A/C Condenser

thewhitestallion · May 3, 2017

Add me to the troubled condenser list...

About a month ago I was driving to work on a sticky Houston night, about ~75*f or so with probably 80% humidity when I noticed that my A/C was not blowing cold. So I double checked that my temps knobs were set right along with the blend door adjustment. Once I checked all that I knew the A/C was not working. So when I got to work I checked the compressor and saw that the clutch was engaged, so that was interesting.

Took it to a buddy that has a machine to recover any freon left in the system and the machine recovered very little, less than an ounce. I thought that was weird due to the clutch still being engaged with such low freon levels. So we filled it back up and put some dye in it and all was good.

This past Thursday I went to drive to work and my A/C was no longer working so after work when I got home, I was able to find the leak. And wouldn't you know it, it's the condenser (thank you GM). I was scheduled to go out of town on Friday morning and since I work night shift when I got off of work it was Friday morning.

So I start tearing it down to pull the condenser out only to get it out and find that no part store or dealer has the part as they are on national back order. So I am pretty pissed off at this point, put it all back together vacuum the system and charge it and the A/C worked great.

Although risky, I took it out of town 4 hours away, stayed out there for 2 days and drove it back home, about 500 miles of driving. A/c worked great the whole time and the next day it went out again, but this time I just added a little freon back in the system to hold me over.

A dealer near me just received 8 condensers today so I picked one up but it hurt, $400 for the condenser and two seals (rip off).

I have worked on some a/c systems before but I am by no means an ASE certified mechanic. My question is how should I go about adding oil to the system. When I took the condenser off the first time I lost some oil and when I went to replace it, I poured some oil in one end and then it started to come out of the other. I have seen some people use a syringe type tool to add oil in the system after it is charged but I have seen people just poor oil in the system before putting it back together.

I am a little unsure how to go about adding oil back into the system. GM says to add 2oz into the system after replacing the condenser but if more comes out then to go with that amount. So I will be adding at least 2 oz, just asking the best way to go about this.

Any help would be great, also I am trying to get a video of my leak uploaded, so once that happens I will upload it here.

Edited May 3, 2017 by thewhitestallion

ShamrockShooter · May 3, 2017

I'm on the condenser backorder list for my 16 too. Sorry don't know the answer to your question. Why didn't you just have the dealer install it under warranty?

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thewhitestallion · May 3, 2017

i am out of warranty... 73000 miles on my truck so it's on my dime...

Silverado Steve · May 3, 2017

Did you have the bracket installed from the TSB awhile back?

thewhitestallion · May 3, 2017

Did you have the bracket installed from the TSB awhile back?

No, I do not. It is not leaking there, I am going to buy that bracket though to prevent that from happening.

O_J_Simpson · May 3, 2017

i am out of warranty... 73000 miles on my truck so it's on my dime...

Did GM refuse your good will request?

O_J_Simpson · May 3, 2017

No, I do not. It is not leaking there, I am going to buy that bracket though to prevent that from happening.

Won't work. The bracket was not a successful band-aid, I mean fix. GM has a newly redesigned hose in another attempt that is to be used instead of the bracket now.

thewhitestallion · May 3, 2017

Did GM refuse your good will request?

I did not even try, I guess I could but from what I have seen here on the forums is that GM will offer to pay half. Even if they pay half it would be cheaper for me to fix it. I will try and give them a call tomorrow but I am not going to stress myself out about that.

$400 for the condenser and seals and probably about $30 or so in freon and about 4 hours of my time is what it will cost me to fix it.

thewhitestallion · May 3, 2017

Won't work. The bracket was not a successful band-aid, I mean fix. GM has a newly redesigned hose in another attempt that is to be used instead of the bracket now.

Really, I had not heard of that. well I will see if mine holds up or not. no sense in fixing something if it is not broken.

O_J_Simpson · May 3, 2017

I did not even try, I guess I could but from what I have seen here on the forums is that GM will offer to pay half. Even if they pay half it would be cheaper for me to fix it. I will try and give them a call tomorrow but I am not going to stress myself out about that.

$400 for the condenser and seals and probably about $30 or so in freon and about 4 hours of my time is what it will cost me to fix it.

They just did 100% on one of mine with 55k miles but it is all about how you approach it. Installed the newest design released a few weeks ago too.

Really, I had not heard of that. well I will see if mine holds up or not. no sense in fixing something if it is not broken.

You are correct. They won't fix it until it fails. Keep running the bracket and when it fails ask for a good will repair.

dat329 · May 3, 2017

i am out of warranty... 73000 miles on my truck so it's on my dime...

You should call and fight GM to make them give it to you under warranty. This isn't a localized issue. GM knows this is a huge problem and the reason I was told it was on back order is that they had to redesign the compressor to make it more durable. I am going to safely assume that ALL of the trucks greater than year 14 will have this issue.

They just told me that it would take 3 weeks before they would get the part in.... 3 weeks without AC.....I hate GMC

Spurshot · May 5, 2017

I pulled my condenser thinking I may have a leak after having a compressor seal go bad and still having a leak after compressor and line changes. I vacuum and pressure tested the condenser to 100 psi. No leaks. I reassembled, hooked it all up and vacuumed it down. Still leaked very slowly. Traced it to my high side gauge hose.

Spurshot · May 5, 2017

Good news. The ac system held vacuum overnight.

Update: charged the system and it cools perfectly. I have all new hoses/lines, "the bracket", and a new compressor. Hope it holds together for at least a few years.

A few experiences to share...

I have a few Freon can taps. One from Mastercool was leaking all around the stem of the valve and the body. I could not tighten the packing anymore. I tossed it. It was near new.

My high side gauge coupling is a Mastercool quick connect. I pressure tested it in some water. It was leaking at the underside of the knob and there's no way to fix that. I ordered Robinair couplers.

I'm getting an aversion to Mastercool products. Me thinks they've gone Chinese.

Edited May 7, 2017 by spurshot

ShamrockShooter · May 16, 2017

It's been a couple weeks so I called about my backordered condenser. Was told still no ETA on when they might come in. Sounds like a few others are waiting for the same part at my dealer. It will be 90 by mid week.

Is Chevy giving anyone loaners for this issue?

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scape41 · June 22, 2017

My dealer gave me a loaner with no update in site for the replacement part. Hate to think I'm so spoiled, but I was finally able to buy a "nice" truck (LTZ Z71) and now it has sat at the dealer for a month while I drive a basic truck....with AC!!