We all have one of those days.....So how bad did I screw up? In the haste to hook up my heater hoses to try to get the transmission to engage into gear, I hooked up one of my heater hoses to the bulk head fitting going to the A/C Evaporator. Its a Vintage Air Mini GEN II system on a 49 Ford Pickup. The Good: - Ive only gotten a few of the A/C lines crimpped so far, so I didnt have any lines going to the compressor.. It was still capped off with the caps from the factory and not subject to my follies. - I pulled the lines of the condensor and blew the coolant out of it. I think its fine as It was easy to get the fluid out of it. The Bad: I had the A/C Lines ran to the entire A/C system but the compressor. - The Drier was totally full of engine coolant. Is it just trash now? - I pulled the lines off the Evaporator and blew them out. Ton of antifreeze and water came out along with the oil that the unit comes with from the factory. You know how water and oil when mixed turns kinda a milky white? This **** looked like a green neon milk shake! Should I leave it uncapped for a week or two to let it all totally dry out? Did I mess up the evaproator also? Thanks for the info......
Yes, dryer is toast. replace the dryer and flush all of the lines with alcohol. Lacquer thinner might work, but I was always told and I always have used alcohol. You'll need to blow dry them with clean dry air and when you get your system all hooked up, just pull a vacuum for a few hours before you inject the oil and charge the system. Not a total disaster, but you've got a little work ahead of you. Everybody makes mistakes so dont sweat it. You can flush the condensor too. The main one is the dryer, it has to be replaced.... It contains a dessicant to pull moisture out of the A/C system. Jon
There is an A/C flush you an buy through the autoparts stores that does the job. Simple is right the dryer is toast, but the rest of the system will work fine. The most important thing is to get he glycol flushed out, it has the same effect as mixing R12 and 134A. If you use a black light you will be able to see the coolant, also check to see if the green O-rings are good if you have those. The coolant can make them break down to a slime. Good luck and chin up, just know that if someone makes a mistake here I have done it at least 5 times myself. The school of hard nocks is a ***** but she is a hard but good teacher.
Laughing WITH you not AT you Theres a whole thread about stupid stuff we've done here somewhere. Yours can be number 120,339. Mine were numbers 50 through 165!
Simple, naled it, just like he said, replace the dryer, flush the rest with a lot of alcohol and air them out with a air hose to remove all the coolant might want to do it a few times to be safe
after i stopped laughing. i had to type. how in the hell did you get those 2 confused!!dont worry brother, you are not alone. i have done some REALLY STUPID **** building cars and custom bikes.lol and boy do i mean stupid.but i gotta say, that one you did is up there with what i done.lol sorry still laughing.aint this **** fun.!!! you shouldnt have hurt anything IF you get the anti freeze completely out of it. blow it dry.then flush it real good. hell just do what simple said hes right .and the drier is past toast. dont get mad at me brother, you gotta admit its pretty funny.lol
Make sure you get the correct oil & amount back in the system. Vintage Air should be able to help you out on that. Flush it good, new drier, good long vacuum pull and you should be okay. Bet you'll NEVER make that mistake again...
Good advice above regarding how to flush the system. I recommend doing that a few times. And, for what it's worth, until the instalations are all finished and working properly, I would color code the various lines, male and felame, with different color tie wraps. Keep us updated on how it all works out for you. Don't feel too bad...we all have Brain Farts.
You have contracted the disease "Cranial ******itus" whereas under pressure your head goes up your ***. Take the system apart, trash the dryer, clean out and dry out all hoses then flush with AC system flush, start from scratch......it could have been way worse.
diversitech makes a flush kit for a/c systems.i use it all the time and you can buy additional flush fluid.replace the dryer.and triple evacuate the system if possible to fully dry the lines and coils.replacing vac oil after first evacuation may also be a good idea to help remove all corrosives and acids.non condensibles and corrosives are the enemy of a/c systems.good luck.
HeHe! Gimme a chance....Ill figure out how to in a sec....... even though the ****** cooler is one of the frame mounted ones seperate, Ill figure out how to screw it up. Did I tell you guys how many times I have re-made my engine and transmission mounts cause I keep screwing them up? Three (3)...and I need to move the engine back another 1/2 inch still!
That stuff might be the ticket! Does it also have a oil and a cleaner in it? I was racking my brain last night trying to figure out how to get the Alcohol into the lines from the bottle..... need some kinda squeeze bottle like they had in chemestry cl*** in high school. Now getting Alcohol into me.... I got that one figure out very well! Maybe thats part of how I screwed this one up. The rest of you making fun..... Its cool, I deserve it. I got stupid green oily water over the entire engine when I blew it out with the compressor since I didnt think to lower the pressure on the air hose......... It made a horizontal gyeser of green milkshake when I put the air line on it! What a freaking mess!
By rights he needed to pull a va*** on it anyway it weill just need to be pulled longer that normal to evacuate all the non condensables. Jon is also correct that the drier is a disaster. You'll never get the moisture out of it just replace it with a new one.
one vacuum pull for a few hours won't do the trick...you should pull a vacuum atleast 3 times (waiting a few hours between cycles, over nite is better on the final cycle) to give any residual moisture time to evaporate and get pulled out by the vacuum process....that is what the vacuum process does, installing a new dryer when you are all finished is worth the effort to catch any moisture you may have remaining in the system.
Just take the free end of the hose that is open and pour the alcohol in. May need a funnel to help. Then just hook up you air hose and blow it through at low pressure. Alcohol would be preferred for the first (and second recommended) flush as the alcohol will capture the water. Solvent flush will not necessarily do that. Antifreeze is also an alcohol, so the alcohol flush takes care of both water and antifreeze. Final solvent flush to remove any oil contaminants and allow it to flash dry. Then cap up or seal the ends. As stated by others, our dryer is toast, just buy a new one, but don't remove the caps until you finally hook up the system. Pull a good couple hour long vacuum when you are ready to charge and it should work fine.
if you buy the flush kit above it comes empty,i.e.you can pour in and spray any fluid you like.you pressurize with nitrogen.supplied fluid can be used for final flush.
You probably didn't do near as much damage to the ac unit as your "FRIENDS" will do to you in HARR***MENT.......only because they love you........!!!!
I tell my co-workers at the airplane shop, we all screw up just take a few minutes to be pissed off at yourself then laugh with everybody else. The advice you have been given is good. Good luck.
I have a spare cheapo electronic fuel pump I keep in the garage for moving fluids around. Pulling fuel out of old tanks, pushing fluids to flush coolers, etc. We tend to flush alot of fluids at work dyno testing engines so after doing it at work all the time, I picked up a holley blue at a swap meet, rebuilt it and now use it in my garage at home. Comes in handy alot! Jon
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