1995 Toyota Camry Freon leak in aluminum tubing?
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From: Mark on 13 Apr 2008 10:25 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
From: EdV on 13 Apr 2008 11:06 On Apr 13, 10:25 am, Mark <makol...(a)yahoo.com> 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.
From: Ray O on 13 Apr 2008 11:40 "Mark" <makolber(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:43f745f1-a26f-46b2-9ad4-3a7af4cbe3c3(a)d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com... > 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 "Freon" is the brand name for R-12 refrigerant that is no longer made. The refrigerant for your Camry is used in all vehicles made after around 1993 and is known as R-134-A. The proper repair is to replace the section of tubing with the leak, but you can try something like JB Aluminum Weld first. Wipe the area that you are going to repair with rubbing alcohol to remove any oil on the outside of the tubing. If you have to remove any insulation, replace it with the stuff available at a hardware store and secure it in place with plastic zip ties. -- Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)
From: Bruce L. Bergman on 13 Apr 2008 12:36 On Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:25:33 -0700 (PDT), Mark <makolber(a)yahoo.com> 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? Slice open the foam insulation and take a look exactly what you have, and where. It could be a crack at a bend, or at a weld for a support tab, or simply a flaw in a straight section of tubing. You can glue or tape the insulation closed later, it's there for padding and thermal efficiency. You can try scrubbing the tubing down thoroughly and applying a two-part epoxy made for refrigeration repairs - with two caveats. The system has to be totally discharged (with a recovery machine, then recharged when you are done), or the refrigerant pressure inside will just push it's way through the epoxy before it sets. And the repair may last a week, or 10 years, you never know. The more reliable repair (other than replacement) is TIG welding. If you can physically get to the leak with the condenser still in the car, they could bring the welder to the car and fix it right where it sits, and you don't have to chance any other leaks from disturbing the fittings and removing the condenser. You will need a technician to recover the refrigerant and purge the AC system with an inert gas like Helium or Argon so the TIG welding doesn't contaminate everything inside. Then the welder crawls under the hood and seals up the crack. After they check the repair for leaks, then you purge and recharge the system. (And if the system has leaked down to zero before where it sucked in some air, change the filter/drier at the same time you do the repairs. Moisture inside the AC system is bad, you get freeze-ups at the TXV or metering orifice and the AC starts and stops working randomly. The bag of desiccant crystals in the drier section can only absorb a few drops of water before it is spent.) --<< Bruce >>--
From: Daniel Who Wants to Know on 13 Apr 2008 12:49 "Mark" <makolber(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:43f745f1-a26f-46b2-9ad4-3a7af4cbe3c3(a)d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com... > 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 Since you have evidence that oil is being lost along with the refrigerant I would say DO NOT continue to just recharge as necessary as the system is low on oil already and you risk locking up the compressor. The proper (expensive) repair is to recover what refrigerant is left, disassemble the system, drain the remaining oil out of all of the components, replace the leaking tube along with the drier, refill the compressor with the proper number of ounces of the correct type of oil (PAG or POE), reassemble, leak test with dry nitrogen, triple evacuate using a vacuum pump and a micron gauge, and recharge by weighing in the specified number of ounces of refrigerant. BTW as was mentioned by another poster Freon is a DuPont registered trademark for refrigerants (mainly R12 and R22) manufactured by them just as Puron is Carrier's trademark for the R410 used in their systems. This probably doesn't matter though as people still call any adjustable wrench by any manufacturer the Crescent name, any locking pliers by the Vise-Grip name, any facial tissue by the Kleenex name, along with any others you can think of.
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