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My AC is not working, then I found out the line is broken.
I discovered that my air conditioner is not working, so I had it inspected. It turns out that there is a broken wire between the intercooler and the AC. I have also tried looking online, but the part numbers FD1561467A and FD0461467B are no longer available. Does anyone have a similar solution? I will attach the location of the wire and the structural diagram below.
Yep, seems this is a common line that fails. As you discovered, they no longer make that line either. Luckily you didn’t have another line that would cause an issue (which was my case, the line that runs into the cabin also had to be replaced. Thankfully they still sell those new)
While it may be difficult to weld, it’s not impossible. In fact, if you can find a guy who has weld any a/c lines for anything, they can patch it for you. I was very fortunate to have a guy where I used to work who use to patch a/c lines all the time. I didn’t have anything to lose since the alternative would be to have a line made specifically like this. Which you can imagine would be significantly more expensive.
He patched it up, pressure tested it, and I proceeded to install it afterwards. I noticed this line runs extremely close to the front support structure. Which for sure causes the line to rub against it once the vehicle is in motion. Engine movement and road conditions jostle all sorts of things in the car. What I did was wrap the line in some spare silicon hose I had left over from when I changed out some coolant lines. Fits perfectly around the thin piping. Only around the areas where you can see it rubs against the front support beam.
I charged up my system last weekend and the true test was making sure the entire system held vacuum for at least an hour before you could start loading the Freon into it. She held beautifully and I’ve got working cold a/c again!
If all else fails (unable to refurbish or find a quality replacement), I'd hit up JP3 Motorsports for one of their newly released AC line kits. Helps to clean up the engine bay by completely swapping out the hard lines with high quality, hand-crafted soft lines; complete w all the necessary fittings attached. Additionally, might be a good excuse to convert your system to the RX8 compressor & condenser setup (if going w new AC lines).
But before all that, perhaps a WTB post for the specific part in question is the way to go.