I need some advice fast because I have to call a shop back and decide whether to authorize a repair for my sister's car.

Alright here's the situation. 2005 Altima, 2.5 motor, my sister's car, only about 40k on it. My sister tells me that the A/C isn't blowing cold anymore. Now, I know a little bit about A/C's. So I hook up a set of manifold gauges to it. The pressures are WAY high--like 360 on the high side and 80 on the low side. It also will not equalize when the A/C is turned off. So I knew it had a significant problem. We dropped it off at a local shop in North Raleigh (Four Brothers Auto Air) for further diagnosis.

They called me this morning and told me it's the suction hose, which is the main hose from the receiver dryer that goes to the compressor if I understand him correctly. They wanted $700 parts and labor (using an OEM hose), which includes evacuating it etc. Now my sister is a school teacher. She doesn't have much money. I have a set of manifold gauges at my house, and a decent air compressor (6.7cfm @ 90psi). I think I can get a vacuum attachment for the compressor. Should I have the shop evacuate the system and then attempt to fix the hose myself? The hose is REALLY easy to get to iirc. Like front and center in the engine bay.

I figure getting it evacuated will be what, $100 bucks? and then maybe they will charge me diagnosis fee of about $90. Hell if a really wanted to be cheap I could just vent the refrigerant to the atmosphere, but I know that is illegal (although R-134a is nowhere near as bad as R-12). Either way, then all I have to do is go to the dealer (or even Carquest) and get the hose, then charge it up right? I don't need to put any oil in the system do I?

What would you do? I feel like I could tackle this if I get the right tools, which I almost have. I also have alldata access.

[Edited on March 27, 2008 at 9:25 AM. Reason : .]

3/27/2008 9:25:07 AM

sounds like a plugged orifice

let the freon out, replace the hose, and see how much they will charge to vacuum the system, then charge it yourself

3/27/2008 9:45:25 AM

I trust their diagnosis, or at least I trust it more than me dicking with it. I spoke to a mechanic friend of mine who changed the same hose on a similar year maxima at work... maybe nissan made a bad batch of them.

3/27/2008 10:11:57 AM

yes you can change the hose yourself.
as long as there isnt freon built up cuz you might screw up the o ring. which im sure there isnt any freon since you're replcing the hose.

stay cool

3/27/2008 10:27:32 AM

well it's up to my sister. She may just have the shop do it.

3/27/2008 12:04:32 PM

ok I just talked to her. She wants it done ASAP because she's going on a road trip next week, so I guess that means the $700

3/27/2008 12:40:04 PM