Can air conditioning be recovered after leaking?

The high and low pressure hoses can get micro cracks over time in the tube itself as they are rubber, especially if they sit against and tap against a heat shield etc given the proximity to the exhaust manifold and block etc in many cars. This is what happened to mine, there was a leak on the high pressure hose which I replaced, then later the tube on the low pressure hose was found to have micro cracks which was only found after a sniffer diagnostic even though it passed the vacuum tests in a "normal" AC re-gas but then lost the gas after a few months.

Both hoses are cheap and labour is cheap so an easy quick fix but the diagnostic needs to be done properly not just a normal re-gas which includes a vacuum test before the machine extracts then returns the gas with a fill-up for what's missing.
 
Like I said, vacuum test is a waste of time. It literally loads the pipes etc different and indeed closes the cracks you describe.

Poor design for them to rub in the first place to be fair!
 
Last edited:
90s German engineering at its finest. At least the original hoses lasted some 19 years so not something most owners will ever have to replace during their ownership of the average car
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom