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possibly, possibly not - it was cold enough for all the mechanics to be hanging round with hands cupped round a fag or tightly gripping a coffee
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hmmm. There's not much information from the garage as to what the problem with the air con is. They should be able to diagnose the problem and not just say that it's not working, that is not good enough.
If you remember our summer.........was the aircon getting cold whilst it was say 20oC+ outside and during the colder weather is it warming up the car. Do all the functions work on the aircon? If so, it's probably ok.
If the garage do diagnose the problem, the will probably get in a local car air con specialist and charge you more for it. If you have any doubt or they are not supplying you with the information you request, get the car back and go to a car air con specialist. The usual thing that does go wrong with older cars (say 4-5years+) is that the system needs re gassing with Freon (I think) at a cost of about £30 - £50.
Good luck!
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the car is just 13 months old and the a/c was working well a few weeks ago.
Of course, regassing (at +15% above the cost of an a/c specialist I know and trust) is not covered by warranty
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What part of the car needs to be above 4 degC for the aircon to work? Perhaps they heated the appropriate part(s) of the car with fan heaters or hair dryers.
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L\'escargot.
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dropped off at 8:30 and phoned at 9 - seems dodgy to me. Surely the garage wouldn't phone until they'd gone over the whole car to find out everything that might need worked on?
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Firstly I wouldn't be surprised is the air temperature is making it seem like the aircon isn't functioning properly. As far as I'm aware they don't operate in cold conditions well at all.
Secondly on a thirteen month old car I would be demanding it to be fixed (if it really isn't working) under warranty. If it has packed up in that short length of time then theoretically there must be a fault with the system - they don't just run out of gas in thirteen months.
They are either lifting your leg or incorrectly diagnosing that it isn't working, either which way don't just let them fix it and pay for it yourself. At this point I'd be having words with the service manager about the situation.
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You could always print off these replies and shove them under the service 'managers' nose.................
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Oh ye of little faith borasport20. I'm sure all reputable garages have means of testing aircon when the ambient is below 4 degC. You did take it to a reputable garage, didn't you?
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L\'escargot.
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I think most garages dont have a clue about A/C other than knowing how to connect up one of the automated machines and issue a bill
Why do I think this? Because much of my brothers business comes from investigating and repairing A/C for reputable garages, including insrance repair places, indy specialists and main dealers.
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I suppose they could have checked that it was demisting the windscreen, but that's a long shot.
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If the car is only 13 months old and they are saying it needs a re-gas, then the gas must have gone somewhere (ie defective seal) and therefore that IS a warranty covered item - no?
I've never had (or heard of ) a one year old car needing (just) a re-gas.
I'd certainly be getting a second opinion or trying it out myself (it should blow ice cold at the vents when set to 16 deg C - or max cold ) before shelling out hard cash.
FWIW - a few years ago I had a BMW that wasn't getting as cold as it should be when the A/c was on cold, took it to BMW main agent and was told "It definately needs a regas, and the control panel is almost certainly faulty - we can do it for £90 + £300 + labour + VAT".
I took the car to an independent A/C specialist - one that does mostly agricultural and commercial mobile HGV trailer work - They pumped out and weighed the gas, which was ok - didn't need a regas, in fact the A/C was working OK and the fitter found that a water valve was stuck. A quick, cheap, and easy fix.
He also told me that it wasn't necessary to "service" A/C - just use it regularly.
J
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Well, when I went to pick the car up, the 'senior service advisor' could only tell me that the air con was 'inoperative', the technicians had gone home, and she didn't know how they tested it or came to that conclusion. I will dig my air-con thermometer (sad, isn't it) out of my garage when it is warmer and check it myself - if anything needs doing, it will go to my trusted independent.
I note from the check sheet that my front pads/discs are 40% worn - nothing short of miraculous, when you consider that 6 months and 12000 miles ago, the previous dealer found them to be 50% worn ;-)
Edited by borasport20 on 15/11/2007 at 18:12
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Where can i buy a set of those pads? lol
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I'm saddened to see that the incompetents from the local franchised dealer of the car I used to have (is that ok, mods?) have infected other mechanics.
Do other countries have such justified disdain for franchised car mechanics?
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You don't want them V, after 20,000 miles they're so thick your wheels lock solid. :-)
JH
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Just tell 'em to poke it. Go to an independent. It is just another try on and watch everything else they are doing or not as the case may be.
MD
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Go to an independent.
It's a company car - policy is servicing is done at franchised dealers, everything else is done at independents
Interesting that when they repaired (under warranty) the water leak to the passenger door, they couldn't find any evidence of the previous repair (also under warranty) by a different dealer ;-)
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If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to operate the aircon in very cold temps by simply turning up the heat, and pushing the recirc button. That way, you are cooling heated air and so the anti-ice sensor at the evaporator shouldn't cut in.
Have the air from the vents coming out at a warm temp, then switch on the aircon and measure for temp drop at the vents. Also, operate the aircon on recirc with hot air for a few minutes, then press econ and hey presto!, misty windows.
Only my humble opinion, I'm in no way trained to give a professional opinion and cost you money... ;o)
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Many air-con systems have an ambient temperature cut-out at 4 degrees, the Vauxhalls do, so it simply can't be tested at low ambient temperature.
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With the miracles of modern electronics I would have expected it to be possible, for test purposes, for a service technician to over-ride the minimum operating temperature restriction. Where's AR-CoolC? He should be able to tell us.
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L\'escargot.
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