A/C Condenser

Frankielozano214 · November 18, 2019

I went to small ghetto shop 80$ vacuumed and recharged and installed. Got the part for free from a hook up at a autoparts warehouse. I got a 2014 Silverado LT CrewCab I think it took a crap about 75000-78000 miles so i ended up Having them change the condenser and the valve stem (high/low pressure valve) don’t remember which one it exactly was.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Frankielozano214

felipe.batlle · December 18, 2019

The condenser on my 2016 failed at 46k miles. Luckily, it was still under warranty because I purchased a CPO. They replaced the original condenser with GM Part No. 84621302. I looked it up and it seems to be the condenser units that are used on the 2019 GM Sierra. I hope this one lasts!

Edited December 18, 2019 by felipe.batlle

Yotaman · January 15, 2020

2014 Sierra 60,200 miles went out today. Will go to dealer as I have a extended warranty. Will inquire about the 2019 part number Felipe referred to in above post.

Last GM

22R

Yotaman · January 18, 2020

Dropped of at 10 and done by noon. Condenser has the new part number and the lil heat shield but unsure if it is actually a improvement it looks a lot like the old one. If I can get another 5-6 years I will be happy cause by then I will be back in a Toyota.

Yotaman

chris15706 · January 19, 2020

I have been following and hearing about this problem since i bought my 2017 brand new. Now at 64k miles afraid i am a victim as well. Noticed the last year or so a few times it would just blow hot air but it would be fine the next drive or two. It happened today but its not coming back this time. The compressor is not turning on at all. I cant visually see any signs of leaks or rust from the hoses or condenser and fuses are good. Went to autozone to get a can of coolant with the dye in it thinking i could pinpoint the leak then realized mine is the new r134yf coolant. This coolant is more expensive and harder to find so i dont really want to dump money into troubleshooting a leak i cant find. I might just cave in and visit the dealer. Has anyone had this problem with the newer type coolant? I noticed alot of the replacement condensers are for r134a only.

emeryz28 · January 22, 2020

I am about to pull the trigger and fix this myself. Rock Auto has so many options. Does anyone have the proper part number for a 2015 6.2??

chris15706 · January 24, 2020

I caved and got it fixed at the dealer as i couldn't even find the condenser for r1234yf and didn't have the time to fix myself. $1700 and now i feel so dirty. If this was the regular r134a i would have been all over doing it myself since there is plenty info out there.

benelli · January 25, 2020

21 hours ago, chris15706 said:

I caved and got it fixed at the dealer as i couldn't even find the condenser for r1234yf and didn't have the time to fix myself. $1700 and now i feel so dirty. If this was the regular r134a i would have been all over doing it myself since there is plenty info out there.

I hear you brother. I get bashed for posting defects with these trucks all the time read my posts. Everything that fails fails on all these truck eventually. Transmissions are junk no fix. AC goes out. Pump for brakes goes out. Rattling adaptive valve on exhaust rattles like a can of marbles. For 60 grand Gm dropped the ball on these trucks that’s for sure . All these issues should be RECALL’s.

benelli · January 25, 2020

On 1/24/2020 at 11:58 AM, chris15706 said:

I caved and got it fixed at the dealer as i couldn't even find the condenser for r1234yf and didn't have the time to fix myself. $1700 and now i feel so dirty. If this was the regular r134a i would have been all over doing it myself since there is plenty info out there.

I hear you brother. I get bashed for posting defects with these trucks all the time read my posts. Everything that fails fails on all these truck eventually. Transmissions are junk no fix. AC goes out. Pump for brakes goes out. Rattling adaptive valve on exhaust rattles like a can of marbles. For 60 grand Gm dropped the ball on these trucks that’s for sure . All these issues should be

14tungstenLT 207

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Posted September 1, 2017

Mods if you could pin this it would be excellent.

I got bit by the condenser bug and after seeing some people get significant relief from GM I tried as well. The best they could do for me was $700. Its quite obvious this is a major issue and GM is not stepping up to the plate to fix it. Their willingness to help some out partially or wholly is evidence that they know they are in the wrong. I am currently waiting on a backordered part and in the mean time I am pursuing other options. I am part of building the suit here

https://chimicles.com/chevrolet-silverado-air-conditioning-defect-potential-class-action/

and i recommend anyone with an issue here joins as well. The more heads we can get involved the better. Those of you that have had the repair done, if you could post up pictures of your invoices it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Yotaman · January 27, 2020

Just FYI when I had my done two weeks ago the entire bill was like 650-700 bucks from my local GMC dealer.

22R

emeryz28 · January 31, 2020

Can someone who did the repair at home please share the part number and where they purchased from?

Frankielozano214 · January 31, 2020

1 hour ago, emeryz28 said:

Can someone who did the repair at home please share the part number and where they purchased from?

I got mine aftermarket from a local parts shop here in Dallas, only had to pay for the installation (80$ at a small ghetto shop they even vacuumed and recharged my system) got the part for free (190$ for the part) took about an hour and half. AC is still blowing ?

DirtyMarcus · February 9, 2020

Chalk up another AC down thanks to the condenser issue. I read all of the pages of this thread to make sure i not missing out on any info. Im at 73k on my 2014 and of course out of warranty as of 1/1/2020. Im not going to fight with the dealer, not worth the time of effort. Someone posted what Ive found to be the best replacement (literature wise) so far so I ordered it from rockauto today. It arrives sometime thursday so hopeful to have it up and blowing cold again friday afternoon. Heres the info on the condenser. http://www.gpdtechtips.com/techtip77.html

I also ordered a high pressure hose as Ive seen a few people say these are failing sometimes too. GPD sells one on rockauto that is steel and not aluminium so hopefully itll hold up. GPD also has a seal/oring kit that I bought too since people are saying to replace the seals on the low/high pressure lines when reinstalling everything.

UofAZCats · February 11, 2020

On 7/24/2019 at 5:06 PM, carnau said:

You can literally do this job yourself, under an hour for less than $300. I could understand if GM had this huge engine related failure where the truck was a complete loss unless you had extensive Mechanical knowledge. But it's not. You could literally do it with your girls box of tools. Lol. Also, It's the air conditioning. Nothing that's going to prevent the vehicle from running.

$300 and one year of middle school shop class and you can do this job. And $300 is expensive.

$120 condenser - https://amzn.to/2K10zH0

Ac System service to charge system to 1.32lbs - $75 - $100

$100 to buy any tools you don't have.

1 hour of your time.

And watch this video.

My AC went down on my 2015 at about 57K miles. Took it to a local shop that is usually pretty cheap and they want $900 for the condenser replacement. Called the dealership to see if they would be reasonable about this in light of this epidemic but they wanted $1,000. Thinking about doing this myself after watching the video. Before I do, for the guys that have done this themselves, I have a few questions. Looking at the reviews on Amazon for the condenser there is an issue with the condenser being bent or the lines on the sides being bent. Anyone have this problem with condensers they bought at a store in person as opposed to shipped? Autozone wants $150 for a Spectra condenser but Amazon charges only $90. The bending issue is a concern because I have not done anything like this on my truck before and I don't want to damage the condenser. The second question is regarding the seals he mentions in the video for the AC lines. He recommends putting on new seals for those but doesn't give a link for them. Anyone have a link for those? Next question is regarding the recharging and oil. I assume from what I read that most people are having that done by the local shop pulling vacuum for them but want to confirm that is the case. Last question is regarding driving the truck after the new condenser is installed but before the vacuum and recharge are done. I assume that I need to drive it with the AC off in order to avoid a problem, correct?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Edited February 12, 2020 by UofAZCats
fix typo

carnau · February 13, 2020

On 2/11/2020 at 10:16 AM, UofAZCats said:

My AC went down on my 2015 at about 57K miles. Took it to a local shop that is usually pretty cheap and they want $900 for the condenser replacement. Called the dealership to see if they would be reasonable about this in light of this epidemic but they wanted $1,000. Thinking about doing this myself after watching the video. Before I do, for the guys that have done this themselves, I have a few questions. Looking at the reviews on Amazon for the condenser there is an issue with the condenser being bent or the lines on the sides being bent. Anyone have this problem with condensers they bought at a store in person as opposed to shipped? Autozone wants $150 for a Spectra condenser but Amazon charges only $90. The bending issue is a concern because I have not done anything like this on my truck before and I don't want to damage the condenser. The second question is regarding the seals he mentions in the video for the AC lines. He recommends putting on new seals for those but doesn't give a link for them. Anyone have a link for those? Next question is regarding the recharging and oil. I assume from what I read that most people are having that done by the local shop pulling vacuum for them but want to confirm that is the case. Last question is regarding driving the truck after the new condenser is installed but before the vacuum and recharge are done. I assume that I need to drive it with the AC off in order to avoid a problem, correct?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

This isn't anything you can't do. IMO buy the condenser from the Dealership but ask for a 10% discount. Tell them that you're gonna buy one from autozone but you would rather give them the opportunity to sell you one but not at list price. They will jump all over it. They may not get the whole loaf of bread but at least they get a few slices. Next, If the condenser is damaged... do not install it. Period. I will Post the link to the new seals here tomorrow. About the vacuum and recharge. If you don't have access to it carry it to your local shop and ask them to vacuum and recharge it. We offer a 59.99 vac and charge with up to 1/2 a lb of freon. If it is a truck you will need about 1.5lbs freon and if it is a yukon or tahoe with rear air, you will need about 3. So they should give you the vac and charge plus the Freon cost which even with a markup should be less than $20 a lb for 134.

If you have access to shop air ( compressor and such ) you can buy this kit. https://amzn.to/2vqqmVi and vacuum the system yourself then use https://amzn.to/39xbGSS to charge it back up. That's 22oz's so it is actually perfect for the trucks (trucks hold 0.60kg ehich is 1.32lbs)

When you're done at least you have a gauge kit in case you have problems in the future.

Hope this helps. If you need anything else I would be glad to help. I made the video so if there is anything you don't understand I would be glad to answer it, or even take a video and explain it further.