I have a 2011 hhr with 28,000 miles and noticed on a really hot day the ac is struggling to keep cool. Took it in to my garage of choice and was told showed leak at the service valve on the high pressure side.

My mechanic tried to remove and said it was really tight & didn't want to break the line & quoted approx $500 to fix with new line etc.. Went to my gm dealer & spoke to mech & he got me a printout & cost. This a $6.00 valve & if it can be removed with out breaking the job will cost approx $260 VERSUS $550 to replace line & components.

My question to members on the forum here are how successfull were you in removing just the shrader valve or did you break the line trying to remove the valve now making a real expensive repair over a $6.00 part. Excellent engineering say what/

I hope enough members here respond so I can get a rough idea as to whether to try & have the dealership try to remove & and or as last resort get stung for a new line, labor, freon etc.. Awaiting your replies.

regards & later
kewatin
caught between a rock & hard place

 

I've never done it.

But I bet that what has it stuck is somebody thought they were saving money by pumping it full of "magic" fix it. Which by the way, may have followed the entire system.

 

donbrew this is a bought new car with 28,000miles on it and this is the first problem i have encountered with the ac.trust me no one has serviced this unit till today,other than replace the ac interior filter. even the folks at my gm dealer said sometimes they are able to remove the valve without damaging the line,but other times not. i am just trying to get some feedback from forum members as to how lucky they were with this service problem or not.
regards &later kewatin

 

Sorry.

 

Hmm. I've got the hose from my ac guage stuck on my valve! When I tried removing it from the valve, it wouldn't close. I'm just driving with it for now, let the system balance out and I'll try again.

Let us know if the procedure is successful. I may need that 6.00 dollar part.

 

thats the problem with mine .high pressure side a/c shrader valve had a miniscule leak.my understanding is gm changed these valves from being decent to pure junk with the new design.tried to remove it today &it wouldn't budge.did a little more research and it is recommended to use a special 13.5 mm 8 sided socket.when i locate one i shall try it and post accordingly if it works.failinf that i will try &find a used line ,cut the valve assy out and usean ATP 1/2'' SPLICE LINE KIT &recharge the system
with r134a
regards&later KEWATIN

 

Gotcha. I misspoke earlier. My hose gauge is stuck on the low side! I wouldn't recommend trying to charge the high side. If it's leaking...maybe you can do what I did. Except yours was already leaking. Get a cheap ac hose from a gauge set. I actually just found the best deal at o'rileys. Anyway the hose is QD to the line, (check your sizes because high is larger than low so you can't switch them) then it's usually got a valve to the bottle. Close that and your leak should stop. Unless the shrader is just toasted!

 

Might be a dumb question but was the mechanic trying to remove the valve with the system still charged up ?

 

He likely has a valve core removal tool that prevents the refrigerant from leaking during the removal/replacement.

 

kewatin here. no my mechanic found the leak and evacuated the system and tried to remove &replace the valve and it would,nt move&he did not want to break the line,till he found out if the fitting was cast into the line or was removable.this was confirmed by a quick trip to my local gm dealer.it is removable aha/ but you take your chancesmaybe a $225 job or a $450 job plus taxes. yes i am from ontario we have a tax for that.
regards&later KEWATIN