Robert, Thanks for your advice. I'll check with the local shop. What kills me is the labotr to evacuate the R12 and to put the new hose on is listed as 3 hours by the book, plus 3 lbs of the R12. It's a slow leak, with drops of dye-colored fluid coming out right where the crimp fitting is. David
Robert & Tara Ludwick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: If it's just leaking around the crimp, there's no reason that you couldn't get a new piece of rubber put on your assembly for $20-40 . About the only time that you can't is if the metal part is pitted ( not likely with the car being in that climate all it's life ) or if the previous repair involved welding new metal ends on ( it would be noticeable ), if not, with the assembly off, you could send the hose out for new rubber instead of a $300 new assembly. If you were closer, I'd say bring it by and I'll put a new chunk of rubber on it, but the shipping both ways would probably be more than taking it to a local hose shop and I'd be willing to bet there are a number of shops there that will fix that hose. If you look in the yellow pages under hoses, you should be able to find a hydraulic hose shop that also does AC hose. If having a shop do it all, they should be willing to send the hose out, there;'s nothing wrong with old assemblies with new rubber. If it's all leaked out already, you could yank the hose yourself and take it to a hose shop, then pop it back on along with a new drier , and then take it in to get vacuumed and recharged for a heck of a lot less than $800. This is assuming that the leak is that fast. How long did it take to leak out and is it still R12 or has it been switched to R134a. If it's a very slow leak and it's still r12, you can go to http://www.epatest.com/ and take the test ( it's an open book test online, if you've got any smarts at all, you can pass it ) and you can then buy individual cans of R12 and top it off. If it's R134a and a slow leak, that ones a no brainer, you can get that at the local parts store and top it off. If you sell it and buy a new car, you'll be begging for the days that you were only faced with an $800 repair bill. My Mother bought a new Toyota Camry that's still under warranty, and every time it goes in for scheduled service, it comes out with a bill for between $500-1500 for non covered items, and this is all on top of car payments. Newer cars rarely make it out of a shop for under a grand these days. We have a habit of getting rather spoiled with our old European cars and whining about what are basically cheap repairs by modern car standards. I've got one lady with a '90 volvo who is facing about a $800 bill for a window regulator , timing belts and idlers, water pump and a few other regular maintenance items. He husband wants her to sell the thing and buy a new car because it's going to cost so much. Over the last 5 years she's averaged ( including the ones needed) about $600 a year upkeep to own that car ( that includes a seriously overpriced repair done by someone else before she found me ) She'll spend more than that on 2 months payments and the difference in her insurance premium for a new car over that time if she goes that route, and that's before new car maintenance expense so they'll be in for a rude awakening . Something to think about. ------Robert David Johnson wrote: > Robert, > I don't know how long ago and how the hose was rebuilt.This was done > by the previous ownber. > The leak is at the bottom, where the crimp fitting is. I saw drops of > fluid coming out, and it was confirmed with UV light. The labor for > this thing is 3 hours, plus the cost of the evacuation, and filling up > with 3 lbs of refrigerant. > David > > */Robert & Tara Ludwick /* wrote: > > I think you should sell the thing to me for $50 :-) > Seriously though, how long ago was the hose fixed before? Where > exactly > is it leaking now? the middle of the hose, at the crimp fittings? > When > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user > panel > > and lay it on us. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com --------------------------------- Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
