Crushed lines at jacking point

[crstfr]

The lines beside the front right jacking point are crushed.(I can tell you where not to get work done in ma) I only noticed it now that I need my a/c and it is not working. I have searched but I am unable to get details how I can remove and repair both lines. What is in them can I just disconect them and fill the system again with refriderant when I am done.

Thanks

1999 911 manual cab

[scottiemac]

You will have to get the crushed lines replaced fully. The lines are aluminum and I don't believe they are repairable. Do you know if the system isn't working because the lines are crushed or because the lines have a hole in them and the refrigerant has escaped? It is likely that if they have a hole in them you will see some refrigerant oil leaking at the point where the hole is. If you are going to attempt the repair by yourself you should take it to an auto A/C shop and have them capture the refrigerant in the system. Then you can go ahead and replace the lines, take it back to the A/C shop, they will pressure test the system, evacuate it with a vacuum pump (this is a critical step as it eliminates air and moisture from the system and you will never get it working properly without doing it) and fill the system with the correct quantity of R134a. Good luck with the fix.

Cheers

[Loren]

I would take all the belly pans off the car and do a thorough inspection on both sides of the car. You don't want a slightly damaged clutch or brake line failing at the wrong time.

[1schoir]

The lines beside the front right jacking point are crushed.(I can tell you where not to get work done in ma) I only noticed it now that I need my a/c and it is not working. I have searched but I am unable to get details how I can remove and repair both lines. What is in them can I just disconect them and fill the system again with refriderant when I am done.

Thanks

1999 911 manual cab

Chris:

There are two fat black plastic lines that run from front to back on the passenger side, just inboard of the rocker panel and it's not that uncommon for a careless mechanic to damage them when jacking up the car from the right front jacking point. They usually just get "smooshed", but in your case there must a crack or break in at least one of the lines.

They only contain refrigerant, so it must have escaped when the line(s) was/were damaged.

One line is the return line and the other is the supply line. The first thing to do is to try to determine if only one of the lines is damaged or if both are damaged/cracked. As long as you are sure that there is no refrigerant under pressure in the lines, you can take a look at the junctions where the lines connect. The A/C compressor is high up on the front of driver side of the engine (just behind the access panel behind the seats), and there are flexible rubber lines that run from the compressor to the black rigid plastic lines.

After you replace the lines, you will have to refill the system but be very sure that there are no leaks at the junctions that you had to undo. Most shops have a device that captures and stores the refrigerant in case of a leak so that it can be refilled after all leaks have been stopped.

Here is a photo of one of the junctions (this one at the rear) where you can disconnect the broken/cracked line:

Here is a close-up of what the ends of the lines look like...Make sure that the areas pointed to by the red and the blue arrows are intact and clean before assembling them (click once on the photo to blow it up):

Keep us posted and maybe take some pics for future posters who run into this problem.

Regards, Maurice.

Edited June 27, 2010 by 1schoir