Hi all,

Went out to replace my AC line this afternoon after diagnosing my leak and ordering the new part last weekend. Unfortunately, tonight was a losing battle. I got access to the old one pretty easily (remove the grill and the airbox). From there, things went downhill.

My leak is where the line runs through the body towards the front of the truck (right near the horn on the drivers side). In there, there's a bracket that holds the line to the body - the leak is from the bracket rusting and corroding the AC line. Good design choice to use a non-stainless bracket. The bolt that holds this bracket on was, at one point, 8mm, but some of those mm have been lost over the years to corrosion. I tried both 8mm and 5/16" but it's just stripped - I never had a chance. I don't have an angle grinder and it'd be a difficult one to cut anyway due to the body positioning around it, so I figured I'd go crazy and just try to run both lines in parallel and leave the old, broken one disconnected.

This didn't work either. The pipe is an incredibly frustrating shape, and it doesn't have much give, so it's just really hard to weave through:



For those who have installed this before, when you weaved it through the front of the body, did you go from front to back or back to front? I was able to get pretty close going from front to back, but I had about 4 inches further that the pipe had to go before I'd be able to rotate it, and at that point, I think it would have been too far under the engine components to actually spin up towards where it belongs.

At the back of the body, there's a small hole maybe 1.25" in diameter to pass through. While the existing pipe was admittedly still in place, I wasn't able to get the larger end of the pipe that attaches to the receiver through the hole in order to go back-to-front. Truthfully, I'm not sure it'll fit at all, even without the old pipe. However, if I need to go back to front, then I just need to figure out how to either cut the bolt or cut the old pipe so that I can remove it.

@The Deputy - you pointed me directly to the location of the leak, so I'm guessing you might be able to provide some guidance, but I'd welcome some advice/moral support from everyone/anyone!

 

Also are you supposed to just like destroy the plastic clip that attaches the wiper fluid filler tube to the body or is there some kind of magic password to get it to break free?

I was using a big wrench as a lever to pull it out and it barely budged. I gave up before I ruined it, but maybe that’s the only way.

 

I'll take a look at mine tomorrow to get a better sense of what you're dealing with but I can tell you this, most plastic clips have an expanding bit on the back side that needs to be compressed in order for the clip to be extracted and removed.

 

I installed this line the other day, for the same reason as you are having to replace yours. wasn't able to get the plastic clip out on either my 2003 (the one needing the repair) or my '99 (parts donor). I ended up breaking the clip off and I figure I will work out some way to secure the filler neck later.

To install the A/C line, I was able to wrangle it into place (eventually) by going front to back. There did not appear to be enough space to go the other way, especially since the receiver/dryer end of the line has a very tight U-bend in it and there's not enough distance between to apex of the U and the body panel that you're trying to pass it through to complete the manoeuvre.

There was only one hole that I had to pass the line through -- the 1.25" one behind the front grille. The rest of the mounting points are those clips. They should have a rubber grommet between the clip and the A/C line for vibration isolation and also to prevent corrosion. The front clip was in exactly the same condition on my truck, so that may be a weak design point right there.

Why not cut the old line to get it out? You know that it leaks so there's no need to keep it there, and it will only be in your way. A hacksaw should work.

I did have to gently bend the new line at a couple of points to get it all the way through into its final resting place. I also have the exhaust manifolds and y-pipes and the whole air intake system removed so I have a bit more space to work in than you probably do at the moment. Because of the bends and gentle coaxing I had to do, the pipe now passes through the very centre of the hole in the body panel, and doesn't actually sit against the structural piece beside the radiator any more. I like that, as it means that the line is not rubbing against the side of the hole. I'm going to use a long bolt with a couple of nuts as spacers to re-use the original mounting point where the problematic clip used to be, but the A/C line will now stand away from it by about an inch.

 

Amazing - thanks so much. I’ll cut out the old one and try again tomorrow. Good to know that I can't go back to front. I had pushed the intake hose out of the way and moved the power steering reservoir but I can probably use a little more force.

Did you lube the o-rings with refrigerant oil?

 

Yeah. There was plenty of it coming out of the pipes in both trucks. Just grab some on a cotton swab and give the o-ring a wipe.