Backing out of the driveway earlier and I notice a huge plume of dust (gravel driveway) then thought to myself, "no way, its not that dusty down there."

So now I think its smoke/steam. I think I'm overheating or on fire. Check gauge, nope. No fire either. So I pop the hood. Whatever it is dissipated so now I'm looking for the culprit.

Looks to be coming from the AC compressor area. Jump in the truck, crank it over, blast AC. Yep. It's warm.

So who knows what it is. Seal, line, compressor, hole in condenser, expansion blocks. Ugh. I didn't dig into as I had to be at work but tomorrow morning I'll take the skids off and have a look see.

I was in a collision end of March that took out my front passenger suspension, fender, and front bumper. Shop I used I trust and very reputable so if something had happened then I'm sure he would have told me.

So, any ideas on where to start? What to look for? Anyone every change out the system before? Tips?

Rock Auto has the whole burrito for $300.89. I'm 99.98% sure I can change our those parts and my dad can do the evap/recharge of the system.

How much oil and refrigerant? I assume the label is under the hood?

Of course its when the weather is warm...

From your description of the event, sounds like the refrigerant left the system in a hurry. To me that indicates a fitting popping off or a weak spot in a hose or hard line that blew out due to damage from your recent wreck.

You should be able to find the leak site by looking for oily spots on hoses, hard line or fittings.

The system charge amount and type of refrigerant are listed on a sticker under the hood.

Good luck.