Hello Experts,

several weeks ago my A\C packed up whilst in use. I had it into the garage this morning for a 're-gas' however the mechanic shown me his gas charge reader which shown it was fully charged with more than a kilo of gas present.

After a bit of checking he deemed the pump defective, voltage was getting to the pump but he claimed that the clutch activator in the pump had proberbly failed.

As the car is now approaching 6yrs old I was wondering whether a second hand/reconditioned pump would suffice but there are a plethora of different types out there. Do any of you know what should be in my car or steer me to a correct one please?

The car is a 2006 (56 plate) Octavia vRS estate without climatronic.

Many, many kind thanks

The pump is clutchless so it always spins. What actually happens is the valve usually fails and it results in no gas going round the system. Same effect though and the pump needs changing.

I was quoted £1400 for the dealer to do it - replace the pump, drier and re-gas. Good will gesture got it down to £200 but that was on a newer car.

An alternative is just a new Sanden pump (which is the same manufacturer etc as the genuine one) and that's about £600 plus fitting I think from an independent.

I feel your pain mate, but unfortunately this one is extremely common. :(

Many thanks Chrispy!! I'm lucky in having a good pal with a garage so I just need to source a pump and see whaere it goes from there, I think my pal said it was Sanden (japanese writing on it he replied).

Kind regards

Pete dont buy a second hand one , the original has a design fault and will fail , you may replace it again , the pump you want is the Sanden pxe 16 , i'm waiting on a look at mine , its got a major leak so its goosed , look on the Euro Car Parts site , brisky members get 25% off so pretty much second hand prices anyway.

Pete dont buy a second hand one , the original has a design fault and will fail , you may replace it again , the pump you want is the Sanden pxe 16 , i'm waiting on a look at mine , its got a major leak so its goosed , look on the Euro Car Parts site , brisky members get 25% off so pretty much second hand prices anyway.

31% discount right now.....notice they have a cheaper Waeco pump? Any reviews on this?

31% discount right now.....notice they have a cheaper Waeco pump? Any reviews on this?

Dunno , the sanden is out of stock at mo , not sure on waeco

Try your dealer for goodwill, if you have full history mine is a Sept 56 plate, last month got it (new AC pump) and full Ac service for £445 , so mine was well out of warranty the part( from Skoda ) is £545 an independent to fit is £500 ( Ac specialist