Hello all,
I have a new issue with my AC. After replacing the drier, condenser, compressor and freon a month ago my AC has gone out. The dye test showed a leak in the aluminum hard line behind the engine!!! It's the long one that goes from the condenser, around the engine, and into the firewall. Apparently over 13 years the wiring harness has been wiggling against it and just wore it down. Both lines are damaged but only one has a hole.

Does anyone have a clue how to get this out? It looks to me like it was put in there before almost anything else since it has tons of wiring harnesses and hoses over it. We tried to find someone who could cut & flange the lines in the car but it doesn't look like it can be done. The part is no longer available either.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas on how to get this thing out to get it repaired?

 

I removed this line when I was deleting my A/C, although I did have the engine out at the time. The most difficult part is feeding the line through the hole in the fire wall as the line has many bends in it. I'm not sure if you could even do it with the engine in. You could if your were really determined, but good luck not breaking anything. Sorry I can't post better info. Good luck!

 

That's what I was afraid of hearing. Do you think it could be cut into sections & flange jointed so it could be removed and installed? If so, It could be cut at the firewall on both sides and just the center piece removed & replaced...probably while in the car.

Think that would just be asking for trouble?

 

Any chance you could just fix the hole without removing the entire line? Even to cut and replace that section of hose.

If not, the firewall would definately be the best place to cut it. You could work the rest of the hose out alot easier then. As long as the flange is good enough not to cause more leaks and you think you can actually get the flange on there, it might work.

 

Talk to Griff at 800-451-7225 (http://www.griffiths.com)

 

See if you could have someone squeeze an aluminum patch around it and use a small worm clamp in the center and tig the ends. remove the clamp and finish the job.

or maybe just tig some material over the hole to seal it

 

Hmm...I'm not sure how that would work as I'm not familiar with plumbing but i think it's really quite tight in there. The leak is between the engine and the firewall in a 2" gap.

I'll ask my wrench. Is there anyone else I should talk to in town? Could someone other than my porsche shop do this? I'm going to try the AC shop we have on monday.

Thanks for the reply!