dear readers, flyerphil here.

As you know I bought a 2005 Octavia (mk2) elegance recently. The aircon seemed poor so I took it to KwikFit and the £49.99 gas refill. They said the gas was quite low, about 10 days ago.

Worked fine afterwards. Set the climatic control to 20 degC - excellent.

I have been away for a couple of days. Got in it today and it was blowing tepid air - even turned down to Lo, Plus there was 'cistern like' filling noise.

Looks like the gas may have gone and there is a leak. Any ideas?

i had mine regassed on my old car. immediately afterwards it was making a hissing noise. was my first dealing with aircon, i assumed it was just a case of too much pressure so it was relieving some? (hey im no mechanic)

A few days afterwards it was blowing warm air again. I went to the garage certain there was a leak directly behind the central airvents as thats where the noise was coming from.

it turned a stone had gone through the condeser, the smaller radiator at the front of the engine bay.

Sounds like a leak - they shouldn't have regassed it if there was a leak.

Take it to an aircon specialist - as I found out to my cost there are people that know about aircon, and people with regassing machines .............

It could be something simple - the pressure valve (G65) have a habit of leaking and are reasonably cheap to replace.

They should have put UV dye in when they refilled it, so a leak should be easy to spot by someone with knowledge and the right equipment

Take it back to kwikfit for a refund first and they will put dye in the system and check where the leak from then give you a qoute.

As above KF should have done a leak test but looks like they did not.

I've read scarce positve comments for KF on the many motor forums I lurk on. They use an automatic machine. Plug it in, ignore it for an hour, unplug and charge you £ 50.

You can get (significantly) better than a kwik fit fitter.

Get a full refund and take it elsewhere.

I agree at kwik-fit it's just a guy pushing some buttons on a machine, but can you really ask for a refund because they didn't know there was a leak? I was under the impression they make only pence in profit for a re-gass as a way to get customers spending on other stuff, and a re-gass is just that; sucking out the old stuff and pumping in new.

Using dye to check for a leak looks an awfully fiddily job; and not something that's part of the kwik-fit deal.

And as you say it was working fine afterwards they've fulfilled their part of the deal?

I could be wrong of course!

I DID however manage to get a refund off them but only because after 90 mins in their shop the manager told me that the machine had broke..

Edited 9 August, 201213 yr by SilverSurfer59

Kwik Fit.....

Oh no. Sorry but I wouldn't let them anywhere near anything.

IIRC it's illegal to refill a car (or any air con system using certain gas types) if there is a leak.

If KF didn't do that test, then I'd say it makes it easier to ask for a refund.

FWIW only thing I've ever asked them to do was supply and fit 4 winters to 4 steels that were not on the car.

Dropped the wheels off, got a very good price on the tyres (better than online) and they fitted them.

There's only so much you can get wrong and this branch has a guy who actually has a clue and takes some pride.

It's rare and I wouldn't trust most branches.

I have exactly the same problem. A very strong A/C smell, and a cistern noise when turning the climate control on.

I took it to Formula One Auto Centre (Aylesbury) who re-gassed it. 7 days later the air was warm again, I took it back and they blamed their machine giving a wrong reading and re-gassed it for free. Another 7 days and it was warm again. They confirmed that I must have a leak! NO KIDDING GENIUS! Have not had it done yet as I am afraid of the getting a huge bill. I will have to get it done at some point though.

I would imagine you have the same issue, a leak somewhere in the system!

By the way Skoda recommend setting the climate control at 22, they say this is the optimum driving temp. Whether that’s true or not I don't know. Guess that’s down to the individual, however I am saving little on fuel driving with it at 22 instead of 20.

Thanks for all your replies. I doubt I will get any joy from Kwik Fit. I suppose its an aircon specialist next.

Pity. I thought I was getting to the bottom of the to do list.

Ah well since it worked before it means the system is basically working OK, its just leaking gas.

Thanks for all your replies. I doubt I will get any joy from Kwik Fit. I suppose its an aircon specialist next.

Pity. I thought I was getting to the bottom of the to do list.

Ah well since it worked before it means the system is basically working OK, its just leaking gas.

I had my other car done at kwik fit last year, after 3 days it stop working, i was in another town and told them the air con dont work no more. he done a leak test (hole in condensor) and gave me a qoute for repair £200 (not bad) or i can have a refund which i took as i didnt want those fitters taking my car apart

I have mine sett at 22 all year

I agree at kwik-fit it's just a guy pushing some buttons on a machine, but can you really ask for a refund because they didn't know there was a leak? I was under the impression they make only pence in profit for a re-gass as a way to get customers spending on other stuff, and a re-gass is just that; sucking out the old stuff and pumping in new.

Using dye to check for a leak looks an awfully fiddily job; and not something that's part of the kwik-fit deal.

And as you say it was working fine afterwards they've fulfilled their part of the deal?

I could be wrong of course!

I DID however manage to get a refund off them but only because after 90 mins in their shop the manager told me that the machine had broke..

They have to check for leaks before refilling - as others have pointed out it is illegal to fill a system that is leaking.

Hi flyerphil,

I had a similar problem recently (05 1.9 TDI) and the issue was a leaking condenser as reported by others. Sadly due to the new laws you cannot use dye as highlighted but you may be able to spot leaking coolant oil that has escaped with the 2 charges of gas. There is about 10cl of oil in the condenser. You might also want to check the pressure relief valve (look for oil traces) on the compressor to see if you actually have an overpressure problem. Anything you can do before committing to new parts is worthwhile.

If you have a £200 quote to replace the condenser, that is extremely good considering the work involved. Normally it is over 2 hours labour plus about £100 for a pattern part. Suggest you get someone who has pride in their work to get this done or else you may not like the panel fit after re-assembly. At least try your headlights before leaving the garage.

latest update on this.

Went back to Kwik Fit and they said (as was obvious) 'you have a leak'. He said that if I got it fixed, then they would give me a free regas - which I thought was very fair of them, and therefore have no complaints about KwikFit.

Next I took it to my favourite friendly garage in Bolsover "Go and see Wilf" they said.

Wilf turned out to be a friendly Australian who runs a mobile catering van refurbishment/conversion business and is therefore used to dealing with refrigeration units. His refrigeration guy filled my system with gas and started to look for leaks, then he told me to start the car and set the aircon to coldest setting.

After he had filled the system the compressor pump started making a horrible screeching noise. He then informed that although the pressure was holding he reckoned the pump has had it.

So it looks like I need a new compressor, which is not the result I was hoping for. They seem to be available on ebay for about £200 and my garage will charge £50 to fit it.

A question I would like to ask:

1) those of you you who have had a new compressor - did yours make a screeching noise too

2) Presumably the shot compressor, whilst still working, would cause the gas to leak away.

So it looks like the warnings I received about Octavia's compressor being known to fail early were correct. The car has done 77,000 miles