jonmyers

My aircon has packed in on my 99MY. On booking it in with the dealer, he said that it probably needs recharging and that it is a service item for which i will be charged about £90. Does this sound reasonable? They never advised me of this as i handed over £1500 for it!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Yep aircon needs doing every 2 years to stop you getting nasty bugs from it. (and gets rid of any water in the system)
90 quid seems a little steep though, and when its done its suppose to be drained, left vaccuumed for 15mins then recharged.
you may be better looking for a local reputable company who will do it for less and come out to you rather than you going to them.

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Forgot to mention, they should give you a free check before re gassing the system to make sure its the gas, it could be the compessor if thats gone?

Tony

jonno

Hi Jon, recently read somewhere that you should run the air con about ever 4-6 weeks throuout the winter.......something to do with a lubricant in the gas that keeps the rubber o-rings from perishing and loosing the gas.

Dont think you have any thing to worry about, the dealer should check the system for leaks before you leave.

Try giving your local Refrigeration services a call for a quote....had a nissan refilled a few years ago cost about £35 quid or so, prices cant be that much different these days!!.

Cheers Jonno.

PS If the ac system has no gas in it, the compressor wont switch.

jonmyers

Thanks for the help guys. It's in with the dealer friday now, for the dreaded 'hesitation' too! i'll question the refill price when i take it in.

Cheers,
Jon

WiseGuy

I had a accident a little while ago and as part of the repairs my dealer had to check and re-gas the A/C. £65 and thats a subaru dealer.

submannz

hmmm, If your airconditioning needs recharging then you have a leak somewhere in the system in theory you should never have to recharge the gas. So get them to try to locate the leak.

Not sure what bugs can live in the a/c gasses it is very cold almost frozen.

Are you talking about cleaning the vents?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Submannz,
water builds up in the system and with it so does fungus.
When the system smells you definately know its time to clean and re gas
Also you loose little ammounts of gas due to leakage, nothing is ever 100% sealable, and you do notice the difference when its done.
When done properly they should vaccuum the system out and leave it for 15mins, then re gas, this ensures you dont have any cr@p left in there.

Tony

Shark

Umm, this has been done a few times, but basically -

The system should never need regassing, provided it is used regularly and was charged to the correct weight last time it was gassed. When was the last time you got your home fridge regassed? If it needs gassing there is a leak, however small. I was ice cold in me Dads Range Rover today, new in 95 and never regassed. His last one was 12 years old when he sold it, A/C worked fine for 12 years with no need for gas.

The smell is caused by bacteria build-up in the evaporator box in the car. A simple disinfectant treatment cures this with no need to regas. I’m no chemist, but bacteria grow due to the dampness, thus the smell. Again, if used regularly throughout out the winter with the heater on, shouldn’t be a problem.

For those that don’t know, the A/C can be used as a very effective demister on rainy / cold days with the heater on – you stay clear and warm.

If you do get regassed, make sure a uv dye is injected. Some leaks are so small they take months to become apparent, and the uv dye leaves a stain that is easy to see with the right gear.

Hope this helps

David

Shark

Oh, and £90 isn't to bad for a regas with dye inject in the south east.

David

submannz

I have a fridge that is 40 years old and has never needed regassing. I would say that that is 100% sealed, same should be with the car A/C.

Yes I agree you should get the vent systems cleaned, but you shouldn't have to recharge your gas.

submannz

Ooops, I should have read Sharks response first.

DJB

I had mine checked recently and was hoping that it would just require re-gassing. No such luck - apparently the condensor has a leak (sits in front of the radiator waiting to deflect stones). A new condensor costs over £200 (before fitting and regassing).

I just keep the windows open now.

D.

Stuart Knight

iTrader: (2)

Re-gas should cost you around £45-50 from a non-Subaru/non main dealer type place. They (usually) don't do it themselves anyway, they get a local subcontractor in to do it anyway, and then charge extra on top!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

A/C is like any other system in your car, it has to be serviced. The best way is to clean the system out, then re gas it.
It has to be done every 2 years, its like servicing your car, its not for the hell of it its because its esential and it does leak, no matter how small and it should be run for a minimum of 10 mins per month to keep the system at its optimum.
There is no "it never needs to be done" it does, its esential that it is if you want the system to be fully operative and not smell/blow warm air.
If you read your manual it does state that a/c needs to be serviced every 2 years as it does with every car that has it fitted.
yes it costs but its worth it in summer
God, you spent 20k on a car, whats 50 quid???!!!
just make sure its done properly, drained, vaccuumed for 15mins then regassed, thats how its meant to be.

Tony