Precautions on Servicing A/C System: Piping

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2003 Suzuki Vitara, 2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 2002 Suzuki Vitara, and 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

When connecting hoses and pipes, apply a few drops of refrigerant oil to seats of coupling nuts and O-ring.

Fig 1: Applying Refrigerant Oil To Seats Of Coupling Nuts & O-Rings
Courtesy of SUZUKI OF AMERICA CORP.
Never use heat for bending pipes. When bending a pipe, try to make its bending radius as slight as possible.
Keep internal parts of air conditioning free from moisture and dirt. When disconnecting any line from system, install a blind plug or cap to the fitting immediately.
When tightening or loosening a fitting, use two wrenches, one for turning and the other for support.
Tighten flared nuts to specified torque.
Tightening torque

8mm pipe: 13 N-m (1.3 kg-m, 9.5 lb-ft)

12.7mm pipe: 22 N-m (2.2 kg-m, 16.0 lb-ft)

14.5mm pipe: 23 N-m (2.3 kg-m, 16.6 lb-ft)

16mm pipe: 33 N-m (3.3 kg-m, 23.8 lb-ft)
Route drain hose so that drained water does not make any contact to vehicle components.