Date:         Thu, 11 Mar 2004 10:31:19 -0800
Reply-To:     Fin Beven <FinBeven@MSN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Fin Beven <FinBeven@MSN.COM>
Subject:      Blown AC Hose, wild results
Comments: To: Vanagon1_SoCalVWCampers <SoCalVWCampers@yahoogroups.com>,
          Vanagon3_LimboList <limbolist@yahoogroups.com>,
          Vanagon4_WolfsburgCampers <Wolfsburg_Campers@YahooGroups.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Here's a weird one.  

I'd only driven for a few minutes to the store, and pulled into a parking space.  The engine and AC (this is SoCal and it's been 80 for the past week) were running.

Suddenly, and with a great "hissssss", a huge cloud of what looked like white steam came billowing out from under the back of the van.  

I shut everything down, but the only trace of what had just happened was a small puddle of what looked like water and green coolant under the engine area.

It was late in the afternoon.  I called the Auto Club and had them tow me to a local repair shop (Husco in South Pasadena).  

The next day they ran the van, but could find nothing wrong with the cooling system.

After closer inspection, what they found was a break in the AC line, and that it was the rapidly expanding AC refrigerant that had caused that white cloud.  

This would not have been so bad, but refrigerant came out under such pressure that it actually cut through the inner CV boot on the left side.   I'm now just thinking how easy it would have been for this to have gone almost undetected at high-way speeds, and then to have the CV spinning away all of it's lubricant.

My thought of the moment would be to install an extra layer of hose around the high-pressure AC hoses where they are near to something vulnerable, like the CV boots.

As I'm no mechanic, I'm wondering if any of you have heard of such a thing, and what you think about my concept of a preventative measure.

Thanks,

Fin Beven
'90 Carat, Custom Camper Conversion
Pasadena, CA