Air Con Problem - R33

[Daleet]

Hey guys,

So I was driving to Victor Harbor one day when a puff of steam/smoke came out of my bonnet on the left side. I pulled over and had a quick look, car was still running fine. Later I tried turning on my air-con and found out it was completely dead- and this is why...

Image link: (doesn't want to display here for some reason) http://www.overclockers.com.au/pix/image.p...d=mvjak&t=1

The pipe that's been blown open (no idea how) seems to be made of plastic, with some sort of silver insulation or something over it... does anyone know what that pipe is called? From general web searches, all I've seem to find is 'low side pipe (from evaporator)' and stuff like that, makes it a bit hard to track down a replacement. If anyone can let me know what sort of material it is, the name of it, or even better - where I could grab a replacement then that'd be awesome.

Cheers!

[Craig SLO33]

that is a rubber hose with the aluminium over it to protect from heat .it is joined by crimped joins onto the aluminium ends.must of gotten too hot and blew out,should be able to get one from a wreckers or somewhere like that.not sure if nissan would still sell them, be worth ringing them at least ,or maybe you can get the hose replaced by a hydraulic hose fitter/maker..

[Luciano]

it looks like that hose is awfully close to the dump pipe & turbo, and it has slowly burnt (and the hose is probably as old as the car too, so likely to have tarnished slowly over time).

I'm no expert, but it's probably pressurised aircon/refrigeration gas that you lost through that split in the hose while you were on your way to Victor.

if you want a genuine part - go into a Nissan dealer - e.g. Lakeside Nissan on Main North Rd near Mawson Lakes. They'll get the replacement hose for you easily. Although once you replace it, you may want to look at shielding it with better insulation, or modifying it to sit a touch further away from your dump pipe & turbo.

Since you say the aircon is completely dead now though, the problem may be greater. hope you get it sorted before the rest of summer mate

[BundyBear]

looks like its blown out in line with the dump pipe flange, maybe a dodgy gasket ??? might b worth a look

bit of thermo wrap in that dump wouldn't hurt, shoud be good for +0.5hp also

[Daleet]

Thanks heaps for the feedback and quick replies.

The photo I've taken is probably a little deceptive, as the blown hose sits further down than it looks, but even with that said I guess it is pretty close. It definitely is burnt though, so I guess that's the reason it finally blew - I just would have hoped/expected to notice the carbon on the hose earlier! Hopefully the gasket is fine, but if I notice anything (or I see it's being burnt again) after I get a new hose I'll look into it.

I think you're right too, Luciano - there was a pressurised gas-like hiss when the steam/smoke came out, so I was silly not to pick up on it straight after it happened. Thankfully, the climate control (LCD screen, fan etc) still works and everything, I probably just exaggerated a bit when I said it was completely dead! The car revs a bit higher when I press the A/C button, so I'm pretty certain it's just that cheeky hose.

I'm just spewing because I've got a 6 or so hour drive to Tumby Bay on Thursday... oh well, windows down and I'll be alright.

Cheers again

Edited February 9, 2010 by Daleet

[Daleet]

I rang up the Nissan dealer on Unley Road (as it's closer to me), and they quoted me $344 + GST + 2 weeks on the part as it's coming from Japan. Youch! I haven't ordered yet (insufficient funds), but at least I know the figures.

Does anyone know of some decent wreckers that might stock some old R33 parts??

Hmmm, looks like until I get that hose replaced, I'll just have to put up with being a crispy critter.

[Craig SLO33]

ive got one of those hoses im not using , icould send it to u ,,, im in wa

Edited February 10, 2010 by Craig SLO33

[Daleet]

Yeah that looks like the one I'm after. How much do you want for it? Though it looks a bit corroded or something... it's not clogged up or anything?

[grigor]

You wouldn't be silly enough to replace the hose without first getting some heat shields on the turbo and that dump would you????

And switching on the compressor, not too smart. It will try to ingest the remains of your hose and assorted crap.

Aircon internals must be surgically clean.

[Craig SLO33]

Yeah that looks like the one I'm after. How much do you want for it? Though it looks a bit corroded or something... it's not clogged up or anything?

yeah its been siting around for a while but its clean inside, if you were in wa id say just come and get it , aall id want for it is enough to cover the postage , probably 20 or 30 bucks, im not going to use it again, its up to you, pm me or whatever,

[Daleet]

You wouldn't be silly enough to replace the hose without first getting some heat shields on the turbo and that dump would you????

And switching on the compressor, not too smart. It will try to ingest the remains of your hose and assorted crap.

Aircon internals must be surgically clean.

Yeah it's unfortunate that I didn't see the hose had blown, so when I pressed the A/C button it's not like I knew it was a bad move. Depends on the price of heat shields etc too, if I put on a new hose and there's no burning, then I won't worry. If there is, I'll chase some up. Being a student means I don't have as much flexibility with my cash as I'd like. Ideally, I would get new/genuine parts from the dealer, but economically I just can't.

yeah its been siting around for a while but its clean inside, if you were in wa id say just come and get it , aall id want for it is enough to cover the postage , probably 20 or 30 bucks, im not going to use it again, its up to you, pm me or whatever,

No worries dude, I'll pm you.

EDIT: Craig, I can't pm yet as I haven't had a total of 10 posts. I'll pm tomorrow when I've got some time to comment on a few other threads. Just got back from a big weekend away, so too tired to do so now.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Daleet

[Craig SLO33]

sorry about that i didnt see your posts, i sent you a pm instead,,

[Daleet]

Thanks heaps for your help and generosity Craig, I appreciate it mate. Will let you know how it all goes!

Cheers

[Daleet]

Got my mate who actually knows what he's doing (unlike myself) to give me a hand, and voila! Fixed. As you can see, I bought a roll of head shield and wrapped it over the dump pipe. Hopefully that does the job!

Air Con Fixed

Though it'll be good to get a really hot day so I can really give it a whirl.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Daleet