Rep Power: 0

The hard A/C line going from the receiver-drier to the condenser, how long does that take to replace?

My wife's 2003 Honda Civic had a hole in the hard A/C line going from the receiver-drier to the condenser because of enjgine vibration. The drive belt rubbed so hard on it (always after a high acceleration run) that it punctured a nice hole in it. I assume that bumper removal is required to get at that hard line, along with getting a trained mechanic to replace it because it seems to be on the high-pressure side of the A/C system.

 
Rep Power: 812

yeah you need to hook the system up to a machine to safely depressurize and later fill the system. also whenever a part of the a/c system is changed, its always a good idea to flush the system. otherwise dirt and grit inside could cause all sorts of problems.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah I thought so.

The body shop actually will be doing this, so at least I hope they know what they are doing, and that when they go to refill the A/C coolant, that they use Honda Type-II R-134a. We hope to get the car back later today!

 
Rep Power: 812

yeah i hope they use the honda stuff too, otherwise you will be coming back with a blown compressor!

 
Rep Power: 0

So wait, what is the major difference between the Honda coolant and other types of coolant? Why will anything other than Honda blow the compressor?

 
Rep Power: 812

honda has very specific requirements for the oil and refrigerant.

refrigerant: HFC-134a (R-134a)
PAG oil: Sanden SP-10 for honda compressor

It says other refrigerant oils may result in compressor failure. better safe than sorry. alot of those "off the shelf" refrigerant and oil mixes in a can is almost guaranteed to ruin the a/c system.

 
Rep Power: 0

Everything is good now. The A/C runs fine, and I have not heard any clicking noises from the engine bay at all, which means they slightly moved the A/C hard line more toward the front of the car so it doesn't rub the accessory belt.

 
Rep Power: 253

Refrigerant and coolant is not the same things guys be careful what you say. Anyway good to know that putting aftermarket refrigerant is a bad idea. It is not possible to buy that stuff from the dealer though is it? Like in a can?

 
Rep Power: 812

pretty sure its available. some auto stores sell it too, they just keep it in the back. advance had all sorts of different compressor oils. you can use the store refrigerant, but only the pure stuff, not those crappy recharge diy kits because usually they have some unknown oil inside and can kill the compressor. thats why they wouldnt let us help anyone for liability reasons. unless they had a really old truck or something where it didnt matter.