Blocking off the Rear Air Conditioning

[dtaylor7897]

It's hot as heck and the vent windows just aren't cutting it anymore.

My suburban (79 K20) has rear A/C, but the lines running along the frame leak, so it doesn't hold any pressure. So, I'm thinking about just blocking off the rear A/C, and only having the front. My mechanic said I could just put a plug in it, but he doesn't know of anyone that has it. He also said they could weld a bolt into where this plug would go if I couldn't find a plug, but that just sounds wrong to me. It has been retrofitted to accept modern A/C freon or whatever, R134 if I remember correctly.

Do you guys know where I could get one of these plugs? Or, have a better solution? Honestly, I don't want to replace all the rear lines because they would have to be custom ($$$$) and I don't think I would use them anyway. Thanks.

[Irish_Alley]

dont know about our trucks but i know dodge had a similar issue with their caravans. one way to rig it up was to pinch the pipes off with vice grips in a few spots

[VileZambonie]

Buy a universal AC hose repair kit if you want the cheap way out. Never expose flame around refrigerant gasses

[roundhouse]

If get some replacement hoses from a junkyard or somewhere

Are they rusted thru ?

They usually leak at the fittings
Or maybe the rubber part is old and decayed
But the rubber flex hose and the fittings can easily be replaced at any AC repair place




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[roundhouse]

Never expose flame around refrigerant gasses

Good advice

Burned refrigerant turns into a very toxic poison  gas  that will cause brain damage or kill you


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[dwightr]

I may be wrong but isn't this a circuit that the gasses need to flow? Is there somewhere it can be repaired to allow the gasses to circulate?

[bd]

Burned refrigerant turns into a very toxic poison  gas  that will cause brain damage or kill you

One of the byproducts of refrigerant combustion is phosgene gas - a colorless, highly toxic and readily fatal nerve agent in relatively small concentrations of ~3 PPM and greater, depending on duration of exposure.  It has a very distinctive odor and causes a broad variety of physiological reactions that can occur almost immediately to following prolonged delays of tens of hours.  The ramifications of inhaling phosgene gas are serious and not to be disregarded or underestimated.  It is nasty stuff, but easily avoided if appropriate precautions are taken.

I may be wrong but isn't this a circuit that the gasses need to flow? Is there somewhere it can be repaired to allow the gasses to circulate?

The rear A/C unit is a parallel system that can be eliminated without impacting the forward cabin A/C as long as the rear hose junctions are suitably capped or removed.