Condenser leak

I recently had to replace my condenser and installed a new one with acura o rings for the hoses that connect to the condenser. I oiled them up really well and wiggled them into place and bolted them down really tight. I still had dye leaking from the hose/condenser connection on both sides. I am using a spectra premium condenser. The part number is 73060. Any help or advice is welcome.

This is for my 02 rsx type s. You guys helped really well so far, so I figured the forum might be able to help me with this one. Thanks.

you dont need to oil the o-rings..that might be an issue..I have never oiled a new o-ring when putting it on a hose end for the condenser.
but are you saying its leaking from visual dye coming out..or did the machine tell you that its leaking and not pass leak/vac test?

1NonlyAccord said:

you dont need to oil the o-rings..that might be an issue..I have never oiled a new o-ring when putting it on a hose end for the condenser.
but are you saying its leaking from visual dye coming out..or did the machine tell you that its leaking and not pass leak/vac test?

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I saw dye coming out and lost .4 lbs of r134a in 5 minutes with the car running for 30 secs.

The service manual says to apply a thin layer of oil. It also says to tighten the hose bolts to 7 ft-lbs. I was tightening the **** out of them. Could that cause a leak?

possibly..i use a ratchet and tighten them until they are snug,but not over powering risking of breaking.
if you only took off the 2 10mm bolts from the lines going to the condenser than it must be something you did,or bad condenser..that does happen from factory..Did yours come with rubber plugs or metal cover/screws over the holes? if so when you took them off did they pop off and give a good hiss of air escaping? if so than it held pressure and is good..if not than possible leak already.

1NonlyAccord said:

possibly..i use a ratchet and tighten them until they are snug,but not over powering risking of breaking.
if you only took off the 2 10mm bolts from the lines going to the condenser than it must be something you did,or bad condenser..that does happen from factory..Did yours come with rubber plugs or metal cover/screws over the holes? if so when you took them off did they pop off and give a good hiss of air escaping? if so than it held pressure and is good..if not than possible leak already.

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Its not a OEM one, but one that has received really good reviews from tons of people. When I popped the hoses off, it did hiss; even the second hose after the first one was off already. I cant find any pictures online and it is too late for me to take my front end apart for pictures of the hoses, but its a really simple design with the hose ends having a tab that a bolt goes through to the condenser to connect them and the hose just goes in the hole. <-- sorry for the run-on

Im just making sure i'm not missing any steps or doing something incorrectly. Im going to install the bolts according to the torque specs and see how that goes. Idk how I can do anything else differently. Do you think over-tightening them could cause any problems?

could have crushed the orings..are they correct and meant for AC systems?

1NonlyAccord said:

could have crushed the orings..are they correct and meant for AC systems?

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Yes. And that is certainly a possibility. I also thought over-tightening could cause the hose surface to lean ever-so-slightly to the bolt end of the connection area. Time to find a torque wrench!!! ...And more o-rings from Acura =(

edit-I will let you know what happens tomorrow. thanks again for your help!

No need for torque wrench..just tighten them with ratchet..i do it daily no issues.ha
but let me know how it goes.

It is still leaking even with another set of o rings and bolts torqued down to spec. This is very frustrating.

Im going to try a different brand condenser.