ok, my a/c when out about 2 months ago. i took it to the honda dealership to have them check it out and after a while, they come out and say that my intake (AEM CAI) caused the leak. the intake piping rubbed against the a/c line directly underneath it and that is where the hole is. my question is.... if i weld a piece of metal over top the hole, that would stop the leak. now do i need to get some sort of vaccume to get rid of the regular air that is in there? because if i try to put in a recharger of a/c, wouldn't the pipe already be filled up with regular air? im confused on that part. or could i turn the a/c on as if im going to use it and then that would pull that air out? then i could put the recharge of a/c in? what should i do? im confused. help me out guys. thanks

 

First, watch what you're welding. Are some of those AC tubes aluminum? Or even plating can mess up your plans to weld it. You might end up just replacing the tubing.

Then, since it's been open for a while, your receiver/dryer has probably sucked up enough moisture from the air so it's shot. Get a new one.

After you fix all that, you HAVE TO pump the air out of the system. Running the compressor isn't going to do that.

 

well its worth a shot to try and weld the pipes. if it messes up, i can just take it to honda and have them do it all because i have employee discount.

where is the receiver/dryer located at? and how much does that cost?

and where would i get a pump to get the air out of the system? thanks for your help so far

 

Your best bet is to just replace the pipe with the hole. Then follow what JimBlake said about replacing the dryer and getting rid of the air. You should be able to recharge it yourself with some R134 refrigerant.

 

yea, i tired putting the recharge in and it was cold for about an hour and then it just leaked out. think i could fix it myself? or should i just let honda do it? and how much is this dryer? anyone have a part #?

 

The dryer is on the driver's side in the engine bay behind your headlight. There are two lines going to it and it is a silver cylinder that looks like it is stuck in your wheel well. It is item #10 in the below picture. Also hose #5 or hose #10 is the one you put a hole in. They are side by side so I am not sure which one. This is easy to do, or atleast it was easy for me to remove mine. You will need to remove the battery and battery tray to get to the holes in the firewall. Once you replace the hose quickly put the dryer on. (DO NOT REMOVE THE PLUGS ON THE DRYER TILL YOU ARE READY TO INSTALL IT) and then recharge it like you did before and it should be all set.



Here is the link I got the pice from with prices for the part.

Well you cannot link to the page I guess but select your make/model/year/tranny/trim and then select A/C hoses.

 

thanks a lot. i can't really tell by looking at that pic, but the one that has the hole in it is the one on the right when they are side by side. like if you look in your engine bay, look underneath your intake, there are the two pipes, and its the one on the right. dont know which number that is.
and is the dryer on the right side? that is where i got hit(they repaired my car and all) and it looks to me like the sliver thing that is "stuck in the wheel well" is brand new. could they have replaced it? thanks for all your help so far

 

Hose #5 is the one on the right. If you did get into an accident there and they replaced the dryer then they would have also had to recharge your A/C.

 

they were going to recharge it, but i told them it wasn't working and had a leak so they said they would put that money towards the betterment i had (wear on my tire).

 

You need a vacuum pump with a manifold to connect to the same AC fittings where you'd put your recharge bottle. I suppose someplace that sells pro-type tools, but it'll be expensive. Couple hundred $$???

Leaving the air in there, your AC will sorta work, but not as cold as it should be. Moisture in there along with the air gives you more corrosion, and maybe it'll freeze in the expansion valve. Then your compressor will over-pressurize & destroy itself.

Seems to me you can do all the repair work, then go to an AC shop just for evacuation & charge. That's gotta cost a lot less than having them do the whole repair.