Air-con question

[Dave364]

I am going to buy a car tomorrow and had an independent inspection on it today and he picked up on the air-con not blowing cold air, the garage said they have checked the air con system and its ok just needs regassed, is this likely to be true or should I be worried?

[Rustynuts]

More likely to be a buggered compressor. If the system scans as okay when read with a fault code reader then the system is okay (as in not low on pressure) and the compressor drive gear will be spinning on the shaft and not actually compressing. New compressor needed at a cost of about £400. Tell them to get the system regassed and working, and you'll accept it as a condition of the sale.

 

Edit: low gas pressure will flag up a low pressure fault code....

Edited 1 September, 2016 by Rustynuts

[Dave364]

Thanks for the quick reply, they said they are going to regas it for me collecting it tomorrow so I take it if it's blowing cold air out when I get there the compressor is ok? If it's not then I will obviously need to get them to agree to the repair

[Rustynuts]

If the system is working and blowing proper cold then it should be okay. If it's still not cold and doesn't react to switching between AC On - Off, then the compressor is probably the fault.

[SuperbTWM]

Buying a car with the air con not working is a complete lottery.

 

It may just need gassing up if its low but that then begs the question........ Why has it leaked out in the first place? Obviously they all lose pressure over time so this depends on the age of the car and even if it does have a small leak you could gas it up and get years of use out of it before it leaks again if you are lucky.

 

Also if all the gas has escaped and the system has been open to air then the drier should be changed also to maintain efficiency

 

Like Rustynuts has pointed out, if they do get it working at least it proves the compressor is ok and all you may have to worry about in the future is it leaking all the refrigerant out 

Edited 1 September, 2016 by SuperbTWM

[Dave364]

Ok so if it's still not blowing cold air tomorrow I will get it in writing he will cover the cost of the repair, thanks again for the advice

[Dave364]

Oh yeah the cars an 11 plate, 5 and a half years old

[Dave364]

Aircon was nice and cold when I got there yesterday so happy days

[tubbytommy]

I'd always be wary of anything that's not working and the seller telling you it just needs this or that.

If it's simple why not fix it prior to sale.

My concern would be the gas leaking out somewhere,it may be cold now but a week later it may not be.

[HUD Engineer]

My 56 plate car was regassed in October last year, then May this year.  They reported there was no leak, but a month later it was sounding a bit odd and sloshy, and now there isn't any cold air.  If it isn't a leak, what is going on?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[xman]

Its leaking. When they reported no leak, that was just on the vacuum hold test. That checks there are no holes in the pipes or condensor.

You have a seal leaking under pressure. Either at a pipe joint, or compressor internal seal.

[HUD Engineer]

Its leaking. When they reported no leak, that was just on the vacuum hold test. That checks there are no holes in the pipes or condensor.

You have a seal leaking under pressure. Either at a pipe joint, or compressor internal seal.

 

 

They put  a fluorescent dye in last time, and ran it then, but said there was no sign of a leak at that stage, either.  Will the dye have left a trace, or will they be back to square one?  Is getting it refilled again, and having another concerted period of use likely to get the seal to do it's job, or does someone need to replace every seal in the system?