Last summer I replaced the dead AC compressior in my 1978 244 and converted to 134a. Used it quite a bit, and it worked great. Cold! Started using it a few weeks ago, and fired right up cold again. Amazing nothing leaked over the winter. Probably used it a few times over the last few weeks.

It was a real scorcher here today (98F). While waiting for my wife to come out, I was idling the engine and turned on the AC. Could hear it really working hard. Not two minutes later, there was a huge explosion of refrigerant from under the hood. Sounded like a shotgun blast, and a big cloud of spray billowed out through the grille.

Shut the engine down immediately and popped the hood. Oily refrigerant all over the hoses. The A/C hose that disappears into the firewall was very loose; I didn't try yanking it out, but I'm sure if I pulled hard enough it would come through. The hose connections on the compressor itself were tight/solid.

Shut A/C down, and the car ran great.

Three questions:

(1) any idea what caused this?

(2) this ever happened to anyone else out there?

(2) How do I replace this hose/get at the component it hooks into?