Ran into a snag... after an 45--60 min drive, I stopped at McDonald's to grab a snack. Came out after about 10 minutes, when I started the car, a fairly loud hiss started in the engine compartment! White "smoke" started coming from under the hood. For about 15-20 seconds, and everything seemed to go back to normal. I say "smoke" because it seems to evaporate and disappear almost right away, while smoke (from fire/heat) would continue to drift into the air. Might have been steam. When I left my buddy's house, I realized my A/C wasn't getting any cooler. Which makes me think it's an AC line or something. Upon closer I found a rip in a rubber hose. I have a Vortech, so hoses and tubes might be relocated compared to stock engine. This hose has an aluminum end that goes to the front of the car (air filter is blocking it) I think it goes to the radiator. The aluminum part is a J, up then curved back down, I can't see it after this point. The other end of this connection goes to the engine, to the driver side, closer to the front of the engine. Near the dipstick, actually. I see florescent green splatter near and around the rip in the rubber part. This I assume is radiator fluid. My question now is, can I drive the car to the mechanic, or should I have it towed. I drove the car home from my buddy's house, so I should be ok?

 

Sounds like you blew an ac line so yes its ok to drive to the shop.

 

this happened to me also..im not vortec..i am however procharger FI. theres a small section in our AC lines that is rubber for some reason,justso happens to be where our SC belts run..your AC line was rubbed by your belt. this should not affect your vehicle as far as performance,and you shpould be able to drive normally..you just wont have AC..to this day i still havent fixed mine lol

 

Coolant smells sweet so you will know if you ever burst a hose. Also it will puddle under the car even if some steams ut from hitting hot exhaust.

What you saw is the dye they include with the compressor oil so that you can find leaks in the ac system.

If you replace your hose an recharge the system you should consider wrapping the line as well to prevent future issues at the same location

 

Thanks for the feedback, all! I did not know they put dye in the AC lines. Makes sense, tho. Yeah, the car doesn't overheat and the radiator is still full, so I'm pretty sure it's an AC line. I got an appointment with a mechanic Monday morning. I hope they don't have to do too much surgery to change out the hose, looks like the intake tube will have to come out, and maybe the air filter. If the blower has to come out, they're gonna hit me with major bill for labor! And I'll be sure to have them wrap it in something to protect it, thanks for that suggestion.