C5 X7. Air-Con

[qprdude]

On a trip to the coast yesterday all was well . On the way back from Worthing, the weather got very humid and the air-con wasn't cold at all.
Booked the car in for an air-con service at Woking Halfords Autocentre (Yes yes, I know).Took the car in today and had an air-con service with anti-bacterial clean. £49.00 although the website says £59. Bleedin freezing on the short trip home, and it's a very hot day again here.
I'm going on the principle that all Autocentres can't be all bad, all of the time. I've gone to main agents and highly recommended Indies who turned out to be crap.
Time will tell of course, but the guy said no leaks, no repairs required and didn't recommend anything needed fixing (which, given the reputation, I had expected)
Off to Aberdeen for a few days at the end of next week so the 1200 or so miles should be a long enough test.

[RichardW]

If it was working and then it wasn't, then it's got a hole in it - what ever the vac test says. My guess is a) it will last a couple of weeks and b) it needs a new pipe on the compressor.

[qprdude]

It's 3 years since it was re-gassed so at a possible 15-20% loss per year there doesn't need to be a hole in it. We shall see.

[DickieG]

Bet he didn't complete the procedure correctly to give your car the full charge of gas, having allowed the machine to refill the system the high side tap should be turned off then run the engine with A/C compressor engaged with the low side tap open to allow the compressor to draw in the remaining 100gms of gas from the hose. Been to several KwikFits with company cars and yet to observe any of the operators following the procedure mentioned.

As for checking for leaks when drawing a vacuum well unless the leak/hole is visible (i.e very large in the scheme of things) then holding vacuum for 20mins or thereabouts is all but a waste of time, I've had several vacuum hold for that long yet when the system is charged I can actually hear the leak hissing just like a punctured tyre.

[centurus2400]

My car is an 08 reg, and although the air con was working, it wasn't as good as it should be. I also took advantage of the ATS offer for re-gassing.
No problems reported and it is now blowing much colder. First regas since the car was made so it seems to be doing quite well.
With the panoramic roof you definitely need air con!

[qprdude]

Well just to prove you all wrong, the re-gas did not fail after two weeks, it failed after one bleedin day.
I phoned them up and gave a suitable talking to (words including "incompetent" "useless" " bandits", and a few choice others were used. I took the car back and told them to test the system properly this time. I was told that they had tested the system and there were no leaks. I dropped the car off and they phoned me as I was tucking into my full English in Café Rouge (??? Yes, I know), to report that the condenser was leaking as they had added dye when they did the first re-gas and it was showing clearly.
I went back and they offered to replace the condenser for "around £400 plus labour"
I f you can't find a leaking condenser that dumps all the gas by the time I get home, you don't really think I'm going to let you loose on my car do you, I said.
Anyhoo, it transpired that it was covered under my warranty and as I was off to Aberdeenfor a visit and had booked an MOT up there, I asked them to check the A/C condenser and change it out at the same time.
A bit of a disaster as the car was booked in at 9.30 am but they didn't do the MOT until 5 pm!!! They then said they hadn't been asked to look at the A/C. "Funny I said, you sent me a confirmation Email about it"
OOops. They then said they would do it first thing next day. I told them I was leaving in two days so don't mess me about.
They didn't phone me as promised so I phoned them at 4pm to ask what was going on. They said the mechanic(I laughed), was working on it now.
That would be almost 9 hours after he was supposed to be started then. They said that if the condenser was faulty , it would be changed under warranty but would take 2 days to be delivered. I asked if it was coming from bloody Australia and reminded them of my deadline for leaving.
Finally I told them to finish the check, write a report so I could get it done at a competent garage.
Went to collect the car next day, refused to pay 3 days insurance for the loan car, refused to pay for the A/C investigation/gas/dye etc.
Eventually got the MOT for free (£9 for a wiper blade) and 0ne day loan car insurance at £10.
Total £23 inc VAT. Car washed and valeted and many apologies. I'm still on the way South (Doncaster for a couple of days)( (don't ask), with no A/C on the hottest week of the year so far.
Bloody furious but at least it will be done FOC, hopefully at a local Citroen main agent or a warranty approved garage.
Letters have been written.
One more to be done when I get home, demanding a refund from Autocentre for gas which should never have been used.
Never again. I knew of the reputation but decided to see if it was justified. It was.
TBC

[daviemck2006]

I take it that will be the end of you and helfrauds then Rick?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Stickyfinger]

Rick ?
You still have a valid warrant on a 2008 car ??.....hows that then ?

[qprdude]

You take it absolutely right Davie. (unless I want a bit for my push bike!)

Great week in Aberdeen though. Can't remember weather like that when I lived there. Bag of chips at the beach, without my coat on? Lovely.
Fish and chips from the Ashvale, not the horrible oily yellowish rubbish I get in Surrey. White flesh, crispy batter and no aftertaste of old crappy oil. Luvvly Jubbly.
Son is up in Portsoy at the weekend for the boat show and is running in the Portsoy 10k.

[qprdude]

Rick ?
You still have a valid warrant on a 2008 car ??.....hows that then ?

I bought the car from Ness motors, Renault showroom in Perth , in July 2012 and Ness offered their own 3 year comprehensive company warranty on all their cars.
That was part of the reason I dealt with them.
It was conditional on getting all servicing done by them and also the MOT,s, unless I got written permission to go elsewhere.
Arnold Clark bought them out in January this year, and as a condition of the buy-out, all Ness motors customers with a warranty had to be offered a years extension if the Ness warranty had less than a year to run. The Autocare warranty is much the same as the Ness one, including AA membership for roadside assistance, home assistance and recovery. So far , Autocare have paid for a new CV boot , a lower ball joint, a free MOT and are about to pay for a new Air-con condenser.
(they also paid for investigation into a suspected suspension leak, the use of a loan car and the petrol for same!!! (£445.20p)
It's called a win-win situation!

[daviemck2006]

You canna beat the fish and chips up here. I sometimes forget how lucky we are up here. I didn't used to eat fish suppers here as I thought they weren't fresh enough. Mind you, that was when I worked on the trawlers, and was spoiled, catching them at breakfast time and eating them for dinner, that was fresh! I won't be at the festival in Portsoy, even though it is my home town, it gets far too crowded for me, there is only a finite amount of space, and it's getting more crowded every year.

[Stickyfinger]

...for sure.

Just had a lot done on mine...pump. gear stick and cables FOC as well....two weeks before mine expired (phew).....but

three days out of warranty the fan has packed up, it has kept trying and got me in the end, maybe throwing a jealous hissy fit because I have the Activa now

[qprdude]

Well that's it done and dusted. Took the car down to Farnborough West Heath garage this morning. Picked up a DS3 loan car and tooled off to Farnam for a look round. Back to the garage at 3 pm to find the new condenser fitted and everything working fine. The garage contacted Arnold Clark warranty department and were given a code(or something ),for an on-line payment.
The guy said everything was done online and the money transferred. They even paid for the loan car insurance(£10). The West Heath garage now have a direct on-line one stop payment deal with Arnold Clark (I think that's what he said, so any warranty stuff I might need doing , can all be done between garage and warranty department. Half hour from the garage to my house, and my face was nearly frozen stiff. Funny how you forget how cold proper A/C is after a while with failing or failed system. Haven't got my copy of the bill yet, but it sure won't be cheap. Bumper off job to change the condenser as it sits in front of the radiator and access from below ain't possible. I'm a happy bunny tonight, and won't hear a word against Arnold Clark (except the Aberdeen service department.)

[Stickyfinger]

Bumper is a 10 min job (if you know) and you have a long reach release tool.

[DickieG]

On a X7 C5 you don't need to remove the bumper to change the condenser as it can be dropped in from above, been there done it