Hello,  I just wondered if anyone has had to have the entire radiator replaced to deal with an aircon leak caused by stone damage?

Not in an Octavia, but my wife ran over a bit of pallet on the motorway in our old Yeti (unavoidable) and it punctured the air-con condenser radiator, resulting in a £600+ bill for a new one, its replacement and a re-gas.

Why is stone damage a malfunction?

Thanks Glen ,  thats helpful  .   As ' old school and female'   Ive been  unclear that   what  I would have just thought of as a radiator , is actually dual purpose  .   Have never had to look into  this problem in previous  Octavias as aircon system has always been good.    Mr A - I called it a malfunction as  a stone chipping flying through the air intake  into the condenser/radiator   has  (the garage says)   nicked into one of the metal tubes  going across it causing  the aircon to not produce cold  air consistently . 

 

The tubes running across between the fin things  didnt look damaged  anywhere to me , but apparently the tests they did said they were  , so the whole thing was replaced.  Like your wifes car  Glen,  £600+    .   Must have been very lucky  in our previous Octavias , because peering now  through the air intake  , the  radiator/condensor seems frightengly exposed     even though the honeycomb shape on this new one looks  slightly more protected  than the   oblong shaped plastics in front of the last car  rad.   Wonder why they cant  use some sort of smaller holed  mesh or something behind the plastic , to stop this happening . It seems a stupid design fault to me  - but there again , its a nice little earner I suppose for Skoda garages !    Wonder how many people   have this happen  -  only had this one a couple of months.

A bit late now since the repair has been done but I find it hard to believe that a tube could have been damaged without corresponding cooling fin damage.

The aluminium fins are incredibly soft and can even be bent by careless application of a pressure cleaner.

I'm a bit OCD about the fins and have even corrected ones bent from large insect impacts.

During the worst of the bug season here in Australia I will put on a bit of fly screen on the outside of the grill which is also strong enough to keep out stones. Never had an overheat situation even in summer.

It's absolutely essential if there is any risk of running through a locust swarm, not seen one for a few years now though. Probably not a big risk in the UK

Hi

yes had one replaced on my mkll cost over £400, fitted mesh to the bottom grill after it was repaired, the first thing I did to my new octavia was also fitting mesh think the grill holes are far too big!

Yeh I noticed this the other day the wife's vrs has only done 11k and the condenser is covered in little dents where stones have been hitting it

Yep they are surprisingly unprotected, with big holes leading stones straight in. 

 

Yet it could be risky putting mesh in front in case it gets clogged with grass and reduces cooling.

 

Certainly £600 seems a bit excessive, I would have thought half that.

"clogged with grass"???     

Never had any problems with overheating as for clogged with grass haven't done much off road driving since I left the Army, it's been in twice for servicing nothing mentioned by the dealer, for peace of mind it's well worth it.

Hi again. Thanks for all the helpful and interesting replies.   Gerrycan -  the fin things were damaged on mine,  just surprised the tubes were.  Dont hold out much hope  of keeping this replacement  one working , only a few months old and the fins  were dinted in about four places  already ! 

 

What sort of mesh have you covereruppers  used thats sturdy enough to do the job,  and flimsy enough to  not cause overheating  - ?

 

Glosrich -- £600 does seem a lot doesnt it , but there again , we are talking about the  'nose' end of the car lol. 

I did the condenser on my mk2 octy. It wasn't hard but very time consuming, having to take bits of to get to fixings for other bits and so on. Apart for the cost of a new condenser, you are looking at a days labour and the gas re-fill cost. You can get an OE condenser protector from VW. Guard, v1k0820746. Clips v3d0867646, you need 8 of them. I can measure mine if you want so you know it would fit your core width on yours.

My car's condenser is peppered with dents and dings from FOD after 12k.

 

Saying that, I've had loads of cars do well over 100k with the original condenser intact. If that's not tempting fate, I don't know what is! 

 

You're just playing the odds in the same way as you are with a whack to the windscreen or a nail in your tyre. If you're really unlucky, a stone can potentially smash a PC headlamp cover, and they can be super expensive. 

I did the condenser on my mk2 octy. It wasn't hard but very time consuming, having to take bits of to get to fixings for other bits and so on. Apart for the cost of a new condenser, you are looking at a days labour and the gas re-fill cost. You can get an OE condenser protector from VW. Guard, v1k0820746. Clips v3d0867646, you need 8 of them. I can measure mine if you want so you know it would fit your core width on yours.

Kind of you meta, but this is a Mk3  - does the protection attach  behind the plastic or in front  ?-  (Nobody laugh if thats a dumb  question  lol!)  would the overall aperture  be exactly the same as a Mk2 does anyone know?

Edited 8 August, 20169 yr by Yop

"clogged with grass"???

It's called "using the whole of the track" Gerrycan, the black bit is quicker but, $hit happens

Kind of you meta, but this is a Mk3  - does the protection attach  behind the plastic or in front  ?-  (Nobody laugh if thats a dumb  question  lol!)  would the overall aperture  be exactly the same as a Mk2 does anyone know?

The plastic grille protector attaches directly to the condenser and held on with eight clips. Go to your local vw dealer and ask them to look one up for the latest golf with the same engine is yours, I would guess it's the same part.

Thanks Meta  -  will  get onto that and see what  they got . 

The plastic grille protector attaches directly to the condenser and held on with eight clips. Go to your local vw dealer and ask them to look one up for the latest golf with the same engine is yours, I would guess it's the same part.

 

NO it won't!

 

There has been many a thread on the MK7 Golf forums as the MK6 Golf & Audi A3/TT had the same problem.

 

The plastic "grill" that VW made for the MK6 will NOT fit the MK7 as the air con condenser/rad unit has a different spacing for the horizontal bars... I know I measured it!

 

The grill that VW made for the MK6 unit is just a piece of plastic which covers the horizontal bars which contain the refrigerant. The newer units on the MK7 Golf has a different spacing, ie the number per 10cm of vertical I think it worked out at a 9-vs-11 I think, can't remember exactly.

 

Currently VAG have not made a new grill for the current air con rad units....so best bet is to use some stainless steel mesh about 5mm square grid size mesh..