Getting the cold shoulder (or not....)

Since owning the car, the air conditioning has never worked. Upon assuming it was low on freeon, I called out the company I'd been recommended to use to top it up.
When they tried to top it up it didn't work. They discovered that the pipe from the condensor  to compressor had a hair line crack and it was escaping out if this.

Over time I lived with this and suffered hot summers.

Well I spotted a cheap replacement pipe on eBay and while it didn't seem by description to be the right one, I took a punt as it looked spot on..

To replace this you will need:

Socket set
6mm Alan head
O rings for the new pipe
Thread lock for the bolts

First you need to remove the old pipe, this involves removing the two 6mm bolts from each end.
The one attached to the condensor is easy as it is at the front top of the engine bay. The one on the compressor is a little more tricky. There is just enough space to get a small ratchet in there.

Once off slide the ends out. There are guide pins to help the seating of it.

This is the old broken pipe

Now it's a simple case of re fitting the new one complete with o-rings.

Also put some thread lock on the bolts.

Once done just call out the air con people to re-fill it up.

Interestingly on these cars there is a sensor that checks if the pressure is too low and won't activate the compressor.

Looking forward to the summer now!