I have a 2001 Civic EX and the a/c is blowing hot. I took the car to a a/c specialist. he told me i need to replace the lower hose of the A/C cuz it's leaking and wanted to charge me $150 so i wanna Do It Myself. Is it very difficult? doesn't look like it and what tools will i need?

 

You will need equipment to remove any remaining refrigerant then evacuate and replace the refrigerant when done. You can have a shop do that part and change the hose yourself after the system is empty, then take the car back to get recharged.

You cannot simply charge the car with cans of R-134a after a hose has been removed, because there will be air in the system. The mixture of air and refrigerant will give poor cooling performance at best.

Really, $150 for the whole job is not that unreasonable.

 

The receiver drier/accumulator should ALWAYS be replaced WHENEVER the system is opened. After replacing the drier and hose, you also should pull a vacuum on the system to remove ALL moisture.

 

So ur saying i can have a shop remove the refrigerant and then i can change the hose myself? i can add refrigerant myself i have the hose with the meter.

Either way i'll take the car to a local good year for a second opinion and estimate then. i have to do my timing belt there so maybe the owner can come through again and give me a good price for doing both together. i'll post back with updates...

 

150$ isnt bad at all...

 

If it's a major leak the refrigerant may already be all gone, so you don't have to worry about removal.

As I said before, simply regassing with a can and hose is not acceptable after the system has been opened up. Because there is air and moisture in the lines, you will get poor performance and possible damage.

And JGB is absolutely right about the drier. It's an expendable part like an oil filter that should be replaced as part of any major service.

 

My mechanic that lives a block away just told me it's the expansion valve and $180 for everything including refrigerant flush and refill, not sure if it's including buying the drier and the parts but still i don't know what to do because one guy says hose leak, another says expansion valve and good year wants to charge $20 just to check it out and if good year wants to charge an arm and a leg then i lose $20 especially if they say the same thing.