Few years ago but my local garage was going to try hydraulic hose if i couldnt solve the constant AC leak problems on my Alhambra. Never happend because source was found but might be worth looking at.

Makes you wonder how on earth families ever managed to drive anywhere on holiday in the days before air-con became the norm?(!)

True, but when manufacturers keep loading cars up with extras, you'd expect something like the aircon system to work, especially on a 2016 Galaxy. How many years has aircon been fitted to cars? (and it's still unreliable).

I do think that 'back order' is a loathsome expression, as well as being bad English. It means that someone - in fairness not usually the retailer - doesn't care enough about their customers.

If one is told that something is on 'back order', that should be a signal not to buy products from that source again. That's the only way they'll get the message.

When I worked for a few years in what was the called production scheduling (and is now glorified as 'logistics') we sometimes had orders for a spare turbocharger for an engine built 30 + years ago. Usually for a marine application. If we'd used up all of the specific castings required, it could well take weeks for the foundry to dig out patterns/coreboxes and fit in a small run. Then we had to squeeze a batch into a busy machine shop or into the toolroom, so with the the best will in the world, oddball parts, infrequently needed, may be 'on back-order' for a while even from efficient companies.

Edited by galileo on 24/06/2018 at 22:57

Fair point, Galileo, which could apply to a car of similar age. But it's inexcusable for a 2016 Galaxy.

Quite agree, wouldn't be happy myself in that case.

I suspect that Ford is run according to bean-counters' theoretical methods for maximum profit:.

This means not only "just in time" manufacture and purchasing, but also "exactly as many as teh build plan requires. So parts which are not 'wear and tear' and not expected to fail early are not planned in for routine production, changing supply schedules at short notice can be difficult (as for the Takata airbag issue and other recall campaigns).

In motor trade lingo if a part goes "back order" this can be because the maker has identified a problem with the part and has to have the part re engineered to overcome the fault. Also the maker may have changed supplier. .This can take time. I would gusee that this is an aluminium pipe that has fractured .Unlikely any dealer would or could carry out ali welding. As for cars fitted with a rear a/c system,sadly there is only one compressor that drives both front and rear operation,so any fault with the front,will stop the rear working.

The fix won't be cheap as aircon fixes seldom are, but if you find a proper aircon specialist, preferably one who maintans aircon in buildings as well as vehicles, they will soon patch in a replacement pipe and fittings, and more than likely a better quality repair which lasts longer than the original.

Edited by gordonbennet on 25/06/2018 at 13:05