I'd safely bet, only Georgeahybrid will know if it's safe to DIY refill.
I say, you will end up in leaking system and will keep tossing money at it. My suggestion is to actually bite the bullet, take her to dealer, or find out, who dealer outsources this type of jobs to, and let it done professionally. I somehow don't believe, you had "just loose bolt". Does not happen that way.

 

First things first....Do NOT use a SEALER in your AC system. The next guy to work on it will charge you a fortune to clean that crap out of everything. Second, you can replace the lines but you will still need to pull a vacuum on the system and charge it with oil before putting in refrigerant. Any local tech can do the job for you that has an AC pump and charger unit. I would have them put a new dryer on plus any other parts that are cracked from the hit, pull a vacuum to check for leaks, add the correct amount of PAG oil and fill with R-134.

You can do a DIY fill but most of the time it is a useless proposition. Think about it for a second, you have a sealed system that nothing can leak out of that has leaked refrigerant.......Yes, you can add R-134 but it will leak back out again unless you fix the problem. To fix the problem, the system has to be discharged, the leak fixed and a vacuum pulled as noted above.

If you do decide to do it yourself, make sure you pull a vacuum and add the right amount of PAG oil. If you don't, a VERY expensive compressor replacement will be in your future.....

 

Hi Georgiahybrid. I Almost out the sealant in. But with your word of caution I am not putting it in.
So there are no lines cracked, but what I noticed was the O ring was loosened. The small line behind the bumper connected to the condenser had got pushed back and that's where the leak was felt.
My question since I could physically feel the leak, can I try adding r134 through a regular bottle from autozone, without pag oil? That way I can confirm if I do have a leak or tightening the o ring has fixed. Is it safe? Or is there a special way to add. I just want to confirm the leak before I take it in

 

If you hit hard enough to pop the O-ring seal on that connection, you will be lucky if that is all you have done. You would have to run the AC compressor in order to build up enough head pressure to see if it will leak. Doing that without oil is not a good idea and the reason that a tech will pull a vacuum on the system in order to do a check.

This is not a $1,000 fix to your system. ANY decent AC tech can do the job and more than likely, will be cheaper than it will cost you trying to do it yourself. It does not need to go to the dealer for something this simple but the equipment that you really need to have is not something a normal DIY person has sitting around the house.

As much as I have sitting in my garage, I don't have an AC pump at the house either nor do I want one for the 1 or 2 times ever 10 years that I might need one. Work is a different issue however....

 

Thank you for your input. I will be taking it to a tech.

 

David, thanks for backing me up on this. Pretty much, you repeated everything I said - don't DIY, and if it was hit hard enough to pop out connection, "just loose O-ring" is not likely to be the only result. Thing with human senses is - we can not sense microcracks and chances of those being present in aluminum tube are high.
OP, all the best. You may disregard my words, but if GH says so - that IS so. He knows his chit.