Totally OT- Vehicle A/C help

[TX50Cal]

I got in my Saturn Vue yesterday and the a/c was not working. I went and bought a can of freon and put it in and found where it was leaking. One of the hoses had a small hole in the metal bend. I thought I would try to put some J-B weld over it but it didn't work since it is under pressure and it kept opening up. Is there anything you can think of that I can put over the hole like a putty or something that hardens pretty fast and then I could put J-B weld over it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Dave in TX

[Griff]

Dave,

Nope... unless you have some heavy duty duct tape and that probably won't work for more'n 5 minutes... Personally, Id' recommend that it's time to get a new hose, find yourself a little shop that does a/c work, have the system vacuumed, replace the hose, drier and add new lubricant and freon (filtered and returned from the pump down).

[J Miller]

Dave,

I agree 100% with Griff. Until you get the hose replaced and the system flushed, evacuated and refilled properly .... it's dead.

Joe

[kimwcook]

Dave,

Nope... unless you have some heavy duty duct tape and that probably won't work for more'n 5 minutes... Personally, Id' recommend that it's time to get a new hose, find yourself a little shop that does a/c work, have the system vacuumed, replace the hose, drier and add new lubricant and freon (filtered and returned from the pump down).

Yep.

[iceman]

I'm afraid there is no easy repair. The metl hose is probably aluminum and if there is a hole there , there is probably another ready to happen elsewhere. Change out the hose, have a proper vacuum done replace oil and drier add new refrigerant and your good to go.
The vacuum is the most important. by lowering the pressure in the system any moisture in the system will boil off at normal temperatures. Moisture (water) is the enemy, it degrades the oil, causes freezing in the low temperature areas of the system thus performance of the system. A bandaid fix is just that and probably end up costing more when other components are damaged due to contamination. Good luck.

[TX50Cal]

Thanks for the replies fellas. It will be going into the shop in the morning. $433 total price. Thanks again.
Dave

[Mokwaw]

Find yourself a small piece of rubber 1/4 inch or so thick, and a small piece of aluminum (pop can). Put the rubber first then the aluminum directly over the hole the use a hose clamp and tighten down firmly. This is a basic temporary fix we used on active pipelines that were under pressure.