Bending the AC Pipe for a Battery Tray Install?

[barryswanson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close barryswanson]

I just picked the car up from the legend air con man and he said it was an absolute C$%# of a job. There is a little pipe which he called a secondary cooling pipe that runs inside the pipe I butchered. Plus it's a one piece unit that runs under the car to the rear condenser. He had to remove the air box and the pipe from the car to repair it. He also mounted my battery tray and pipe to the tray for $390.50. What a life saver and a talented tradesman!

[REV Find all posts View Profile Close REV]

Glad to hear that it didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks for posting your experiences on the forum, in the hope that others contemplating bending the aircon pipe will take note.

See you out & about

Lawrie

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

Barry, good to see you found someone decent to fix it and sounds like a pretty fair price. Also interesting that the story about the double skin pipe has been confirmed.

[BigRed Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close BigRed]

I had a Outback battery tray fitted 18 months ago (cost me $120.00)+ tray, I did not think the pipe had to be bent far and the installer said it was a relative easy thing to gently bend the a/c pipe a little further to the engine bay and refitting the support bracket to the tray. The tray is secured to the guard as well and has a heat shield on the exhaust/engine side of the tray. It enables a 12 inch battery to be fitted, I used a EB702, 90 amp hour. Also means you don't need to alter the starting battery position.
I was advised this is the heaviest battery that can be used without risking cracking of the guard.

[barryswanson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close barryswanson]

I had a Outback battery tray fitted 18 months ago (cost me $120.00)+ tray, I did not think the pipe had to be bent far and the installer said it was a relative easy thing to gently bend the a/c pipe a little further to the engine bay and refitting the support bracket to the tray.

I wish I knew what that guy knows

[Richoson Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Richoson]

I wish I knew what that guy knows

O didn't have to bend mine just gently move it to one side

[rob017 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close rob017]

I've just had my aircond fail. Had the mech take a look at it yesterday and he found a hole in the aluminium tubing that I had moved over to install the second battery tray. While it looks like 6-8 mm clearance to the air inlet to the engine, the vibration when driving must be enough to have rubbed thru the plastic ribbed protector and worn thru the alum pipe.

Mech suggested a new pipe from $oyota so after spending about 30 minutes looking a diagrams trying to find the correct part, he infprms me a new pipe is $791. A new compressor looked cheaper.

Mech shocked at price and is now trying to see if he can get someone to repair it.

In hindsight, the dual battery install in the prado is a pain the the a***. In would recommend going for a smaller battery tray and battery that did not require any movement of the aircon pipes.

[VeeZeeSS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close VeeZeeSS]

Where is the best place in Brisbane to get this fixed these days ?

[jakescott Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jakescott]

Old topic I know but just thought I'd add my 2 cents.
I am an A/c guy and had to do mine the other day as I had a rub through the line. Probably amongst the worst job I've ever had to do.
But anyway, I digress...
The 2nd battery was installed when I got the vehicle and had been installed for over 150,000k's before rubbing through. The guy that installed the 2nd battery unbolted the line from a mount on the line to be able to flex the line enough to work around the battery without having to bend it too much.
After repairing the line and reinstalling it, I found a bolt and bolted it where it should have been...
Then I went to install the battery and low and behold, figured out then that the line interferes with where the battery sits.
As I said dealing with the line was $h1t, if dealing with that line wasn't the worst job I've had to do, it would be in the grand final! So I just went with a smaller battery until I get motivated to deal with it again...
So I just wanted to tell people if they have a second battery installed, do check out the workmanship to save a rub through in the future! I'll see if I can get some pictures of what to look for at the battery and at the mount.
This is at least on the 3L d4d models, not sure on the others

[Cityslicker Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cityslicker]

I have installed an 80ah 250 mm long AGM second battery, the pipe can be eased across without bending about 10 mm and secured with adequate clearance. I think a 300 mm 100+ah battery would indeed need bending of the pipe.

[Cityslicker Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cityslicker]

Oops

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

300mm battery just won't fit in there without major surgery of some sort and bending aluminium is fraught with danger. I alslo went with a really good 250mm battery. This has prompted me to do a check of the install.

[Voyager77 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Voyager77]

Has anyone successfully installed an Optima D31A as aux battery? At 329mm width, it's pushing boundaries (pardon the pun).
Are there any kits to modify the aircon hose on the Prado 150 for more clearance? I believe the 2017 model has this area re-designed completely...

Cheers
Frank

[Leethal Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leethal]

I fitted a Optima D31A to my Oct 18 build, I used a Ironman battery tray and trimmed about 10mm half way across the inner end to clear the intercooler hose and partially removed the lip on the other end to allow the Optima to fit. I choose the Ironman tray simply because it was available and the construction allowed for modification without loosing its integral strength.
The AC pipework is well clear so I believe it has been re-positioned in production compared to earlier build years.

Lee

[Voyager77 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Voyager77]

Yes, the 2017 Prado had its AC pipework remodelled. My 2014 model has got a big AC hose with multiple junctions in the way. According to forum feedback, bending it is quite risky and can lead to expensive AC repairs.

Frank