Rear AC cap question

[Leandro]

Hi guys,
A few moonths ago i fixed a leak on my rear AC line with a dorman kit, worked great, but unfortunately last night I saw that damn fluorescent puddle under the truck again.
This time it broke above the heat shield of the muffler, very hard to get.
I'm driving to Miami next week (from chicago) and it's not gonna be pleasant without the AC, so I'm gonna cut my loses and cap it.
My questions are:
What is the better place to cap it? I was thinking at the very top, where the main lines split to go to the back.
Can i just cap both lines or i need to loop it to close the circuit?
Thanks in advance. I'm doing the work tomorrow, don't have much time left.

 

[Spike555]

You will have to cap both lines.
Where you cap them will make no difference.
The closer to the front the better.

 

[Leandro]

Thanks.
Already ordered the dorman terminations.
3/4 and 5/16

 

[Spike555]

I just spliced my rear a/c line, there was a pin hole towards the front, if it does like yours I'm doing the same, taking it out of the loop.

 

[Leandro]

I'll try to do it in a way that can be reversible, but today is not my priority.

 

[FranceJohnson]

FWIW I just had to replace the rear ac line. The hardest part was getting the muffler off. I just cut off the bolts. The rear line is about $100 from the dealer. I would say the whole thing look a couple hours to install, including vacuum and refilling the line. Nothing was overly complicated. So, if you do replace instead of cap, its not that bad of a job.

 

[Spike555]

I'll try to do it in a way that can be reversible, but today is not my priority.

Since you're going to have to replace the whole line anyway, cutting both the supply nand return line's right under the passengers feet and capping them. Then you can unscrew the nubs of old line when you're ready to replace it.
It is not one piece going from the compressor to the back, it is several pieces bolted together.

 

[Leandro]

Easy job, 30 minutes or less...

 

[Jpezz]

Easy job, 30 minutes or less...

View attachment 1466471

View attachment 1466473

After capping those to lines, have you had any problems? I have not found my leak, but this seems like a rather inexpensive solution if the leak is in the rear AC lines (which seems to be the achilles heel. My rear AC doesn't blow cold even if my front does anyway, so losing it won't be an issue as it is.

Question: What did you do with the other part of the 5/16" line? I don't see it in the pic you posted.

 

[Leandro]

So far working great. Just need to be careful when you put the freon on it, you need a guy with expertise to calculate the exact amount.
I didn't remove the lines, they are all there, you can't see them because of the camera angle.

 

[lhommec13]

The AC line that runs along the frame rail is corroded and needs to be replaced. My mechanic told me to get the part and he'll do the install. Only problem is I'm not sure exactly which part# I need. He says I need the "Rear AC lines from the junction near the rear door to the rear AC unit."

Anyone have any idea which part# or #'s in the diagram? 2002 Land Cruiser w/ Rear AC.

 

[Spike555]

LX470 and Land Cruiser air conditioning blows warm air

I spliced mine, tube cutter, splice, refilled with R-134, I did nothing else to the system and it's still blowing beer cooler cold.

 

[lhommec13]

View attachment 1495743 LX470 and Land Cruiser air conditioning blows warm air

I spliced mine, tube cutter, splice, refilled with R-134, I did nothing else to the system and it's still blowing beer cooler cold.

Yeah I noticed some guys went the same path as you. I'm not too clear on what splicing the line means though. Is it basically capping the broken/corroded line, and a result, the rear AC no longer works but the front still does? The broken line on mine is towards the rear of the truck.

I wouldn't be opposed to that since I rarely ever use the rear AC. Thanks in advance for educating the uneducated. That is why we're all here, afterall!

 

[Spike555]

Yeah I noticed some guys went the same path as you. I'm not too clear on what splicing the line means though. Is it basically capping the broken/corroded line, and a result, the rear AC no longer works but the front still does? The broken line on mine is towards the rear of the truck.

I wouldn't be opposed to that since I rarely ever use the rear AC. Thanks in advance for educating the uneducated. That is why we're all here, afterall!

I did NOT cap it, I SPLICED it, I used a tube cutter and cut the line all the way through at the leak, then installed the splice. Done.
There are tons of youtube videos on it if you want to see it happen before you try it yourself. A tube cutter can be bought for like $10.
It took me a total of 15min to do the splice, my leak was in the classic 100 series rear a/c line leak, just like in the link I posted.

 

[lhommec13]

I did NOT cap it, I SPLICED it, I used a tube cutter and cut the line all the way through at the leak, then installed the splice. Done.
There are tons of youtube videos on it if you want to see it happen before you try it yourself. A tube cutter can be bought for like $10.
It took me a total of 15min to do the splice, my leak was in the classic 100 series rear a/c line leak, just like in the link I posted.

OK good to know. I'll look more into it and see if splicing the line is an option. Only problem I can foresee is if the line is corroded in more than one location. If that's the case, it might make more sense to just replace that section of line.

 

[Spike555]

Yes I totally agree, if the line is leaking in more than one spot replace it. I figured for the price I'd give this a go and later on replace the line.
I was refilling mine when I noticed the leak, it worked fine last year, then this spring went to use it and nothing, dye was leaking onto the driveway.
So i researched the hell out of it for a few days and came up with the splice figuring I'd replace the line if that didn't work. But it worked.
And even though you are supposed to vacuum the system and replace the drier and everything I did none of that, I refilled with R-134 (NO stopleak) and like I said, it's still beer cooler cold.

 

[46/71 Hybrid]

Looking at this now...does anyone know of a kit that instead of cutting the line and blocking it, you instead just screw off the old line and screw a new cap into it's place? I'm referring to the small 5/16 lines, not the big 3/4 line. If a cap exists, it'd be relatively easy to cap the small lines right at the firewall.

 

[Leandro]

Looking at this now...does anyone know of a kit that instead of cutting the line and blocking it, you instead just screw off the old line and screw a new cap into it's place? I'm referring to the small 5/16 lines, not the big 3/4 line. If a cap exists, it'd be relatively easy to cap the small lines right at the firewall.

If you are capping, you need to cap both lines. Regarding your question, don't know of a kit per se, but knowing the size any cap will go.

 

[46/71 Hybrid]

When I fixed mine about a year and some change ago, I ended up capping the 3/4 and fixing the leak on the 5/16. I'd rather cap the 5/16 too so I can eliminate the possibility of any of the rear stuff leaking. That's the hard part though, knowing what size the 5/16 line should be.

You can cap one and leave the other though, no need to cap both.

 

[axle167]

I’m gonna cap mine too similar to the spot shown in leandro’s post. Does anyone know how much Freon should be charged since I now don’t have rear AC. I hear it’s bad for the compressor to overcharge the AC system.