Air con system leak

[graemebillo]

Hi all.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice.

Had car at dealers a month or two ago for it's major service. 67 cupra 300.

I had pointed out a little hissing when the air con was active in the car.

They came back and said air con needs regassing .
Which I did suspect as it's been a little while, but at £230 I passed and opted to get it done somewhere else.

Took it in the other day to a cheaper place when cashflow allowed but they said there is a big leak in the system and they couldnt even get pressure.


I am curious whether this should have been spotted by the dealer as part of its service.?

I have the seat all in one plan, so am hoping it can go in and get fixed under warranty, but it's the catch 22 of if I take it in and they blame it on wear and tear then I'll have to fork out the high costs.

Is there anything in the air con system that could be classed as wear and tear?

Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts would be great.


Sent from my XQ-AS52 using Tapatalk

 

[RUM4MO]

Annoyingly, I'd consider that most "big leaks" stem from a stone or other debris coming in through the front end of the car and puncturing the AC system condenser - and that would probably end up being considered as being accident damage and nothing to do with "wear and tear".

I'd think that a proper mobile AC operator could come to you and give a diagnosis on the spot and might need it back at their premises to strip down and replace that condenser, if you were lucky it could only be a failed pressure sensor - try checking to see if the area around it has been wetted with escaping gas+oil, you might be able to locate this sensor as it will be on the smaller diameter of the 2 AC pipes and will have a plug/socket + cable associated with it.

 

[graemebillo]

Hey all.

Sorry to pick up my old thread.

Just an update on this.

As others had first thought.
Took the car to an ac guy.

He said that condenser radiator had some small leaks.
Thinks they are due to corrosion on the rad due to ago. 7 yeara old. and that he's seeing it more and more, on cars only 3 years old.

Asked him whether he thought it could be considered manufacturer faults.

He said technically yes but they will just say that it's caused by stones and there's no way to disprove either way.

So my options are now...

Stick it into dealer with their non refundable £150 diag fee with the hope they log it as manufacturer warrenty and potentially get it done with that.

Or just find a local garage to fit a new rad and pay the costs.

Crazy times.


As a side note.

Can anyone recommend anywhere reputable to buy a new one.

2017 Leon cupra 300.

Thanks in advance

 

[RUM4MO]

In my attic, is a Nissens one for my wife's 2015 VW Polo, I had heard that Nissens is a reliable brand for car/truck heat exchangers, got that one via ECP when they had a special or "better" deal on - a few years ago, I've still got that job to attack!

Edit:- oh well, no luck for you getting a Nissens from ECP for your car, maybe try elsewhere.

 

[ARH]

Well my first thought is it's 7 years old any chance of getting a dealer to agree its a manufacturing fault is not going to be easy. And even if they do your diagnosis fee will probably be nearly as much as getting your AC man to change it.

I had my Volvo v40 re gassed about 6 weeks ago, it worked fine for 2 week, then the gas was gone. The local tyre shop charged me £54 to gas it the first time and diagnosed the condenser leaking for free, corrosion as its 8 years old. They did not want to change the condenser so I did it myself, cost £80 and 4 hours work. Took it back for a re gas and the tyre shop gassed it for free. So my cost to fix the Volvo was not much more than your dealer diagnosis fee.

 

[DEAN0]

You can get the Nissens one here ( including the dryer ) - https://www.autodoc.co.uk/nissens/7007493