Air con problems

Mark kiddie

Mark kiddie

Mark kiddie

Associate
Joined
20 Apr 2021
Posts
4
Hey all,

Just asking for advice/knowledge as to how air con service and regassing works as I have an ongoing issue with my car and now potentially the quality of work done from a dealer.

I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.

Back in July I took my car to halfords as the air con had stopped working. They completed an Air con service and regas.

Less than two weeks later, the air con stopped and so I took it back. They tried again and unfortunately it failed again within two weeks. They gave me a full refund and advised me to go back to ford for their specialists to look at it

I rang up Ford customer services and explained the story as I wasn't sure what I would need to book it in for and so they booked it in for their Air con service and regas.

In September it was taken in and regassed. No issues discovered other than their their only being 410g rather than the required 590 grams. Now I know the air con worked for a couple of weeks however we headed into winter where I no longer used it. A few weeks ago when we had a nice day in April I tried to use it but once again it no longer worked.

I rang Ford back up and explained the history of my car and the air con services and they wanted to investigate it at a cost of roughly 80 pounds (fortunately I was able to haggle this away as I was certain it was linked the the issues that I had already paid for them to identify)

During the investigation, they discovered 2 holes in the air con condenser? and said it needed to replaced for about 200 pound and then needed an aircon service and regassing for an additional 200 pound.

My concern is I feel confident that these holes (i don't know of what secerity) must have been present throughout all of this however Ford claim it would have been impossible for them to have missed the holes. I would also point out that between September and April, my car has only done 1500 miles.

Is this true or is it more complex than this?

I would really appreciate any help.

Cheers

Mark
 
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Theoretically it should be impossible to miss holes or leaks because if it's done properly a dye should have been added and once the system was pressurized the dye can clearly be seen under a UV light. However, dependant on the car and location of the condenser it can be very difficult to see all of it especially if it's right against the radiator. My old Astra's condenser was a similar size to the radiator and right up against it meaning that there was no way to see the two meeting faces. Luckily for me it was obvious as it always used to rot from the bottom. At the end of the day I guess it's down to how thorough the mechanic is. It only takes a pin ***** for the system to leak and the aircon no longer works. If the £200 for the condenser includes labour that's not a bad price. Another £200 for a aircon service and regas is a rip off. I have a mobile aircon engineer come to do mine when needed and he only charges £60. for a full aircon service and regas.
 
Thanks for the replies.

So what you are saying is, that it is unlikely they could have missed it if they had used the special uv gas?

What certainty do I have this gas was used outside of their word?

It just feels like such a massive coincidence that it was losing gas at halfords. As I said, halfords had regassed the unit and then a few weeks later ford discovered that it had lost 190grams. This time it was empty at ford.

Mark
 
If Halfords did the job properly they should have done the dye test as well seeing as it's supposed to be done before regassing, not that Halfords do any job properly. Like I said, it can be very difficult to see the face of the condeser that is against the radiator so it would depend on how thorough the mechanic was.
 
My aircon has stopped working on my 2014 Kia Sportage. It’s got climate control and aircon is run all the time. It’s always been potent, but went warm and we started to hear hissing from behind the air vents.

I initially took the car to Halfords, just to get them to pressure test it, which they did. It was clear to me they didn’t know what they were doing, so a guy radioed someone else who came out and hooked up a gauge. He reckoned it had gas in it, low but high enough to be ok. I wasn’t convinced and have worked on car aircon systems in my youth.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago I took it to a local aircon specialist. They had a look, determined the system was empty, I told them I had taken it to Halfords and what they had told me so they filled it with dye and with me waiting, ran the car for circa 20 mins in their workshop. The chap couldn’t find a leak but explained it could be an ever so slow leak in one of the pipes. He reckoned any hole in the condenser would be spotted immediately, because even small holes would haemorrhage the dye.

By law, they aren’t supposed to regas a system without leak testing it first. Long story short the chap advised me to go away for a few weeks and come back and they would re-check the system and check for dye. I’ve got it booked in tomorrow morning.

so far, I’ve been charged £30 diagnostic fee, if it’s not leaking tomorrow, they will regas the system and charge me £70, but as I’ve paid £30, I have a balance of £40 left. This is for the R134a refrigerant.

There is a newer gas for newer cars, which is more expensive apparently.
 
I've read plenty of bad reviews about Halfords Aircon leak test. Basically it's useless. Like Kwik fit they top up with gas and hope for the best.

You've obviously got a good size leak. There are a few ways to test for leaks.

You can pressurise the system and observe for any pressure drop on the gauge. This is what Halfords are meant to do.

Then once pressurised you can add a dye or you can use an electronic leak detector to checks for leaks.

Usually the leak is a worn O ring between the compressor and pipe.

I do my own Aircon it's pretty easy after you buy the manifold gauge kit, I actually bought a good quality one from Amazon for £7. After you've tested for leaks and replaced any necessary parts you need to vacuum out the system and then regass. You can also also check the oil level and top up the oil if needed.

Basically you need to take it to a garage and get the leaks fixed and topped up.
 
Thanks for all the replies coming in.

Its sad to hear that I'm not the only person to have experienced poor work at a garage. I'm no car expert and so do not feel comfortable doing any of this work myself, thats why Im prepared pay someone to do it for me... they supposedly know what they are doing.

I feel like this is going to be very much a my word against there's. I will fight this and escalate it as far as I can as it doesn't feel right to me that same issue strikes 3 times in a row and now they finally source an issue.

The problem is also that I can't trust halfords to replace my condenser unit based on their work with my car, and I would prefer this branch of ford not to do it as I'm not convinced of the quality of their work (wether I am right or it is just a horrible coincidence).

The paperwork ford gave me says they checked for leaks (im going to assume this means using the dye)

Is it wrong of me to think that they could have detected there was not enough gas, and just replaced it without actually checking it using the dye? I understand that in theory they should have checked properly for no leaks, but I'm sure we all know of people who like to save time by cutting a few corners.
 
Being short on charge can be a strange one and depending on the system can have different effects, I have seen plenty of systems which have been short on charge still continued to operate.

Only way is to log the system and check the sub cooling and suction super heat, if the day was cool the system would not be working so hard and can give a false impression. Did they provide any temperature readings?

With the leak in the condenser they say that you drove 5 minutes down the road and picked up a stone.
My old Vectra went through 3 condensers - 3rd time I replaced my self other two times were under the lease (company car and parents purchased it)
 
Not on the paperwork that I have unfortunately. Perhaps they have more detailed readings on their system.

I would be curious to see what they have on the system from the first call when I told them about the halfords issues - probably doesn't even mention it to the technician.
 
On a similar note to OPs A/C problems, I took my wife’s 4 y.o. Peugeot 2008 into the dealer where it was bought new, for its 4th service.
She does very little mileage, in fact after 4 years it’s only done 9210 miles.
During the service, the service department called me to say, and I quote, “some fins are starting to fall out of the a/c condenser, and we advise replacement.”
I asked for the price for this alleged needed repair, he came back with £819.24 all in.
I said, “Forget it, she can open the windows.”
I’d only used main dealers for any car that she’s had, until they were out of warranty, as this retained their warranty guarantees, but my cousin’s husband had his own garage, employing half a dozen mechanics, and he serviced most of the family's cars, at reasonable rates, plus he’s a stand up guy.
I asked for his advice about the Peugeot dealer’s suggestion, saying that I’d rather let him buy and fit the condenser, as the car had been out of warranty for a year now.
He checked it out, and said, “That dealer is taking the ****, one fin is missing, but you don’t need anything done right now, keep on driving it, if the a/c isn’t cold enough for her, regas it for £50-£75, if she’s still not happy, I’ll supply and fit a condenser for way less than half of what they asked.”
 
I did indeed take my Sportage back last week to the aircon place. After two weeks of having some gas and some dye in it. They couldn’t find a leak so they did a new vacuum/leak test, it held pressure for 20 mins and so they added fresh gas. £70 later (all in) and it’s freezing my nuts off!
 
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