Hi guys

 

I got my Fabia regassed on Thursday but it hasn't held pressure which suggests a leak. I looked at the engine bay floor two days later and I could see the spillage. Worst case scenario cost wise is a compressor replacement. How likely is it to be the compressor and how could I tell that the issue? Also, are there common places that Freon will leak from?

 

Thanks in advance

The most common location for leaks is the condenser,  it's made of thin alloy and corrodes leading to splits and leaks.

Compressors fail rarely.

Just now, sepulchrave said:

The most common location for leaks is the condenser,  it's made of thin alloy and corrodes leading to splits and leaks.

Compressors fail rarely.

Thanks for this. Is a condenser replacement an expensive do?

4 minutes ago, Fanty111 said:

Thanks for this. Is a condenser replacement an expensive do?

 

Quantify expensive.

4 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Quantify expensive.

More or less than £200?

£55 delivered for my Yeti.

 

Who did the regas? They should have pulled and monitored a vacuum for 30 minutes to indicate any leaks before regassing, that yours has failed so quickly means the leak would have been very apparent.

 

If anyone may have removed/replaced the pump recently I would suspect the O rings on the connections, they are very easy to pinch & damage.

Just now, J.R. said:

£55 delivered for my Yeti.

 

Who did the regas? They should have pulled and monitored a vacuum for 30 minutes to indicate any leaks before regassing, that yours has failed so quickly means the leak would have been very apparent.

 

If anyone may have removed/replaced the pump recently I would suspect the O rings on the connections, they are very easy to pinch & damage.

Ats euromaster did it. I'm hoping its just a seal but going door to door for the students that aren't attending the school I teach at in this heat is not ideal 😔

If the system has ever had dye added you can see leak sites pretty clearly in low light conditions with a cheap UV torch (£10?)

The hose connections' o-rings on the high pressure half of the circuit are where I saw leakage from on our 2005 car. Worst one was the compressor outlet fitting I think, followed by the one going into the expansion valve at the bulkhead. Can't find the photos just now but the leakage showed up bright green under UV light.

 

 

5 hours ago, Wino said:

If the system has ever had dye added you can see leak sites pretty clearly in low light conditions with a cheap UV torch (£10?)

The hose connections' o-rings on the high pressure half of the circuit are where I saw leakage from on our 2005 car. Worst one was the compressor outlet fitting I think, followed by the one going into the expansion valve at the bulkhead. Can't find the photos just now but the leakage showed up bright green under UV light.

 

 

How much did you pay for the leaks to be fixed?

I bought the 3 o- rings required and did them myself. A few quid.

I paid to have the remnants of refrigerant taken out (illegal to deliberately vent it to atmosphere), then swapped the o-rings, then took it back for refilling.

Got the same car I think, also with air con prob. Just discovered on ours if you pop the bonnet and look down, either side of the bonnet catch there are 2 square plastic covers. Take these out and you can see the condition of the front of the  condenser. Quite a neat idea . 

Annoyingly though ours looks newish , so no obvious reason why the air cons stopped.

Not sure if you're planning to diy it, if so may not be too difficult. I consider myself only a basic diyer mechanic, but managed to change condenser on wife's Megane. Bought condenser for £85 from factors and box of air con O ring seals off Amazon- £7.

If you do buy one yourself I'd advise you to inspect it before leaving the shop. First one they got me had damaged fins , presumably in transit.

Please let us know how you get on.

Just for informations-sake, how easy/hard is it to swap out the condenser on a Fabia? I assume they all have a similar fitment. I am planning on getting a regas next week or so and am thinking what to do if mine is duff.

I just took the front of the car off to replace the radiator and I'd do the same for the condenser, the entire front of the car comes off in less than an hour making it a really easy job.

So here is the final diagnosis.

 

There is a leak in the condenser and the main line out the condenser through to the bulk head.

 

I was quoted 900 to fix due to part and labour. Hard pass totally not worth it.

3 minutes ago, Fanty111 said:

So here is the final diagnosis.

 

There is a leak in the condenser and the main line out the condenser through to the bulk head.

 

I was quoted 900 to fix due to part and labour. Hard pass totally not worth it.

 

I could have told you it wasn't worth doing if you weren't doing it yourself!

 

The labour kills it but £900 is a ridiculous price, an honest garage would charge half that.

£900, wow! 

How do they come to that price out of curiosity?

Just had a look on EuroCarParts, with their never ending discount, condenser is £85. Think ideally your meant to change receiver dryer as well. Paid £22 for a Megane one, EuroCarParts don't list a Fabia one.  Regas £50 ish, not sure how much pipe would be, and say 2 hours labour in a workshop with their facilities. 

Would have thought even with vat would come in at less than £500 ish.

Do you have maybe a mobile air con specialist who could quote you?

 

11 minutes ago, Cheapas said:

£900, wow! 

How do they come to that price out of curiosity?

Just had a look on EuroCarParts, with their never ending discount, condenser is £85. Think ideally your meant to change receiver dryer as well. Paid £22 for a Megane one, EuroCarParts don't list a Fabia one.  Regas £50 ish, not sure how much pipe would be, and say 2 hours labour in a workshop with their facilities. 

Would have thought even with vat would come in at less than £500 ish.

Do you have maybe a mobile air con specialist who could quote you?

 

Its crazy but even putting 500 down on a 13 year old car doesn't feel worth it!

7 minutes ago, Fanty111 said:

Its crazy but even putting 500 down on a 13 year old car doesn't feel worth it!

See I've never  agreed  with that  way of thinking. What could you buy for £500 that doesn't have its own issues ?

If the rest of the car is sound, and you've no plans to change it , I'd spend it. But then to me I'm not into cars for cars sake, it's just a tool like the hoover etc. 

Personally I hate the agg of changing cars, rather spend money on what I've got, if I'm going to get a few more years out of it.

 

On 16/06/2021 at 20:00, sepulchrave said:

 

I could have told you it wasn't worth doing if you weren't doing it yourself!

 

The labour kills it but £900 is a ridiculous price, an honest garage would charge half that.

This is what I'm thinking a few weeks removed.

 

I'm in half a mind to just fix the bloody thing myself. Do you think its worth getting a mobile aircon guy to come and diagnose it so I can proceed from there?

On 30/06/2021 at 01:56, Fanty111 said:

I'm in half a mind to just fix the bloody thing myself. Do you think its worth getting a mobile aircon guy to come and diagnose it so I can proceed from there?

 

Keep us informed if you do fix this yourself - I've to tackle this at some point later in the summer so would be useful to see how you go on, please.

 

Thanks