Stripped out bolt hole on Condenser fitting

[Tim6208]

I have a 2007 Subaru Outback that my daughter uses. She said while driving it a few days ago, she heard a loud pop like a firecracker in front of the car and then saw a flash of a white cloud then the AC blew hot. I figured it was from the condenser or a line blew. When I checked I found the lower condenser tube had come out of the fitting. I then noticed that the bolt hole that holds the tube into the fitting was stripped out. I remembered my friend, whom we bought the car from, saying he had the AC repaired about a year ago. My question is should I just repair the bolt hole with a helicoil kit or is it safer to replace the condenser? One way or the other I gotta take it out the car anyway>

[Cusser]

I'll assume that there's no way to use a bolt and nut in place of the stripped bolt hole.

Any way to simply tap the hole to a larger, even SAE size?

Anyway, brand new condensers for this run under $100 from RockAuto.

[Cornbinder89]

If done properly, a Heli-coil retains 90% of the pull out of the original threads, so in a word, if you a hole that is, or can be drilled to the correct size for a helicoil, it should be fine. If the hole is slightly oversize for the correct metric, you might fine the next English thread up might helicoil in.

[Tim6208]

Yes, I think going to the SAE size up should do the trick. I won't be able to get to the car till this weekend. Thanks for the quick replies.