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started the car up after a heat soak and POW heard a pop, heard a hiss, and saw steam like gas spraying from the front driver's side of the car. Pulled over and saw green stuff which I assumed was coolant. Drove home. Wrong unfortunately. It's compressor oil. Looks like the fitting on the high pressure side hose to condenser failed. I feel good that I turned off my AC after the pop but I want to feel even better if this is an easy and there is no compressor damage.
What's up with these fittings? I have zero experience with auto AC systems and the fittings. Is this a fitting that can be replaced or am I looking at a new hose / condenser???? Any reason I shouldn't cover up the broken fitting to seal out dirt and keep driving it as long as the AC is kept off?
Checked the FSM. It's called a one touch fitting. Looks like a special tool is needed to disconnect and it also looks like the part that would fail is on the high pressure hose side. Anyone have any experience with these fittings and the high pressure tube? It carries the liquid to the evaporator. Anyone ever replaced one of these here?
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I have zero experience with these connectors but I do have some advice:
I would get two heavy-duty/heavy-gauge plastic baggies and close off both the condenser and hose sides of that connection. And quick. This will give you time to research repair options without contaminating the AC system to dirt, and more seriously, moisture. This summertime humidity will destroy the desiccant used in the receiver/drier.
Update. I reconnected the fitting (by firmly pushing it back in). Bought a vacuum pump and manifold gauge. Pulled a vacuum down to -30 in mercury or so. It held for 30 minutes w/o the pump. I then kept pumping for 90 minutes to remove any moisture and fed the system a can of R134a. AC is blowing cold. I have a feeling I loosened the fitting when removing the driver's side catalytic converter demon bolt from the front. Hope the fitting holds. The pump and gauge cost about $125 from Amazon and the can of refrigerant was $6. I put about 1/2 oz of compressor oil back into the system.
$128. It came with the 134A fittings but didn't come with a can tap.
It wasn't the cheapest but did appear to be the best value for non professional use. The gauge set has a purge valve and a sight glass. Worked well for me and helped feed my tool addiction.....
05-30-2019, 07:45 PM
