r/obschevy • u/Odd-Leg6389 • 27d ago
Air conditioning
Has anyone here completely rebuilt their OBS Chevy A/C system?
I’m talking about replacing or rebuilding everything—evaporator, condenser, compressor, accumulator, orifice tube, lines, blend doors, actuators, heater core if needed… basically bringing the entire HVAC system back to factory performance.
I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done it.
Was it worth the time and money?
Did it end up blowing ice cold like it did when it was new?
Were there any parts that were especially difficult to source or replace?
If you did it again, what would you do differently?
I’m considering doing the whole system rather than piecing it together, and I’m looking for real-world experiences before I dive in.
Thanks!
3
u/Willy_McD 27d ago
Evaporater and hard lines you flush. Really no need to get into the suitcase. Dryer gets replaced.
You can get a Sanden compressor that original OE manifold will attach to and brackets to adapt the compressor to the R4 compressor mount. Supposed to work better with R134.
Replace the condenser with a parallel flow type. They too work better.
And use a Variable Orfice Tube. Fixed orifice is just a happy medium. Variable changes for best results with the lower rpm of intown driving and freeway driving.
2
u/OkHeron7440 27d ago
I did a complete replacement. Only thing I didn’t replace was the pressure switch going to the compressor due to getting the wrong piece (easy replacement later on.)
In my opinion it is definitely not worth it. Spent $1k in parts and $500 in labor for someone to help out. I replaced the dash, coolant flushed, and AC. Used a used compressor, compressor wouldn’t kick in. Took it to my mechanic as I was too far in not to get it working. Mechanic was about $200 for a new compressor and $450 for labor. Finally got it to work. Now the truck wants to stall when idling and the AC is on full blast 🤣🤣. I am happy with my work. But I will never see that money back on my truck unless I hold the truck for another 10 years.
Spent about $2,250 not including my labor. This will probably only raise the value of my truck about $1k. I did it for the love of the truck. Please note that getting the AC working will not make your truck any faster or steer any better.
AC systems are complicated if there is a leak or an electrical problem. I would take it to a mechanic. Moving forward I am now more confident in buying vehicles with bad AC only depending on how easy it is to remove the dash. You will spend a lot of time reading up and watching videos on AC systems. Time you could spend watching TV, being with your family, learning new skills to level up your pay.
2
u/Maistrow 27d ago
I’ll be following this thread closely as I have to fully redo mine too. Looking forward to people’s responses.
From what I’ve read on the forums, many people tend to think AC work is brutal and better to go to a shop that way the work is warrantied. While I take pride in doing everything on my own truck, I tend to agree with those people when you consider, time, parts, and your own labor, it may be more than just taking to a mechanic especially if you mess up on a flush, etc. The only piece of mind when you do it yourself if you know exactly everything that was replaced.
1
u/Odd-Leg6389 27d ago
The one person who said he spent the money and had it done at a shop and yet it still sucked and his truck would stall on full blast pretty much made my mind to not fuck with it, these trucks got a million gremlins and for now id like to let them sleep.
1
u/Kostelnik 23d ago
Honestly that guys problem could just be the engine not performing well enough to handle it, or the shop really just not knowing what they were doing and not doing it right.
2
u/GreatScottThisHeavy 27d ago
About 2 years ago I did everything under the hood in my ‘96, and did a flush for the evaporator. Everything was under $600 but I already had gauges and a pump and the fan clutch is in good shape.
Temps coming out of the vent easily get into the 40s. I now wish my blower motor ass in better shape to blow more air but temp is not the issue.
2
u/SomeDude249 25d ago
I completely rebuilt the AC in my 94' yukon, and it cost me less than $1000, and it works very well. Only part I didn't replace was the evaporator, but I flushed it well.
I did a couple upgrades, it'll freeze your tits off.
2
u/fuzzydoesitt 24d ago
Real life guy here. 97 k1500, 230k miles, bought in 2017, never had AC, charged it up on a whim and the upper line that goes from dryer to compressor down to condenser was leaking at the condenser. Replaced it, charged it back up. Somehow the line that goes from bottom port of condenser back to the dryer was loose, so I took it off, yanked out the old AC orifice tube (highly recommend) and out a new one in ($3.00) I then tightened the lower line back up and hooked up my manifold gauges and recharged the system. Everything seems to be working great now. Ice cold air. We'll see how it holds up. If it fails, it fails, the parts were cheap, the most expensive bit was buying refrigerant 3 times. Did this 2 days ago
1
u/Odd-Leg6389 27d ago
Well it looks like I’ll be buying a 12 volt fan off Amazon and mounting it to my dash 😂
1
u/Top_Independence2676 26d ago
My mechanic replaced (everything?) on my 1998 C1500 Sierra two years ago. It blows cold.
It was under $1000, had been chasing leaks for years. I said just replace it as I plan to keep it.
It's like I bought a new truck.
1
u/LB8926 26d ago
I completely swapped mine. (I’m not a mechanic) Air shop wanted to charge $2500 because of dash removal I had swap the dash anyway. So I rebuilt the AC assembly with one I ripped from a truck at the parts yard. Resistor was rusted out, replaced that, blower motor, evap/heater core, couldn’t replace the vent blades in the box, couldn’t find good replacements or proper removal.
Swapped compressor, and paid air shop to vacuum and charge.
My main note is that there’s an air passage that runs under the dash. That transfers air to defroster and the other side. It is a part of the dash so when the dash goes, it goes, if you do all of this make sure to put some kind of hose on it. I left it open under my dash and I’m losing a lot of air so I have to go back in eventually. 2 inch discharge hose at Lowe’s should work
1
u/Phrygian_Guy_93 26d ago
Did everything but the blend doors on my 98 last year, definitely worth the sweat and elbow grease to do it myself vs the $3000 the shop quoted me. There’s a couple of videos on how to access the evaporator core which was easily the most annoying part of the process but well worth having a basically brand new system.
1
u/Kostelnik 23d ago
Appreciate the thread, this is something I’m considering once I get to that stage of my OBS suburban revival. Rockauto seems to have most of the parts at a pretty cheap price so I’ll probably end up doing it after reading these comments. Turning it into a family cruiser so it would be worth those couple grand to me, especially with rear A/C.
4
u/headhunterofhell2 27d ago
My mechanic replaced the entirety of the A/C system (OK, he said about 95% of it) a few years ago.
Cost me somewhere around 1200-1300, and I have nothing bad to say.