2009 Sedan XS
143k miles

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?

Any advice is welcome.

 

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?

.

 

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.

Basically, "a ounce of prevention..."

Good luck!

 

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.

Brian

 

Glad you got it up and running. Care to share a link to the pump/manifold set you bought from Amazon? I have been, casually, looking for one.

Thanks, and congrats!
Alex

 

$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.....

Brian

 

The tool is a little ring with several little prongs that go around it. The prongs separate the two lines when inserted at connection point. Its not as easy as it sounds. Mine was a pain in the ***. I ended up buying two different types of removal tools and what worked best for me was a small piece of plastic I cut from a milk jug believe it or not. You have to force it btwn the joints and the tools were just to thick. I wrestled with it for a week before trying my own makeshift tool which popped them apart quickly. Good luck 😆

 

Update on this post. Car now has 160k+ miles and the AC fix from 2019 is still holding strong. These cars are tanks. Too bad they rust out!