Car AC not working, garage topped up, lasted 1 day only!!

nameisme · 6 Sep 2020

Hello all,

My car AC stopped working. So took it to a mechanic who I found on google with lots of good reviews. He worked from his own garage.
He checked for leaks first and did a pressure check and said he found to small leaks, he showed me something that looked like two small washers.
He then topped it up, and it worked great for 1 day.
Then it stopped working and blowing warm air again.
Contacted him but he will not reply to me or return my calls.

I paid him via cash. Looks like I have lost my money. How can I avoid this in future? Should I always insist that I pay via bank transfer or that they give me a receipt? trouble is they might say "ohh yes will give you a receipt but then not give it to me"

Also whats the worst case scenario for a repair of my AC in cost?

thanks all in advance

Mottie · 6 Sep 2020

You need to have it filled with a dye and then see where it’s leaking from.

Burnerman · 6 Sep 2020

Kwik Fit and others were offering a regas, and you only paid for it if the system remained charged.....if it leaked out then a repair was obviously needed.
Often the dye is put in automatically, along with some lube oil and leaks are easily found using U.V. light.
John

EddieM · 6 Sep 2020

Burnerman said:
Kwik Fit and others were offering a regas, and you only paid for it if the system remained charged.....if it leaked out then a repair was obviously needed.
Often the dye is put in automatically, along with some lube oil and leaks are easily found using U.V. light.
John

I thought they legally have to test for leaks before regassing?

Burnerman · 6 Sep 2020

I've no idea - you would think that pressurising the system with an inert gas plus dye would certainly indicate any puncture but of course the A/C system wouldn't work.
I don't know if they are still offering this service just now, but I've used it a couple of times in the past.
John

EddieM · 6 Sep 2020

Mines not worked for about 6 years, must get round to getting it seen to.

Burnerman · 6 Sep 2020

I leave ours on all the time, I don't think there's such a trade off regarding fuel consumption these days.
John

EddieM · 6 Sep 2020

Burnerman said:
I leave ours on all the time, I don't think there's such a trade off regarding fuel consumption these days.
John

I used to as well, but more for the dehumidifying than cool air.

Mottie · 6 Sep 2020

It’s recommended that you run the A/C for at least 30 minutes every month to keep the seals in good condition. When they do a regas, the machine first empties all the old fluid from the system then holds the system under vacuum for a set length of time to check for leaks. If no leaks, it proceeds to the fill stage automatically. I think there is a manual override if there is a leak though!

Gasguru · 6 Sep 2020

I wouldn't waste your time with garages...they will just hook it up to a standard machine and press the buttons...virtually no knowledge of air con required.
Same with mobile outfits....they won't spend the time to pull a vacuum etc.
Find a dedicated air con specialist....getting it wrong can prove very costly.

nameisme · 7 Sep 2020

Don't know if I should take it back to the guy who filled the AC a few days ago or just cut my losses and goto a specialist? I managed to get a hold of him and he said to bring it back to him. Don't know what to do.

If he says it will cost extra, how best to pay him do you think?

johnny2007 · 7 Sep 2020

You're jumping your guns.
Take it back and give the fella a chance to fix it.
It might be an oversight from him.
Tell him in advance that you're not paying any more money so he knows.
It doesn't matter how you pay someone, card under £100, bank transfer and cash have little or no come back at all.
Over £100 always pay by credit card.

Mottie · 7 Sep 2020

johnny2007 said:
Take it back and give the fella a chance to fix it.
It might be an oversight from him.

I wouldn’t hold out much hope of that.

nameisme said:
Contacted him but he will not reply to me or return my calls

Although if the OP got him through Google reviews, he could always leave a review of his own to get some satisfaction.

nameisme · 7 Sep 2020

Yes he did reply to me once I called from another number.

cdbe · 7 Sep 2020

Gasguru said:
I wouldn't waste your time with garages...they will just hook it up to a standard machine and press the buttons...virtually no knowledge of air con required.
Same with mobile outfits....they won't spend the time to pull a vacuum etc.
Find a dedicated air con specialist....getting it wrong can prove very costly.

Oh! Our 10 year old touran has not been as (ice) cold as it was last year - I was going to invest £45 on a regas next year, am I wasting my money?

Our last car was a family owned 15 year old Astra that my dad said hadn't blown cold since it was 5 years old - I thought it likely the seals would be knackered so never bothered attempting a regas.

Car AC not working, garage topped up, lasted 1 day only!!

EddieM

EddieM

EddieM

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