I think the gass needs to be replaced in my Octavia. How much does it cost to do? Along with any recommendations?

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Couple of garages around here are charging around £40 for a vacuum out, refill and leak check.

And funnily enough Kwik Fit have a good reputation for it, but that might depend on the local franchise.

Hmm Kwik Fit. What do Skoda charge?

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Skoda's fixed price maintenance charge is £75 for an aircon service. When I had mine done recently that service included anti-bacterial treatment.

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/maintenance

Ouch. Kwik Fit is £49

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Ouch. Kwik Fit is £49

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So is Halfrauds.

Kwik Fit will also do the work free of charge if the air temperature from the vents after re-charging is less than 10% (NOT 10 degrees) lower than it was before re-charging.

 

They do stand by this - I had my vRS recharged 3 or 4 summers ago, but they couldn't drop the temperature so no charge.

A few of miles up the road on the way home it started working.

As well as the refrigerant gas the mixture also contains lubricant for the seals etc. - the suggestion was that the seals on the compressor had dried out, and after a while the fresh gas and oil had softened, expanded slightly and started working again.

if you are in the Kent area Caffyns skoda Tunbridge Wells and Ashford are doing their Aircon re-gas half price at the moment at £34.50.

Damm I'm in Mid Wales. Shall ring the local dealer and ask if they are doing the same offer

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Where in Mid Wales?

The little garage in Lydham, between Churchstoke and Craven Arms, was advertising this service recently. And there was a chap doing it mobile in the Newtown area last year.

Welshpool

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You often get blokes offering a cheap mobile service. Google?

Halfords:

£40 for r134a gas cylinder, complete with "leak-stopper" in the gas

£20 for re-usable pressure gauge/applicator thingy. (Can be used as pressure gauge without buying the gas)

 

£10 refund when you take the cylinder back too.

 

From the accounts I've read, the cylinder is more than enough to do the car, in fact several cars by the sound of it. Pressure gauge is useful to see if you are out of gas or if there's another fault.

 

 

Really simple to use. If you can do tyre pressures, you can do the a/c pressure too

So that's £50 if you get refund on can, you could get it done properly for that price. Air con gas is filled by weight as per sticker on slam panel, NOT pressure.

Indeed, as long as you don't actually have a leak, then it will cost you several times to find out you have a leak.

 

Plus, as stated in the post, it's possible to do several cars with the one kit.

 

 

............and my a/c unit in the house too :)

As said, pressure does not indicate the amount of gas in the system.

 

Also you should not fill a system with a leak (it's illegal to do so). So anyone who is diagnosing a fault or carrying out a service should vac the system and check for leaks before filling the system.

 

I do wonder about the Kwik fit and Halfords services when i know Skoda use at least four different PAG oils for the compressors depending on what brand it is. You telling me they keep shelves of the correct oil and change and clean out the machine everytime? You can recover from the low pressure side which minimises oil recovery but you normally still get some that has to be replaced.

Skoda's fixed price maintenance charge is £75 for an aircon service. When I had mine done recently that service included anti-bacterial treatment.

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/maintenance

 

Hmm, phoned my local dealer this week for an aircon quote and their service guy told me they sub-contract the service out - £95! Local garage I tried do it for £69 seemingly, haven't used them before though.

Find a local garage - Less than £ 50

http://www.goodgaragescheme.com/

 

Get it doen before the summer as a re gas is cheaper than a new compressor.

How long are these garages vacuuming your systems for? Recommended Minimum time is 30mins.