Halfords Air Conditioning Charge Query

AVENUE

Hi There


Just had my old ford focus into Halfords as my Air Con had not been working for some time but I'd been putting up with it as money is tight & weather hadn't been causing any issues for me to really need it.


I booked online a Dual Air Con Service & Antibacterial Clean which was £10 off at £59 for both.


Just before I got there to pick the car up the Mechanic from Halfords rang to say that they had recharged the gas but that the Air Con wasn't working still as the Air Con Compressor isn't working and that it would need a new one at £345 fitted. I said with it being an old car its not work spending that on.


I don't know anything about Air Con Compressors so was wondering if that's a fair replacement cost for a 2002 Ford Focus. Also I've had to pay the full cost of the Air Con Service & Anti Bacterial clean of £59 as he said they had to spend time & fill with gas before knowing the Compressor wasn't working, so could you let me know if this is correct or would they have been able to tell if the compressor wasn't working before carrying out the work?


Many Thanks.

AVENUE

Forgot to mention Halfords said they would do a free recharge if I had the Compressor replaced either by them or someone else.

arcon5

A car of that age i'd be looking to a breakers yard.. although having a mechanic fit it would cost 2-3 hrs labour including recovery and refill of refrigerant

nickcc

The compressor won't come in if the gas pressure is low so Halfords wouldn't have known the compressor had failed until they had recharged the system.

If the system has been left without use for some time then the seals on the pump will dry out which results in the refrigerant leaking out.
Ideally you should run the air con at least monthly, even during the winter, as this will prevent the seals drying out.

AVENUE

Thanks Folks...gonna be windows down for me this summer I think lol!

pappa_golf

mine went duff , I connected a code reader to it and turned it off

AdrianC

No, they can't tell if it'll work if it's empty of gas. There's a sensor in the system which cuts it out if there's insufficient pressure.

If the system's been dry for a while, I'm not surprised a compressor's needed - aircon needs to be used regularly to prevent the seals from drying and shrinking, which allows the gas to leak. Once shrunk, they really need to be replaced to become gastight again.

EdGasket

Too late now but Kwik-fit don't charge if their air-con top up doesn't work.

"If we cannot improve the coolest vent temperature from your car by more than 10% when measured in degrees Celsius - then you pay nothing at all.*"

https://www.kwik-fit.com/air-conditioning/information

It's the one thing worth going to KF for.

jobdone1

They are trying it on. It is likely to be the rubber seals on the pipes that have perished. They should have added a dye to do a leak test have they done this ?

AVENUE

jobdone1 wrote: »

They are trying it on. It is likely to be the rubber seals on the pipes that have perished. They should have added a dye to do a leak test have they done this ?

Don't know if they've done that or not actually...I did say, so its not a leak then, and the chap said no.

AdrianC

If the gas doesn't stay inside, then it's... a leak.

It's fairly pointless putting UV dye in, tbh, because everybody knows where it's going. Out the compressor seals.