I went for a diagnostic and they told me I would need to replace the low side hose(hose you see right when you open the hood). Couple questions:

Where can I find online to buy this? They want to charge me 250 JUST for the hose CRAZZZZZZZZZZZY!

Also is there a how to for replacing? Has anyone replaced? How far to the bottom of the car does it go? What tools would I need to take out the rings. Thanks! Will take pictures tomorrow!

 

which hose are you talking about? the flexible one that runs from the compressor to the A/C condenser? That one is secured by a 12mm bolt on each end. Make sure you have the A/C evacuated prior to disconnecting anything. If you don't know much about cars, leave the A/C system to the pros.

I might have the hose you need, used part of course.

P.S. make sure its the hose you need and not just the "O" rings at the ends, which are very cheap to buy.

 

As far as I know, it is a dealer item.
Get a hold of DAve B and tell him what you need. $250 alone for the hose sounds crazy. If you were in Vegas I would offer to do it for you on the house.
You will need to discharge the system.

Good luck man!!

 

He did the UV dye test, and looking at the low pressure side hose alot of green is coming from near the O ring, but I wouldn't know if it's just the ring, he recommended to replace the WHOLE hose starting from the metal part all the way down to the bottom.

Who's Dave B, how can I contact him.

 

its probably just to o-ring. If you are handy you might just want to try replacing that.

On a side note it is a good idea to run your ac every once and a while durring the winter to lubricate all the seals and what not

Dave B is a nissan parts guy that takes care of all of us on the .org I dont have his # handy but you can PM him here: http://forums.maxima.org/members/daveb.html

 

Thanks I just PM'd him, I will keep you updated

 

1-888-254-6060
This should be alot quicker than the P/M. He doesn't check it every single day.

 

Also note, it is illegal to evacuate your refrigerant into the open air, and you will need a shop pull vacuum and recharge the system. Might as well have a shop do it all.

 

just do the o ring. Go to a shop to do an evac first, then do the o ring and make sure u don't strip it since it screws into aluminum, then go back to shop tell them to do vacum, then add dye for future leaks and then recharge it.
Do not use the stuff in the can!

 

You don't evacuate the system prior to work, you do so after it's all back together.

Minor point, but go into a shop asking a guy to evac your refrigerant so you can work on the AC system, and he'll think you're an idiot.


IMO if you aren't going to use the terminology correctly, then just don't use it.

Often times it leads to a lot of confusion or improper diagnoses. Try to evac a full system and you'll likely damage the pump (if you use a separate vacuum pump). That or they'll recover/discharge and evac the system...you'll go home and remove a hose, then after you hear the loud sucking sound, you'll realize that you wasted an ~hour of time + labor to have the system evac'ed for no reaosn.

 

good cath, my bad i ment recover (Just reading through posts and followed the herd) so u don't release any r134a HFCs to enviroment.
Actually on the machine there is no thing as an EVAC. Only recover, vacum, add dye and recharge right? that's why evac as in evacuate the building some ppl still use it and it is often understood as in recover.
Also if u just recover and then crack open the line u will not hear a sucking sound. That's how u repair the system. U recover first then repair the line then vacuum which after if u crack the line then it will make a noise. So u r not using correct terminology either.
BTW i have a an a/c repair licence as well.
I am sure wherever u go in they'll easily figure out what u want. Wouldn't u?

 

I never said that you'll have a vacuum after recovering, read my post again:
It's not 'understood' as recovery, it's understood as pulling a vacuum.

The definition of 'evacuate':
...etc.

And yes, most machines have an 'Evacuation' setting, every single machine I've ever used does; and a quick search on google:
It really does go on from there. Point being, evacuate means vacuum, and nothing else.

If someone came in and said they wanted their system evac'ed, that's what I'd do. If they explain to me what they're trying to do, then I'll do what needs to be done.

And I don't have an A/C repair license, I just have lots of hands on time working on automotive A/C equipment and passed A7

 

I found a shop to replace and recharge for 200 bucks, so yea i'm going to let him take care of it. I was going to change it myself but due to all your concerns, I make it easier on myself. OEM hose is 115 anyways. Thanks everyone for their comments!

 

Wow, I'm amazed you got it done for that price. The hose alone for the '01 looks like $250, incredible. I've had a very slowly warming AC for many years (car is 10 now) and I went to recharge today with r134 + dye/sealer and couldn't increase the pressure much after 1.5 cans. Any way I can use alumalloy or the like to seal it up instead of paying a pantload on a problem I've likely ignored for years?