🚀 go-pugleaf

My car recently blew a freon hose and lost quite a bit of A/C oil and
all its freon.  The service manual says to use a vacuum pump to evacuate
the lines (to eliminate any possible water) before recharging.  They give
specific instructions on how much oil to add if the system is empty.

The problem is that I don't have access to the vacuum pump and I don't
know if the system is totally empty of oil.

A friend says I can get a patch kit and replace the bad section of hose
(the hose has just a tiny hole in it) and then I can just buy some cans
of freon/oil mix.  In other words, he says since this "pinhole" is not an
open gash in the hose (plus I have it taped up now) no water vapor is
in the system, so I don't have to evacuate it.

My question is: assuming I do this, how do I know if I am adding enough
oil?  A new compressor will certainly cost more than taking the whole
thing in for a professional fix (though I got two $200 estimates just for
fixing the hose).  Would people recommend I don't attempt this at all?

Any advice would be appreciated.
-- 
				Neal Macklin
				(408) 737-5214
				...{hplabs,ihnp4}!amdahl!nzm10

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