this housing o ring due to twisting on the mount over time. Anyone ever break this compressor down on their own and replace this seal with any success and is it likely that I can get away with not replacing the front condenser if I do this repair since the compressor didn't have a catastrophic failure and send metal into the system? I'm willing to put in my time but not much more money into this beast. I need it for towing and having AC again would be nice. Thanks for any ideas.

[ElginAgain]

I just did a reseal on Harris R-4 compressor on my 1995 GMC Sierra K1500. It was pretty easy, just needed basic hand tools and some specialty tools I borrowed from Autozone. Here's the tutorial I followed http://ck5.com/forums/threads/how-to-reseal-an-r-4-a-c-compressor.307840/

 

Also might wanna take a look at this one... http://watdahell.xyz/tutorials/r4-compressor/repair.php