1995 Toyota Camry Freon leak in aluminum tubing?

1995 Toyota Camry Freon leak in aluminum tubing?

I have a 1995 Toyota Camry with a slow freon leak. I can see the oil
exiting from the vertical section of the foam rubber insulation that
surrounds one of the aluminum freon tubes. It is the tube that runs
across the car along the bottom of the radiator. The leak is visible
exiting the rubber insulation at the vertical section on the drivers
side of the car when it goes to the receiver dryer. There is no joint
or any other feature that would be a likely cause for a leak, just
a bend in the tubing. The tubing is covered with the rubber
insulation so it is hard for me to locate the exact spot. Right now
the leak is relatively slow and I can probably just put in a can or
two of freon each season. Fortunately it is R134 which I can buy.

My guess is that there is a pinhole at the bend. Have any Toyota
experts seen this before. Is there a way to repair the tube or do I
need to replace it?

thanks
Mark

On Apr 13, 10:25 am, Mark <makol...m> wrote:
> 1995 Toyota Camry Freon leak in aluminum tubing?
>
> I have a 1995 Toyota Camry with a slow freon leak. I can see the oil
> exiting from the vertical section of the foam rubber insulation that
> surrounds one of the aluminum freon tubes. It is the tube that runs
> across the car along the bottom of the radiator. The leak is visible
> exiting the rubber insulation at the vertical section on the drivers
> side of the car when it goes to the receiver dryer. There is no joint
> or any other feature that would be a likely cause for a leak, just
> a bend in the tubing. The tubing is covered with the rubber
> insulation so it is hard for me to locate the exact spot. Right now
> the leak is relatively slow and I can probably just put in a can or
> two of freon each season. Fortunately it is R134 which I can buy.
>
> My guess is that there is a pinhole at the bend. Have any Toyota
> experts seen this before. Is there a way to repair the tube or do I
> need to replace it?
>
> thanks
> Mark

Slice the insulation lengthwise to see the exact pinhole location. I
would advise you to have a soap-water solution and wipe it on the tube
to see where the bubbles would appear. Use any household sealants,
putties to cover the hole, try to use those reworkable type of
sealants first just incase you make an error. Let it dry and then wrap
the sliced insulation with duct tape or any tape to closeup the sliced
insulation. I think this type of repair is best for a 13 yr old car,
it would be expensive to replace the whole tubing.
I've had luck using RTV silicone (its reworkable for the first two
days or so but once it was cured, it will sure last until the life of
the car) on my honda civics radiator, but it was on a ceramic surface,
but I think RTVs would hold well on aluminum surfaces too.

I looked some more, if it's the all-alum line then it's a dealer item
because nobody else seems to stock it. Get a new drier and o rings
while at it.

On Apr 13, 7:25 am, Mark <makol...m> wrote:
> 1995 Toyota Camry Freon leak in aluminum tubing?
>
> I have a 1995 Toyota Camry with a slow freon leak. I can see the oil
> exiting from the vertical section of the foam rubber insulation that
> surrounds one of the aluminum freon tubes. It is the tube that runs
> across the car along the bottom of the radiator. The leak is visible
> exiting the rubber insulation at the vertical section on the drivers
> side of the car when it goes to the receiver dryer. There is no joint
> or any other feature that would be a likely cause for a leak, just
> a bend in the tubing. The tubing is covered with the rubber
> insulation so it is hard for me to locate the exact spot. Right now
> the leak is relatively slow and I can probably just put in a can or
> two of freon each season. Fortunately it is R134 which I can buy.
>
> My guess is that there is a pinhole at the bend. Have any Toyota
> experts seen this before. Is there a way to repair the tube or do I
> need to replace it?
>
> thanks
> Mark

Yeah, it wouldn't hurt if the shop can do AC tube brazing, at least
residential/commercial shops do them. See if the shop will route the
tube in better ways. :) :) Of course always check OEM prices first as
much markup there might be. .

On Apr 14, 6:33 pm, ransley <Mark_Rans...m> wrote:

> get a pro to try to FIX it hacly a " Dealer line" might cost more than
> the car since "Dealer markups" are a rip

On Apr 15, 12:19 am, johngd...@m wrote:
> Yeah, it wouldn't hurt if the shop can do AC tube brazing, at least
> residential/commercial shops do them. See if the shop will route the
> tube in better ways. :) :) Of course always check OEM prices first as
> much markup there might be. .
>
> On Apr 14, 6:33 pm, ransley <Mark_Rans...m> wrote:
>
>
>
> > get a pro to try to FIX it hacly a " Dealer line" might cost more than
> > the car since "Dealer markups"  are a rip- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Follow up..
I had a chance today to peel back the rubber insulation from the
tube. Looks like water would get into the space between the tubing
and the insulation at the vertical section and then be drawn down and
be stuck there so the tube was forever wet. I peeled off all the
insulation, doesn't make sense to me anyway, it's on the high side
anyhow. Then using soap and water I was able to find that there is a
tiny leak at the bend on the outside radius. You can eaisly see the
bubbles. The tubing looks pretty good though it's not all corroded.
I don't think there is any easy fix, any epoxy etc would not hold long
enough to set unless I evacuated the system first. And I can't just
hose clamp a split rubber hose around it because it's at the bend. So
I'll just leave it, it took over a year for it to leak down enough to
cause a problem so its a slow leak. When I re-charge I'll be sure to
add more oil. I think the easiest repair would be to cut off the
tubing at the bend and use a suitable rubber hose and clamps to fill
in the removed bend. I would have to have a shop do this so I'll just
leave it for now. If it gets worse, that's what I'll do..

For long term reliability, I would remove any rubber insulation that
is around any tubing if water can get in there and sit forever.

thanks for the replies
Mark

The old rule-of-thumb is: if the system leaks < 0.5oz/year then it's
considered "completely sealed"; if the system leaks > 6oz/year (1/2
can) then you have a leak. Somewhere in between go to Walmart and buy
a can ~$7. Don't know if this still applies.

You can pick up a replacement pipe cheap at the local junkyard (they
already evacuated all gases/fluids). Keep it around until you really
need it I guess. Just bring your tools.

On Apr 19, 12:40 pm, Mark <makol...m> wrote:
> Follow up..
> I had a chance today to peel back the rubber insulation from the
> tube. Looks like water would get into the space between the tubing
> and the insulation at the vertical section and then be drawn down and
> be stuck there so the tube was forever wet. I peeled off all the
> insulation, doesn't make sense to me anyway, it's on the high side
> anyhow. Then using soap and water I was able to find that there is a
> tiny leak at the bend on the outside radius. You can eaisly see the
> bubbles. The tubing looks pretty good though it's not all corroded.
> I don't think there is any easy fix, any epoxy etc would not hold long
> enough to set unless I evacuated the system first. And I can't just
> hose clamp a split rubber hose around it because it's at the bend. So
> I'll just leave it, it took over a year for it to leak down enough to
> cause a problem so its a slow leak. When I re-charge I'll be sure to
> add more oil. I think the easiest repair would be to cut off the
> tubing at the bend and use a suitable rubber hose and clamps to fill
> in the removed bend. I would have to have a shop do this so I'll just
> leave it for now. If it gets worse, that's what I'll do..
>
> For long term reliability, I would remove any rubber insulation that
> is around any tubing if water can get in there and sit forever.
>
> thanks for the replies
> Mark