A/C Leaking Pipe

[Steve Wright]

Hi Folks

Before I went away on my hols, I found one of the pipes leaking under the sill (just behind the Front O/S wheel) but cannot decide which it is, it could be:
1, AHC piping
2,Water piping to the rear
3,Rear Air con piping
4, Some other piping (but cannot think what else)

But suspect its the Air-con, there is two pipes that run together, one roughly the size of brake pipes, and the other about 25mm in diameter. and the thicker one is covered in a foam insulating jacket just like you would find for pipe lagging, the liquid coming out is clear but with a oily feel, and there is not a lot of it ! (the foam has a few droplets, but not a puddle on the floor)

It's not a good place to take a picture, but also cannot attach to the post.

So does any one know which this pipe is, and any one know a very good independent garage in the N/W near Manchester ?

 

[warrenpfo]

Re: Leking Pipe

Hate to say it but yes its an Air Con pipe. I have a leak in the exact same place and have not used my AC for a few months unil i can get under the car and see what can be done about it.

 

[Steve Wright]

Re: Leking Pipe

Hate to say it but yes its an Air Con pipe. I have a leak in the exact same place and have not used my AC for a few months unil i can get under the car and see what can be done about it.

Hi Warren

I have found that is is defiantly the Air con pipe, I removed the pipe insulation from the pipe, and found a small hole in the
thin pipe, I contacted the local dealer, who has quoted over £500 to replace the pipe !

Well he says the pipe is About £130 but it goes from just behind the front wheel, right the way to the back of the car, and to fit the new pipe the body has to be split from the chassis, so that why its so expensive !

But I have contacted a Air Con specialist who reckons he can repair it, so he is looking at it on Sunday and if he can do it and the air con service and re-gas about £130 all in, so watch this space.

 

[warrenpfo]

Re: Leaking Pipe

Steve

I have the exact tame problem on the exact same pipe. I have not yet established where the hole is yet but know that my aircon is empty/has no gas in it from looking at the sight glass so have not been running it. I know the body has to come off first and hence the reason for the expense. I called Toyota yesterday and enquired about the pipe and was quoted £147.73 for that section of pipe.

I would be very very interested to see how things go and have given it plenty of thought as to how you might be able to get the pipe out without lifting the body. The only way I have come up with is to cut the pipe where it goes behind the chassis rail and have a join put in.

Do keep me posted to the point where I may even like to pop round and watch the job get done if you are going to hang around.

Who are you using?

 

[Steve Wright]

Re: Leaking Pipe

Steve

I have the exact tame problem on the exact same pipe. I have not yet established where the hole is yet but know that my aircon is empty/has no gas in it from looking at the sight glass so have not been running it. I know the body has to come off first and hence the reason for the expense. I called Toyota yesterday and enquired about the pipe and was quoted £147.73 for that section of pipe.

I would be very very interested to see how things go and have given it plenty of thought as to how you might be able to get the pipe out without lifting the body. The only way I have come up with is to cut the pipe where it goes behind the chassis rail and have a join put in.

Do keep me posted to the point where I may even like to pop round and watch the job get done if you are going to hang around.

Who are you using?

Hi Again

You have puzzled me !
my aircon is empty/has no gas in it from looking at the sight glass where is the sight glass ?

You say you were quoted £147 for the pipe, but which pipe was that for, the thin or thick one?

Where my leak is, look just behind the front wheel, two pipes come from the engine compartment, drop down and go behind a removable bracket, remove the bracket ant the two pipes are held in place by a clamp,remove the clamp, and remove the foam pipe insulation from both pipes, and there is a small (pinprick) hole on the thin pipe, with what looks like corrosion, of some form.

I have decided to take it to the Air-con specialist and see what he says, and if he can repair it, so will let you know.
but I do believe the company is a nation wide, so if they do a good job, I will let you have the info.

 

[warrenpfo]

Re: Leaking Pipe

Steve

Mine is also the small pipe but not quite at the same location but rather as that pipe travels from the wheel arch down under the drivers seat and along the running board is where mine has a hole.

The quote i got was for the same pipe you are talking about which runs from the wheel arch to about under the rear spare wheel where there is a join.

The sight glass is visible if you lift up the bonnet and in front of the radiator looking down on the right hand side you will see a small clear glass inspection bubble.

Do keep me posted.

 

[warrenpfo]

Re: Leaking Pipe

Steve and for those interested it has been some time since I updated on this story so though I would post my findings.

Just so you know there is absolutely no chance of you getting any of the pipes that run from the front to the rear unit out with out either cutting them or lifting the body from the chassis rails.

I went to Pirtek Reading on Saturday and after a very friendly chap had a look and then poked around he said that he could fix the leak with a new tool they had just got and after doing so he pressurised the line to find that i had at least another 2 or 3 holes along the length of the line.

I decided not to repair them but rather to run a new rubber line from the front to the rear and this is what I plan on doing:

One of these at £145

2 of these at £13 each and some hose

I had never seen the above system before but the chap at Pirtek showed me how it works and its dead simple and works very very well.

It should solve all my problems and any future ones.

More here:

http://www.lokringusa.com/srvcmanl.htm

Will keep you posted on how i get on as i plan on ordering the bits this week as soon as i find a supplier for the right rubber air con hose

 

[uHu]

Re: Leaking Pipe

This is a very useful thread. Could we have the title changed to include Air Con, or A/C?
Should this go into the faq? Both 100 & general?

Is it correct to presume that this concerns LC100 with a rear AirCon?

Photos of the repair would be wonderful.

Could the same tool/method be used for the thick AC pipe? Or for the rear heater pipes, which also have a tendency to corrode?

Thank you for sharing, Warren and Steve.

 

[Alex Pilagosian]

Landcruiser aircon leaking from clamp.
The usual story filled up the aircon gas told I had no leaks but getting a load of hot air from the "professional" and the landcruiser.

Found the leaking from the clamp was wondering if I could remove the pipes
A. Have a direct connection using a rubber hose cut the clamp away.
B. Run new pipes and have the connection's made by pirtek

 

[devonnick]

An update to this thread for anyone who has an 80 Series vehicle. The AC in one of my 80's has never worked and I decided to read all the threads yesterday and collect 'the knowledge', before heading off to Plymouth today to try and get it resolved. Here are some bits of info that might be useful:

1/ Toyota no longer make many of the pipes and connectors. This is REALLY annoying as our vehicles are now 20 - 25 years old and corrosion/faults are common. There are very few people advertizing parts - I used this one from Japan:
http://toyota-general.epc-data.com/land_cruiser/hzj80r/8801/electric/8718/88717B/

2/ Do not use hydraulic hose unless you are doing a very temporary fix. The pipes carry 300 psi and the AC fluid destroys it quickly

3/ If one of the aluminium pipes has a hole/holes, then it is now possible to weld these up using a magnesium rod. If you want the details then contact Plymouth Radiators on +44 1752 666402. On my vehicle the one that had gone was 88717-60850 which runs right across the bulkhead of the vehicle.

I won't know whether my condensor is OK until the pipe is replaced and the system charged, so I have noted the comments about getting one of these from the AC specialist and not Toyota

 

[StarCruiser]

Pipes can be replaced with copper flared connections. Flexi pipes can be made up specifically for refrigerant and fitted for a long term fix. Thin ally can be a pig to weld sometimes as it then cracks at the edge of the weld. Fittings can be machined/welded to take flare fittings. With a proper AC engineer and a 'can do' attitude, most things can be fixed.

 

[grantw]

I've looked in the past but couldn't identify the part number for a UK 80 series diesel - but what is the part number for the pipe that runs under the LHS battery tray into the evaporator or condenser?