Well after recharging it a couple of time last year, I'm finally getting around to fix the AC which won't hold a charge on my 00 TL. It's not a fast leak but if I charge it, it'll probably hold the charge for a bout a month and that's it. So I took it to my local shop and they found the leak. If you open the hood and look down the hole where the grille would be, to the left, you'll see the AC line and the evaporator. There's dirt and all kinds of crap that accumulated because of the oil where the line meets up to the evaportator. The shop is telling me if it's just the 0-ring it'll cost about $400 to fix. $400!!! They said the majority of the cost would be labor cost of pulling off the front bumper to get to it.

So knowing this I am turning for help to the TL community. Does any one know how to pull off the front bumper or know of any material on the forums to pull off the bumper? $400 is a lot of money, especially if they are just going to replace a .10 0-ring that I can buy from the freakin' hardware store. Let me know guys and thanks for your help in advance!

 

Pulling off the bumper cover is a 10 min job, so they want about $1200 AN HOUR?
:WTF: 10 off+10 on

Guessing most of the charge is to do the job correctly by emptying the system and fixing it then recharging.

Look for threads on installing a CAI for bumper removal DIY, pretty simple, few scrwes in the wheel well and then just pull the clips.

 

recharging an AC system is quite easy. those kits you get at autozone/pepboys/advance auto/etc. have decent instructions and all the parts you need. o-rings can be had at any hardware store as well. i would just do it yourself and save the 400 bucks.

as a last ditch effort, have you tried putting in some sealant? you can get it in autozone/etc. in a little can that you hook up to the AC system and let it discharge into it. it worked on my taurus, although it's not necessarily a permanent fix.

Bob

 

OK so I took off that grill apron and was able to get to the bolt where the leak was. It was that metal hose that has the high pressure valve on it and it's connected to the accumulator and to the cooling radiator? Anyway, I took off that hose and replaced the O-ring off of both ends and reassembled it. Afterwards I vacuumed out the air and low and behold it held the negative pressure. For added measure, I added a can of super sealant into the system after I put in a can of freon. Once I added that can in, the AC compressor kicked on ..but here's the thing..it stayed on. It didn't cycle. I emptied 2 cans of freon and still nothing. So I took it over to a friend who does HVAC for a living and who also does work on automotive AC. He hooked it up to his system and it did the same thing..but this time, the AC compressor didn't kick on at all. So looking around with a flash light, we saw a plug hanging right by the compressor at the bottom of the motor. It has one wire..BLUE. we fished it out and everything, the outside of the plug, the wire, was covered with crud except for the inside. Hmmm..tells me that it was recently taken off..but the question is where? Does anyone know what this single BLUE wire is and where it plugs into? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and I await for your wisdom.

 

If its for the AC it either goes to the Receiver or the Compressor. Does it have a connector end or does it look like it was pulled out of one?

 

The connector side itself is gray in color and it is white on the inside which appears to receive a single pole. The end though is definitely a the female side of the connector as it has the tab that you need to depress to release it. You mentioned it either goes to the Receiver or the Compressor, Which and where is the receiver located? Will I need to take the front bumper off to re-attach this connector?

 

bump:

 

part 6.

A good idea is to look at how long the wire is and start pulling it to its length and locate what in those areas could have something plugged into it. Odds are its something in the area of where you were working that got knocked off/disconnected during the repair.