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AC Hose Replacement Question

2.1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  chuckoff  
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

The AC went out in my 1998 T100 (5VZFE engine) a little while ago. I first checked if there was any refrigerant and saw there was none, so I got a recharge kit and brought the pressure up to ~45 PSI per the instructions about ambient temperature. The compressor kicked on and the AC was nice and cold inside... for about 30 seconds.

I quickly noticed that there was a major leak in either the high or low pressure hose where they meet the condenser. The system quickly discharged all the refrigerant I added and the pressure went back down to 0.

My question is: since it appears the system is depressurized, is it safe to disconnect the high and low pressure hoses and replace them, or should I still take my truck to a trained AC technician and have them fully depressurize the system before I replace the hoses? I'm leaning towards taking it in since I'm not sure if the system holds pressure other than in the hoses, but wanted to know if any of y'all have experience and think I can replace the hoses right now. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
If yer gauges are reading zero, you should be able to test the system fer any residual pressure by lightly depressing the fill valve (low pressure line) and see if anything escapes. Just so you remember, the low pressure line is the fat one and the high pressure line is the skinny one. ;)

Do you see any sort of black debris in the sight glass on the drier? If so, yer gonna probably need to replace the condenser and flush the system thoroughly. This would also be a good time to remove the evaporator and thoroughly clean the fins vs leaving it in the vehicle and trying to clean it while it was installed. It only takes about 5 minutes to remove the blower unit and the evaporator unit. Follow my guide in the DIY Thread section under the Air Conditioning section. You don't have to remove the dash to do this. ;)
https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/60-t-100-forum/1624842-replacing-ac-evaporator.html

Do you know why the hoses were leaking at the condenser? Did they git tweaked or damaged in an accident? ;)
 
#3 ·
Thanks as always, Bam. Hadn't posted on here in over a year and was hoping you were still around! Didn't see anything odd in the sight glass on first check, but will double check for any black debris. Will definitely clean the evaporator's fins (and the blower motor, too... I can't seem to go a season without a leaf getting in there and then making a racket when the fan is on!). RE: why there's a leak in one or both of the hoses, you know I bet they did get tweaked when somebody bumped into my front corner passenger side while trying to take a left across traffic :facepalm: They were only going about 5 MPH but that was probably enough to do it. Had to have my grille replaced. Anyway, thank you again!
 
#4 ·
Well after getting the new hoses and installing them, it turns out the leak was actually in the metal pipe coming from the high pressure line directly UNDER the hoses I replaced, lol. I see that the OEM part is around $65 (no aftermarket part to be found on RockAuto at all!), so not that expensive, but I'm wondering if it's possible to use some sort of sealant or wrap to plug the leak. Does anybody know if that's a common solution, or should I just replace the whole pipe? Thanks!