Just took my FF to be re-gassed and it has a leak. They did a leak test with the UV light and found two leaks. Both in the metal sections of the pipes.
Can these be brazed or soldered? New ones are a fortune from the $tealers

im sure theres a metal tape that bonds when you wrap it around a pipe.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

It's finding the pin hole though. Unless it's left some residue from the leak test, but I can't see any. Will have to whip them off and see.

if it's only a pin hole, then i expect putting a jubilee clip over it with some instant gasket would probably do it.

the aircon system uses pressured gas at around 300 psi, (in order to make it liquid) so i doubt a bit of tape or a jublilee clip will work properly. if you go to an air con engineer, not a high street tyre service garage, maybe even a domestic/office type guy, he may be able to definitively pin point the leak, and rectify it. though the aluminium pipes are different to the copper ones used in domestic systems. but he would know how to deal etc. and more than likely not it as a find a pinholed pipe. those ally pipes can leak, but normally really bad, where they have been ruptured, by bending, or rubbing on say metal.

I'll take them off on Monday when I'm on rest days and see if I can see the hole. Nothing obvious in situ but the chap at the garage said it was down underneath.
Pipes are £125 + vat for the two

if you do take them off, you could be causing more problems, than you are trying to solve. i assume you have it de-gassed at the moment.. i would be looking around for the drip of coloured oil usually green. showing the leak, and if its running down from somewhere. also, the bolts that hold those pipes need a wd40 first, as they are often very tight. and can ruin the part they are screwed into. get some good light on the area before you start pulling it all apart. all the seals you separate should be changed when you re terminate them, but these can be £5 each.
lastly, while the system is 'open' ie to the elements, damp air is entering and are bad for the system.
air con systems are not really DIY friendly. to find a leak, you often fill it with say nitrogen, and either watch for air with bubble type fluid, or look for green oil escaping. you will not see a small pinhole..you really are better off getting a free second opinion, and guidance etc. are there any places on ind. estates, or railway arches, ie backstreet places doing car aircon. this would be my next journey, just to get a quote, and idea of whats involved.

To be honest i didn't think £125+vat for both AC pipes was too bad, They're presumably be pre-shaped to the car. I should think if you had new pipes made up off a roll or straight lengths (it that's possible) then you'd pay close to that in the labour for bending and fitting them.

It was tested with Nitrogen and a UV light. By the time I got to the car, he'd finished the test and parked the car up. He did point out where the leaks were and said once I'd changed the pipes, to come back and he'd re-gas it.

Zirconblue wrote:

To be honest i didn't think £125+vat for both AC pipes was too bad, They're presumably be pre-shaped to the car. I should think if you had new pipes made up off a roll or straight lengths (it that's possible) then you'd pay close to that in the labour for bending and fitting them.