2015 TRD PRO
104,000 miles

I have an AC leak. I am not sure of what the line is called, but staring down into the engine compartment, driver side, the hard-line that turns to hose and back to hard-line starting at the condenser (?) and reaching down to the bottom of the compressor…is leaking where bottom rubber hose meets metal. I had to add R134a every few weeks, but now I have to add a 12 oz can for one hour trip. I am running out of Freon and $$$! SO, I added leak detection and with a UV light can see oil/bubbles seeping out of the hose/fitting. SO, I need to replace that hose (whatever the heck it’s called!).
My question is 3-fold….likely to become 7-fold as I explain.
1) What would an independent shop charge to replace this piece?
2)I’ve been told it should be an easy repair with common hand tools. HOWEVER, I’ll be doing this in a driveway…100º Texas heat. Therefore, if I DO take on this repair, I’d like some insight on what needs to be done…that is: remove skid plate, wheel, fender liner, front fascia, radiator, etc….I searched and searched the forums, but on my phone at work I am getting a migraine and have determined I’m too stupid to narrow my search properly.
3) Not really a question, but I have basic tools, a set of gauges, R134a, and I will get my hands on a vacuum pump when I get it all together.
Thanks in advance for any help. If there are any videos out there, I’d love to see them. **Pics of the leaking oil under UV light.**

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The photos are sideways…Sorry!

Changing the hose is not too bad. I would imagine a shop would charge $800 for the part+refill. The hose itself is like $130. You can reach the compressor by going in the wheel well and removing that rubber flap near the UCA, and its a single 10mm bolt holding it on the compressor. for the other side you remove the top plastic shield over the radiator and another 10mm bolt holding the condenser side. You can just weave it out and weave the new one back in. Then do the refill process.

Do us all a favor and take it to a shop to get the system evacuated. They will credit you for what they remove and then you can take it back to get it refilled.

I just did this on another vehicle. Got the system evacuated, replaced the compressor in my driveway, got it refilled the next day. I only got charged for the extra they had to put in to top the system off.

Thanks! That resolves a lot of my access concerns.

I can take it to get it evacuated, but after running to the store, there is 0 psi. Not sure there’s much to evacuate, except maybe some moisture and air.
But good to know!

By chance, you wouldn’t know what this hose is called, or a part number, would you? It’s hard for me to decipher the exploded view illustrations on the parts pages!

If there is no pressure in the system, then just replace the hose and add approx 1/2 oz oil.
Then it is time for the vacuum pump to suck it down to where you remove all the air and boil out all the moisture.
Then you can fill with refrigerant when it holds a vacuum.
The line you describe is the discharge line.