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Aircon, big or bigger bill approaching

Juddian

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Booked in later in the week for Aircon leak, you all know where it will be from, soon as i said what vehicle he knew why i was there, they had a much newer Shogun and Disco 4 in there for exactly the same issue, said the Disco was a pig of a job.
They're going to diagnose and appraise first and see if the leak can be fixed or if its a case of new pipes right through to the rear aircon unit, if the pipes are crusty and its a full repipe front to rear probably no change from £750 .
If we choose to have the rear aircon disconnected then its a £300 job, both prices inclusive of recharge etc and vat.

Two issues, 1 we have three dogs so its better to have the rear aircon working for them...yeah i know softy Brits and their spoiled dogs, but in our defence they're part of the family to us, my excuse and sticking to it...2 if we decide to sell the Cruiser in due course any of you lot interested would want the rear aircon in full working order so stands to reason most buyers likely to want the vehicle would also.

I've pre warned them that the chassis is heavily greased and the truck gets regularly blasted underneath with ACF50 ,they don't seem phased that its going to be a filthy job.
 
If its well protected underneath, how come the pipes would be corroded. It could well be the condensor or compressor front seal.
 
I spotted the leak myself, though nothing to say further parts might be needed yet.

Vehicle was around 11 years old before i bought it, had no underbody treatment before so the alloy corrosion of the pipes was already no doubt underway.
These rear aircon pipes are a regular failing.
 
Juddian I have exactly the same problem.
I replaced my condenser and gassed up and ice cold for around 3 weeks.
Would love to get it fixed but as juddian stated the cost overall is it worth it.
 
You really don't want to know the cost involved, ended up with fully repiping front to back, but there were 4 small leaks at the front end too requiring welding/jointing and at least one pipe replacing.

However we now have full working dual aircon with a 2 year warranty, lets hope the warranty isn't needed.
If it wasn't for the car being the dog carrier, i'd have had the rear aircon disabled and the front end repaired only.

I'm about as popular as a dose of the clap with the bloke who did the job, when i booked it in i did explain the chassis is greased and the whole underside gets sprayed with ACF50 twice a year, he deliberatly forgot to mention to the mechanic who does the duel aircon jobs and apparently loud cursing possibly calling into question my parentage could be heard all day :eusa-whistle:
 
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Had mine done two weeks ago to go to the overland meet and with the weather as it was and two dogs with me garage squeezed me in well it rained on the way there with loads of cloud coverage great drive with the windows open with lots of Welsh fresh coming in the windows did not need it waste of bloody money says me bloody glad I had it done now as its getting hot Hot HOT
 
Tony, your local a/c place can inject a dye and pressurise the system ( bright green in my Mrs civic) this is then highly visible where/if a leak is present.
 
Few times aircon has been mentioned by a garage over the years i was always left disappointed and feeling i'd been robbed .

But when a bump had me fit a new condenser and i called out a local man in van mobile service to check my work and regas he spent a good hour or more finding and fixing the very minor leak . It was a few years ago now but the price was such that it didn't bother me at all that i had no tenners and he had no change so i rounded it of with an extra 20 .

Aircon is all he does , his reputation is his business . Garages just milk it as a sideline i reckon .
 
@tony rodaway
See you are Liverpool area, I’m based in Leyland and have used this guy before and know of others that have used him and he is excellent


He’s a one man band and can be really busy (expect with a “heatwave” due he will be very busy) but all he does is vehicle air con. Does cars and a lot on heavy plant machines too. Very approachable and not too far away from you, might be worth giving him a call. First thing he said when I first visited him was “compressors in them are rock solid, do you have the rear air con too - always an issue on those vehicles” (I’m not posh enough to have rear air con!)

Had him regas mine as I’d had it done a couple of times by (won’t name the company) and it lasted about 3 weeks and then was shit again. He looked at it on a Saturday for me (I just turned up unannounced), Emptied the system, vacuum tested, immediately spotted a busted seal, replaced (£20 on top of the rehashing) and it was good for 2 years. Just done a Europe trip and it’s now blowing mildly warm air again so suspect another leak somewhere so will be going back to him but not got the time so for now I’m on the poor mans air con (wind the windows down).
 
@tony rodaway
See you are Liverpool area, I’m based in Leyland and have used this guy before and know of others that have used him and he is excellent


He’s a one man band and can be really busy (expect with a “heatwave” due he will be very busy) but all he does is vehicle air con. Does cars and a lot on heavy plant machines too. Very approachable and not too far away from you, might be worth giving him a call. First thing he said when I first visited him was “compressors in them are rock solid, do you have the rear air con too - always an issue on those vehicles” (I’m not posh enough to have rear air con!)

Had him regas mine as I’d had it done a couple of times by (won’t name the company) and it lasted about 3 weeks and then was shit again. He looked at it on a Saturday for me (I just turned up unannounced), Emptied the system, vacuum tested, immediately spotted a busted seal, replaced (£20 on top of the rehashing) and it was good for 2 years. Just done a Europe trip and it’s now blowing mildly warm air again so suspect another leak somewhere so will be going back to him but not got the time so for now I’m on the poor mans air con (wind the windows down).
I wish he was in the West Midlands!

My 120 is currently in the garage for the 4th working day trying to work out where the leak is on my system.
 
Can't be very good garage or just not putting your car as priority.
I got told it takes half HR with the correct kit to diagnose the leak.
Good luck getting it fixed and keep us posted as need mine doing soon.
Going in the winter as cheaper:tongueclosed::text-coolphotos:
 
Can't be very good garage or just not putting your car as priority.
I got told it takes half HR with the correct kit to diagnose the leak.
Good luck getting it fixed and keep us posted as need mine doing soon.
Going in the winter as cheaper:tongueclosed::text-coolphotos:
It’s a slow leak which is the main problem.

I saw them Wednesday and they were in the middle of doing it again. They have a Snap On sniffer tool thing and they’re putting it everywhere apparently and it’s not registering a leak. Anywhere. But it is leaking.

So I told them to change the seals that haven’t been changed, and change the valve that’s used for filling. See what happens from there.

They did suggest using a stop leak additive, but I’m not keen on that.
 
Have they not introduced the dye into the system to show any visuals, normally a really bright green that pinpoints the tiniest of leaks ?
They have. They identified that two seals going in to the condenser needed changing. That's been done, and over the 2 weeks the gas gradually escaped somewhere else. They've not identified any sort of UV leak since that.

What's wrong with a stop leak additive?
I'm wary of things like that, especially when the leak itself hasn't been identified.
 
I filled my own Aircon and used stop leak.
One guess what the outcome was,? yep still leaks.
My Aircon lasts for about 3 to 4 weeks then is empty again.
I wasn't sure at first if my compressor pump was faulty so replaced that and filled up.
This was not long after I got the car but only lasted about 3 to 4 weeks but ice cold.
About a year later when we got a heatwave again I filled up again thinking my gas had run out.
3 to 4 weeks later no Aircon this is when I realised I had a leak bit to this day not got round to getting it fixed.
 
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Tony if you/they put the green dye in the system when refilled, after a couple of days get underneath and have a look up where the pipes run above the gearbox to the rear unit, i could easily see where the drips had run down without any need for UV light.
Its almost always the rear run of pipes.
If you can manage to do without the rear unit it will be a hell of a lot cheaper to get the rear system sealed off and fix the front only.

Now the system on ours is working really well, i leave it on all the time its set to 19' and a nice gentle flow of cool air from the rear roof outlets for the dogs.
There's so much cold air coming from the front vents i think most owners would manage perfectly well without the rear system at all, unless they had (spoiled) dogs in the boot or used the extra fold down seats in hot areas regularly.
Getting the rear repiped is where the heaviest cost to fix comes in, probably 60% of the bill is the pipework and labour involved, however i'd rather get the pipes replaced with reinforced rubber flexible that he aircon specialist has used, new alloy pipes from Toyota will only end up corroding as OE did and quite how you change large lengths of solid pipes without lifing the body off or taking the gearbox out i don't know.

Its not just our cruisers suffering corrosion of the rear pipes, the shop who fixed mine have Shoguns and Land/Range Rovers in regularly.
The workshop i used have it all sewn up where i live, they are expensive but the sheer number of vehicles they have in for repair must mean they are doing something right, unless they have two pricing tiers, one for the motor trade and another for the likes of joe muggins here :cry:
 
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