Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[Rocket Man]

F it,ordered the rear off Amazon. It will be here same day as the front. If I don’t need it I’ll return it. Damn, those parts aren’t even listed on the dealer sites with the rest of the ac components, they’re under a separate category called “ ac and heater module assy “ and I still can’t find the rear one listed at all. I ordered a Four Seasons rear evaporator.

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks for the heads up on the evaporator @Tonyrodz. Weird, it’s the first I’ve ever even heard of these damn things. What do I know though.

 

[RAMurphy]

I installed the compressor yesterday and forgot to get a pic. It’s Denso OEM. I’ll have to pull the wheel again to blow the lines out, I’ll get a pic then. The accumulator is Genuine GM OEM. The insulation blanket is pretty rough. The back half isn’t bad so I hit it with brake clean. The front half I ordered from Amazon, 2 day delivery. The one I ordered states it doesn’t fit my truck but I cross referenced the OEM #15074674 with this 15-10614 so I know it’s right.

The front lines will be easy to flush. It’s the rear ones I’m concerned with. I’ve seen videos of guys just blowing them at the firewall and having the fluid come out the return line but I’ll be disconnecting them at the rear and cleaning them separate and cleaning the rear condenser too.

Anyway that’s where I’m at. Next will be flushing the lines and then assembling everything.

@Rocket Man Good call on the Denso, that is the compressor I used to replace my blown OEM compressor. Sounds like you are making good progress.

 

[RAMurphy]

I have no idea, I didn’t even know what an evaporator was until you mentioned it and I looked it up. I thought the condenser did the heat exchanging. I don’t really know sh*t about AC. Well, I hope I can just flush it. Crap I should probably replace it. Why did you replace yours?

@Rocket Man There was no way I was going to go through the pain of replacing the evaporator. I just spent extra time flushing them out. The lines were easy. I was worried about the evaporator, so I flushed them out both directions. I spent the time to ensure they were dried out completely. Still running and cooling strong after 10 years. Bob

 

[Sam Harris]

It’s off by 1/4”. I originally had a Spohn adjustable panhard but when I installed a girdle on the rear diff it didn’t clear. I have a QA1 panhard in it now that has a bend where it goes around the diff. The side to side isn’t really noticeable to me.

Man, I can’t find this for the life of me..! I remembered you had a QA1, but cannot find it now..! I figure I need to girdle mine asap or my rear end is going down in an ugly, crackling mess of glory.. can you please share part numbers.?

 

[Rocket Man]

@Rocket Man There was no way I was going to go through the pain of replacing the evaporator. I just spent extra time flushing them out. The lines were easy. I was worried about the evaporator, so I flushed them out both directions. I spent the time to ensure they were dried out completely. Still running and cooling strong after 10 years. Bob

I was thinking the same, that’s why I ordered them on Amazon. I figure I’ll flush and as long as they seem clear and there’s no debris coming out I’ll be gtg. I just wanted to be covered parts wise. It’s nice when I can find stuff on Amazon that I might need, since they make returns so easy and at no charge for shipping. I just returned a high pressure switch to RA that I ordered wrong ( I wanted the low pressure switch) and shipping cost me $4.50 for a $12 part plus I have to wait until they receive and process it. Amazon credits my account within a couple hours of dropping it off at the shipping place, and there’s no charge for shipping either direction.

Edit: thank you for sharing your experience, it makes me feel a bit better should I decide to just flush them. Your help is appreciated.

 

[Rocket Man]

Man, I can’t find this for the life of me..! I remembered you had a QA1, but cannot find it now..! I figure I need to girdle mine asap or my rear end is going down in an ugly, crackling mess of glory.. can you please share part numbers.?

The girdle was a TA Performance TA 1807A. It’s the low profile one and you still need the QA1 5262 panhard bar to make it fit.

GM Girdles, Chevy 8.2"/8.5"/8.6" 10 Bolt Rear End Girdle - Low Profile, TA_1807A | TAPerformance.com

www.taperformance.com

QA1 5262 QA1 Panhard Rods | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - QA1 Panhard Rods with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Panhard and Track Bars at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

 

[Tonyrodz]

I have no idea, I didn’t even know what an evaporator was until you mentioned it and I looked it up. I thought the condenser did the heat exchanging. I don’t really know sh*t about AC. Well, I hope I can just flush it. Crap I should probably replace it. Why did you replace yours?

Had a leak at the solder joint, freon was escaping. Think you gotta take 1/2 the dash apart to replace it. There is a hack, but I doubt you'd want to do it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Had a leak at the solder joint, freon was escaping. Think you gotta take 1/2 the dash apart to replace it. There is a hack, but I doubt you'd want to do it.

AFAIK mines fine. I flushed it today and I feel good about it.

 

[Rocket Man]

So I did some disassembling and flushing this morning. Didn’t spend a lot of time on it after my initial flush incident. I started by doing the evaporator and had no idea that it was gonna blast right back at me out the opposing hole with so much force. It hit me in the face and went all over that side of the engine bay. Good news is it looks like a good degreaser but bad news it stings in the eyes. I regrouped and rigged 2 different size drain hoses and finished the evaporator. I blew it out with air afterwards. The fluid has some microscopic silver metal, super fine. It’s coming out clear after the flush.

I started to flush the lines I removed and noticed the evaporator line has been rubbing on the frame for some reason. It’s not leaking and might be ok to reuse but I’d feel better replacing it. It would suck if it started leaking in a year after all I’m doing to the AC. I ordered a new OEM one off Amazon. It won’t be here until Friday so now I have all kinds of time to get this done.

My eye is stinging so I’m on break until further notice.

Required compressor pic attached.