Air conditioning hose replacement

Hello everyone,

My air conditioning system has a leak in the driver's side long hose that goes under the car. As I understand it, this is a very expensive fix at a service center that I can't afford right now. I've found Hervey's replacement hoses that split them in two halves to make installation easier and doable in my garage. http://specialtauto.com/delorean-parts/AC-Cooling.html

I'm curious, does anyone have experience with this part? Installation and performance?

Thank you all,
Adrian Dunker
10674

I've had Hervey's A/C hoses installed for 2 years and haven't had any issues. It has been leak free. DPI has a single hose that can be installed without removing the tub from the frame which should have a lower chance of failure, but I've been happy with Hervey's hoses.

I now have done two cars which I could not get the low side hose installed down the frame with the Hervey hoses. I guess it's the luck of how your frame is mated to the body. I clamped the hose beside the closing plate.

So if money does not matter (DPIs cost more), get the DPI hose set.

Since it sounds like cost is a significant factor, if the leak was caused by the hose rubbing against another part (i.e. a metal bracket or the exhaust) you could try splicing it with a proper A/C splice kit sold by most auto parts stores. (make sure to lube the heck out of the hose and the splice pipe before installing it to make the install easier) However, if the hose burst from age / rot, you would probably want to replace the entire hose.

The hose that runs down the drivers side frame rail is the high pressure side. It is easier to run down the frame than the low side hose on the passenger side.

Whenever you remove an A/C hose always use two wrenches, and be careful not to break the condenser! The OEM serpentine condensers are NLA, and the tube-and-fin replacements aren't as efficient. However, if you go with a splice repair, you might be able to avoid removing the hose from the car depending on the location of the leak.

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Originally Posted by Andrew

Since it sounds like cost is a significant factor, if the leak was caused by the hose rubbing against another part (i.e. a metal bracket or the exhaust) you could try splicing it with a proper A/C splice kit sold by most auto parts stores. (make sure to lube the heck out of the hose and the splice pipe before installing it to make the install easier) However, if the hose burst from age / rot, you would probably want to replace the entire hose.

The hose that runs down the drivers side frame rail is the high pressure side. It is easier to run down the frame than the low side hose on the passenger side.

Whenever you remove an A/C hose always use two wrenches, and be careful not to break the condenser! The OEM serpentine condensers are NLA, and the tube-and-fin replacements aren't as efficient. However, if you go with a splice repair, you might be able to avoid removing the hose from the car depending on the location of the leak.

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You should replace all three hoses and the dryer/accumulator. To do a proper service you should also replace the valve cores and the oil. You may also need the idler bearings and vee belt. Hervey's hoses are easy to install. Do not try splicing, field splices of old hose just leak and the hose will just leak in another spot. 30 year old hoses are WAY past their life. The OEM hoses were never meant to be spliced but that doesn't stop people trying to do it!

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Originally Posted by Bitsyncmaster

I now have done two cars which I could not get the low side hose installed down the frame with the Hervey hoses. I guess it's the luck of how your frame is mated to the body. I clamped the hose beside the closing plate.

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Funny thing - we routinely install unspliced hoses without lifting the body at all. So do the other dealers. Not sure why people think it's so impossible. It takes a bit of finesse but it works.

My worry about the spliced hose config is that you have introduced six new leak points into the system (the two splices and the 4 hose ends involved).

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Originally Posted by DMCMW Dave

Funny thing - we routinely install unspliced hoses without lifting the body at all. So do the other dealers. Not sure why people think it's so impossible. It takes a bit of finesse but it works.

My worry about the spliced hose config is that you have introduced six new leak points into the system (the two splices and the 4 hose ends involved).

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I have done the hose along the drivers side by myself. Toby also replaced the hose along the passenger side on a different car. Totally doable.

I'm going to chime in here with a little bit of my experience. I have had Hervey's hoses installed for 5 years now, and I don't have any complaints. They've been working well and were mostly easy to install.

I say mostly because I've discovered that my car seems to be a little bit more quirky that others. The driver's side hose went in without any issue; it slid rid up along the frame and fit like a glove. The passenger's side, though, took a lot of tweaking, pulling (and maybe a teensy bit of pounding) to get through some of the bends of the frame. It almost felt as though my epoxy was twice as thick as others and that little bit of extra thickness was causing the hose to get stuck (ask me about replacing my flexible brake lines to know why I think this).

But because of it, I did get some advice: if possible, use a jack to apply just a little bit of lift to the body of the car, not the frame. This little bit of lift opens the space between the fiberglass body and the frame just enough to allow for easy insertion of the passenger's side hose. It was also suggested that I may need to loosen the bolts holding the body to the frame, but I didn't have to do that.

Anybody else have to do this?

tl;dr: Love the hoses, I recommend them. If installing, you may need to try opening the passenger's side frame/body gap slightly for easy fit.

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Originally Posted by David T

You should replace all three hoses and the dryer/accumulator. To do a proper service you should also replace the valve cores and the oil. You may also need the idler bearings and vee belt. Hervey's hoses are easy to install. Do not try splicing, field splices of old hose just leak and the hose will just leak in another spot. 30 year old hoses are WAY past their life. The OEM hoses were never meant to be spliced but that doesn't stop people trying to do it!

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I've been running a field spliced hose on 4194 since 2001, after 30,000 plus miles there is no sign of leakage at the splice. Interestingly, the splice that I used on 4194 was very similar to the splice that I found under the hood of my 85 Fleetwood Limo that the coachbuilder installed for the rear A/C system. The triple barb splice provides an excellent seal...the clamps are just to keep everything in place.

With the exception of the accumulator and the low side hose fitting, 5052's A/C system is original. I converted 5052 to 134a last year after the car, and the A/C system had been sitting for approximately 20 years. In the past week I drove 700 + miles and system delivered consistent vent temps in the low 40's...cold enough that I could see my breath. Admittedly, I did have to add a half a pound of R134a earlier this spring; however, with Sam's Club selling 30 pound tanks of R134a for $89.99, I could continue topping off the system for the rest of my natural life for less than the cost of replacing the hoses.

Just last night I used the A/C in my 1972 Buick Riviera, which is running around with 43 year old hoses and it kicked out ice cubes.

It would be interesting to see how many A/C hoses fail as a result of a dry rot-based burst. My guess is that the failure rate for that reason is pretty low. In contrast, I would hypothesize that most hose failures are the result of a hose rubbing on a metal part, being melted due to a heat source, or pressurized beyond its designed specs.

By the way, while I have always been of the school of thought that an accumulator should be replaced whenever doing an R12 to R134a conversion, there are owners who disagree with that practice, and have converted their car to 134a by simply changing the compressor oil, fittings and adjusting the low pressure switch. Due to the location of the accumulator on a DeLorean, replacement can present a number of challenges. As referenced above, on 5052 the accumulator fitting seized solid and sheered off in the low side hose. Notably, 5052 was an 11,500 mile car that until last year spent its entire existence in Oklahoma and Texas. The A/C accumulator was the only seized component I have encountered on the entire car. In contrast, the brake lines all freed up with the gentle tap of a line wrench. Thankfully I was able to remove the connection to the evaporator! The problem with the replacement of A/C components on a DeLorean is that attempting to replace one hose can turn into replacement of an entire system...it turns into one seized part after another. Ask anyone who has replaced an evaporator core on a DeLorean if they want to repeat the experience.

In summary, are new A/C hoses better than old ones...probably. Look on the bright side, neither R12 nor R134a are flammable; thus, even if a hose were to fail it would only result in a loss of A/C function...not a fire. However, in a car with a lot of stuff that is approximately 34 years old, I would be more concerned with 34 year old high pressure fuel hoses or 34 year old coolant hoses than 34 year old A/C hoses, but that's just me :-)

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Originally Posted by adrian d

Hello everyone,

My air conditioning system has a leak in the driver's side long hose that goes under the car. As I understand it, this is a very expensive fix at a service center that I can't afford right now. I've found Hervey's replacement hoses that split them in two halves to make installation easier and doable in my garage. http://specialtauto.com/delorean-parts/AC-Cooling.html

I'm curious, does anyone have experience with this part? Installation and performance?

Thank you all,
Adrian Dunker
10674

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Adrian, just out of curiosity, where is the leak in the hose?