BretCutler

Well tonight I recharged the air conditioning system and found out that I had a problem with the AC.

It seems as thought there is a little bit of AC coming from all vents all the time. Did some searching and found this link, http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...817&forum_id=1

I looked at it for a minute and what everyone was describing for the location and what to do looked like it should be possible from the top of the car under the battery. I removed the battery and to my delite found that there re 4 bolts that you can remove and get the battery tray out of the way. Then you can see the computer, the Vacuum canister thing, and all of the vacuum lines you need to see. I will be replacing the lines tomorrow as the one that is heading to the vacuum canister is missing a section about 4 inches long. I am hoping the acid didn't hurt anything else.

Battery acid is water soluble right? I am going to rinse everything as well as I can and paint the frame where the battery acid demolished the paint.

Thanks and I hope this fixes the problem and that I don't find more problems as a result of the leaky battery. Maybe this different way of doing this will help some people as well. Removing the wheel and computer to get at this thing is pretty silly when you look at it from the top.....

Bret

GrayC5

Use a mixture of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid and aid in the removal of any corrosion. Then rinse with plain water. Good luck with the repairs.

screw991le

Then get a AGM battery or an Optima

BretCutler

sweet thanks. I will hopefully have working ac tomorrow. Need to hit DMV and register the car first.. Then the bank to deposit some money to pay my credit card bill that has all of my mods from my first few weeks of ownership... I love this car! Even with this problem.. I lowered the rear tonight to match the front. Looks alot better. 7" 1/2-13 grade 8 bolts and grade 8 nylon stop nuts. Also used hardened washers.

BretCutler

I will look into the Optima and what is AGM? Where should I go for a good price on either of them? They are both Gell I am guessing? Thanks.
Bret

GrayC5

AGM = Absorbent Glass Mat which is a type of battery. Many people here use the terms "AGM" and "Gel Cell" interchangeably, but there is a difference: "All you ever wanted to know about AGM and Gel Cell batteries".

Optima Red Top and Yellow Top batteries are also AGM batteries. Exide Technologies originally developed the AGM technology and also makes the Exide Select Orbital® and the Exide Select Orbital® XCD which are AGM batteries. The Exide Select Orbital® XCD is their deep cycle battery, similar to the Optima Yellow Top. Off hand, I don't know of any one making/marketing a true gel cell battery for automotive applications, although there may be someone.

I don't know where to tell you to look, but you might check some of the discount automotive places in you area for possible better prices. Most of the Sam's Wholesale Club's in our area have been carrying the Exide Select Orbital® series of batteries.

Hope this helps and good luck with the battery.

BretCutler

Well I did the whole job from up top. I ended up pulling the small plastic valve off of the larger can and pulling it up to where it was easy to work on. Then I replaced the lines and it works perfectly now. So much better. I also cleaned the rusty spots up and painted them while the battery tray was out.

Not sure what I am going to do about a battery yet.

Thanks for all of the help.

Bret

GrayC5

Good to hear things went well on the fix. Good luck with the battery.

97C5 Owner

I did this same fix .... checked the lines and they all seemed fine, could I have missed something?

Here's my earlier post today after trying the fix of the link you posted....

*****************

Mach V,

Thanks very much to you and others for your imputs!!!

As I said in one of my post, I did have a battery leak and was thrilled to hear that may be my problem as it seemed to be an easy fix. I pulled the battery and the battery tray to access the vacuum hoses more easily and checked them throughly and I couldn't find any damage to the hoses.....I went steps further and pulled the RF fender to get to the T diaphram to check it.......now I don't know if this matters but the 2 hose that run to the T diaphram that connects to the vacuum cannister. The top hose I can blow into and cannot sense air going thru but the bottom one I can. Is this normal? Could that hose be clogged and is the problem? I've seen many post on this issue and have followed them all, only to have the same problem. The only one I haven't really looked into is the hose at the back of the manifold as it a b@*&h to see......

Have I missed something here?

Signed.... Still stuck in defrost mode/ and my girl is nice and cool on her side and me......well you know the story!!!

97 C5 Owner

BretCutler

I was able to remove the three way rubber piece without taking the fender off. My lines were corroded way down by the tank. I would just replace the lines. I also pulled the line off the back of the intake and replaced the line along the way. It is hard to do but if you have someone with small hands it would be easy. I ripped my hand up a bit but did it.

I don't know what else to say. Replace the lines and check to make sure you have vacuum going to the interior line that comes off of the three way rubber piece. I restarted the car 4 or 5 times to check where the leaks were. I did this with the end of the line unplugged from the bottom of the canister.

leaftye

You can get an Optima Red Top from Costco too.

Were the vacuum hoses you replaced just regular off the spool hoses, or did you have to use anything special?