• Welcome to the ElgrandOC forum.

    You will find that the majority of the forum is locked, but do not worry. You can unlock more content by registering to the forum completely free. Sign up is automatic, does not require email confirmation and is instant. Feel free to browse through the sections to see what topics have been covered before you register.
    You can register for an account by CLICKING HERE

    Once you have registered, you will unlock more of the forum content. You will not unlock all of the content until you have reached 10 posts. This is to give you an opportunity to chat to existing members and help to integrate you into the forum community.
    We are a friendly and helpful community and there is a wealth of infomation contained within the forum. Please feel free to register, introduce yourself and get to know your fellow members.

    Feel free to look at the Frequently Asked Questions section, the Meets/Events section and the Competition Section without having to register.
    We look forward to getting to know you and help you with any questions or problemd you have with your Elgrand.

E51 E51 Aircon Pipe Corrosion (Rear)

I Think the problem might be doing it when there is residual pressure in the system. Before whatever gunk you use has had time to cure the pressure from the pinhole has already broken whatever seal you were trying to make.

I know of a local mobile air con chap that is very good and going to ask him if he can just weld up the rear pipe as per the thread you linked too.
 
I did a lot of research trying to think of other ways to do it at the end of the day it only real practical way of doing it unless you want to spend a £1000 for a new pipe but the option is still there to replace the rear pipe at a later date I was thinking about trying to get it welded but my concern would be that you can't get inside it to clean any residue out of the pipe and I think this might end up damaging AC pump
 
Has anyone ever tried spot aluminium welding the pin hole corrosion hole(s) ?
 
I was thinking of getting mine welded but the problem is if you weld it there's oil in the pipe which will burn creating possible bits of burnt oil, if that goes into the air con pump it would take the whole system out I wouldn't take the chance because you would have to renew everything
 
Mmmmh, I've lost all air-con, got the green leak from the rear. Annoyed because checked it all end of last summer and wax oiled everything up ready for winter. Disappointed......
 
The trouble is they rot from the inside outwards because of lack of use that's what seems to be happening
 
I've got a chap coming monday to look at mine.

He's done one before and seems to remember the pipe-within-a-pipe separates off into 2x separate smaller pipes somewhere near the engine bay and it's these 2 pipe he would blank off with some specialised very high pressure end caps. The only snag being having the right size fitting for said pipes. And if it's the same set up he is thinking about on mine that he has seen before.

Don't suppose anyone knows what I am on about and can find out the size of the 2x pipes that join to make the fancy concentric jobby we are all struggling with?
 
Has anyone ever tried spot aluminium welding the pin hole corrosion hole(s) ?
I have - It didn't go very well! When there are pinholes it's because the pipe has corroded thin and not just around the pinholes.
Tried welding and brazing. At first brazing was looking promising but I thought 'could just do with a bit more braze on so I'm comfortable with it'... when putting the extra braze on I melted the already very thin pipe.

I know @BMR is looking into getting blanking plates made up (to fit onto the fitting that the concentric pipe bolts to at the front - the fitting where the 2 pipes meat the concentric pipe) so that he can supply them to the likes of us.

Of course, blanking plates won't get the rear air con working but will at least allow working aircon at the front.

Would be great if there were a solution that could get rear aircon working too. If instead of a blanking plate (for the concentric pipe connection) there were a fitting that would connect where the concentric pipe attaches but split back to 2 it would then be possible to run 2 pipes (perhaps even easily routed flexible) from the front to the rear.

Can tell the weather is getting warmer again, aircon threads opening back up! :)

@stevemen or @BMR might know if it would be any easier to replace the concentric pipe like for like (with one from a scrappies) while the engine is removed?
 
I got a price from Steve for a good used pipe, £200. Fitting involves dropping down the rear sub-frame apparently.

So not a trivial job unless you have a lift and all the tools. The guy I have coming on monday is a "proper" ex naval HVAC engineer turned car AC specialist. I'll ask him if he's got any bright ideas on how to fix these some other way.
 
I got a price from Steve for a good used pipe, £200. Fitting involves dropping down the rear sub-frame apparently.

So not a trivial job unless you have a lift and all the tools. The guy I have coming on monday is a "proper" ex naval HVAC engineer turned car AC specialist. I'll ask him if he's got any bright ideas on how to fix these some other way.

I know the rear subframe usually has to come off to fit the standard type concentric pipe but I wondered if, when the engine is out, it's possible to fit the standard pipe without dropping the subframe because with the engine out it might allow the front end of that pipe to get into positions it can't when the engine is in.

I'm sure it's been mentioned on thread before but there was a period when Nissan was supplying replacement front to rear AC pipes for Elgrands that didn't need the rear subframe to be lowered to fit, this type has another concentric pipe joint above the rear subframe. Would always have been expensive to get imported from Japan and when Bri @BMR checked this replacement type was no longer available from Nissan. Mine has the replacement type but it still corroded and leaked in the usual place. Apparently the replacement type was never fitted to new Elgrands so seems my Elgrand has seen 2 AC pipes corrode (original and replacement types).
 
So mine is being "fixed" as I type. Each pipe that terminates into the one concentric pipe has been capped off in 2 different places. Using specialist very high pressure AC end caps. One from within the engine bay and one under the car just above where the lambda probe sits.

Had to take airbox and lambda out to get access and it was a bit fiddly but doable.

Took 3hrs start to finish and cost £165. Front AC is now bloody freezing!!

Chap is called Stuart and I'd highly recommend him for any AC jobs.

Cool Drive Automotive Air Conditioning
Based in Leeds.

https://www.facebook.com/CoolDrive-Automotive-Air-Conditioning-234225893277790/
 
Last edited:
Update on mine. Took box off. Cut back couple of inches of the foam insulation. Cleaned pipe with thinners. Applied some aluminium weld putty mix around pipe. Put box back on. That was 2 weeks ago. Took for regas today pressure tested gassed and ac working. Don’t hold much hope for long term. Will post if ‘fix’ fails.
 
So mine is being "fixed" as I type. Each pipe that terminates into the one concentric pipe has been capped off in 2 different places. Using specialist very high pressure AC end caps. One from within the engine bay and one under the car just above where the lambda probe sits.

Had to take airbox and lambda out to get access and it was a bit fiddly but doable.

Took 3hrs start to finish and cost £165. Front AC is now bloody freezing!!

Chap is called Stuart and I'd highly recommend him for any AC jobs.

Cool Drive Automotive Air Conditioning
Based in Leeds.

https://www.facebook.com/CoolDrive-Automotive-Air-Conditioning-234225893277790/
Hi @dave_s13
I've used Stuart before. Hes really good. He said he'd just done this for another Elgrand owner - must be you! He pressure tested my aircon today and found the dreaded leak. I'm going to get it blanked off I think. Just wondered how the bus is with just front aircon working? Is it sufficent to cool the back too?
 
Hi just took delivery of Elgrand today. Engine management light is on any ideas guys? Thanks
 
Hi @dave_s13
I've used Stuart before. Hes really good. He said he'd just done this for another Elgrand owner - must be you! He pressure tested my aircon today and found the dreaded leak. I'm going to get it blanked off I think. Just wondered how the bus is with just front aircon working? Is it sufficent to cool the back too?

So far so good. We had a really hot Easter weekend and it seemed to work fine. Nobody in the back complained and it was lovely having an ice cold blast up front.

Seems to help if you have the rear fan set on a low manual speed as well.

If you have the leak and don't want to shell out for a proper repair, which is likely to run into the £500+ region, at least, it's well worth it, especially given the alternative is no aircon at all.
 
Hi just took delivery of Elgrand today. Engine management light is on any ideas guys? Thanks

Not really related to this thread mate. You need to get it on a code reader.
 
So far so good. We had a really hot Easter weekend and it seemed to work fine. Nobody in the back complained and it was lovely having an ice cold blast up front.

Seems to help if you have the rear fan set on a low manual speed as well.

If you have the leak and don't want to shell out for a proper repair, which is likely to run into the £500+ region, at least, it's well worth it, especially given the alternative is no aircon at all.
Thanks for the feedback @dave_s13. Very helpful. Wasn't sure how bus would cope as my kids love the aircon esp as windows don't wind down. Yes spoke to Steve at Tojo. Second hand pipe plus fitting around £500 mark.
 
Just found this page.

I’m actually living in Japan and have bought a cheap Elgrand this winter only to find on the first hot day that the aircon doesn’t work
 
Back
Top