You are not looking in the right place, it is either in the lower metal line out at the condenser with the 45 degree angle, or it is further up on that sme line where it connects and there will be demples in the line about three inches from the connection to hold the orifice tube in place and you should use an orifice tube extraction tool to remove it, and be sure not to break the end off of the orifice tube trying to remove it with needle-nose pliars because then it will really become difficult to remove. Here are a couple of diagrams that should help you out.


Orifice Tube.



Orifice Tube Location.