# Some of my AC condenser fins damaged -can that cause leaking **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [May 2, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845 "2015-05-02T12:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mariah234765](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mariah234765](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mariah234765)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/1 "2015-05-02T12:00:47Z")
my car is Daewoo 1996 I khnow it is an old car but im happy with AS long AS the AC working I checked my car condenser and some of its fins are damaged can that cause leaking of the AC system ? also does it safe to straightening/repair fins with a screwdriver ? will I cause a system leaking ? ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/2 "2015-05-02T14:28:23Z")
Generally, no, bent fins won’t lead to a leak as long as the tube that run through them are not damaged. Straighten the fins gently with your small screwdriver trying not to nick the larger tubes in the middle and you should be good. If you have a plastic tool that can do the same job, use that instead. It would be less likely to nick or gouge the tubes. Good Luck! ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/3 "2015-05-02T17:25:48Z")
If it’s just a few I’d ignore it. If a lot I’d find some plastic tool that would let me do it very gently. ---
**Author:** ![oblivion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@oblivion](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oblivion)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/4 "2015-05-02T17:27:22Z")
Go to Amazon and search on “fin straightener”, then pick the one that looks best for your purposes. Doing it with pliers is the hard way and more likely to cause damage. ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/5 "2015-05-02T18:38:57Z")
I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a 20 year old vehicle that didn’t have some of the AC fins damaged. If it’s not too many…just leave them be. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/6 "2015-05-02T19:24:42Z")
I’ll bet the cooking section of the dollar store will have the perfect tool to use to straighten the fins without risking damaging the tubes. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/7 "2015-05-03T00:04:26Z")
Condenser combs are dirt cheap . . . any auto parts store should have it. No reason to order from autozone, in my opinion Since OP said “AS long AS the AC working” I’ll assume it’s either not blowing cold air, or is taking a long time to blow cold air That is probably due to gradually losing the charge, over the span of 19 years. Could be normal, if it took a long time to reach this point. Or it could be a leak, if it happened quite suddenly Might be time to have a shop do an evacuate, recover and recharge. And add some ultraviolet dye to check for leaks. If there is a very slow and/or minor leak, it might take months for the dye to become visible with the black light and yellow glasses ---
**Author:** ![pleasedodgevan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@pleasedodgevan2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pleasedodgevan2)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/some-of-my-ac-condenser-fins-damaged-can-that-cause-leaking/89845/8 "2015-05-03T09:29:25Z")
Every car has bent fins. It is best to stay away from them if you are using anything metal to straighten them. It’s too close to the radiator for you to be dropping anything. It might poke into the radiator and they puncture easily.