14 month old car needs aircon regassing

grumpyoldwoman

Exactly my point. I don't smoke anyway so that didn't bother me but I couldn't charge my phone up either.

grumpyoldwoman

grumpyoldwoman wrote: »

It may well be fine from now on, we'll just have to wait and see. The other thing is that since my husband retired last year we only do about 20 miles a week so even with the aircon on all the time we shouldn't have used up all the gas. Time will tell I suppose, I could be worrying for nothing, but my husband has lost confidence in it now and is talking about trading it in. I think that's a bit drastic seeing as otherwise it's a lovely car.

Well, just two weeks after paying for it to be regassed, and the Mazda dealer telling us there were no leaks, it stopped working AGAIN! We took it in this morning for them to strip it down and see what's wrong. They've just rung to say they will have to order a part and book it in again to fit it. It needs a new condenser! So, we were right all along, it shouldn't have run out of gas after 14 months, and definitely not after two weeks. Not sure yet whether it will be fixed under warranty because if the condenser has been damaged it may not be covered, but if we have to pay for it at least it will be cheaper than trading it in for a new car which is what my husband was ready to do if they couldn't find a fault with it. I still want to know why they didn't check it properly when we took it in the first time and it was completely out of gas.

EdGasket

grumpyoldwoman wrote: »

I still want to know why they didn't check it properly when we took it in the first time and it was completely out of gas.

Hard to spot a leak that takes two weeks to go empty. The usual way is to inject some dye and then inspect where the dye is leaking from at a later date. Perhaps they didn't spot any leak at first but did after you returned two weeks later.

AdrianC

grumpyoldwoman wrote: »

Well, just two weeks after paying for it to be regassed, and the Mazda dealer telling us there were no leaks, it stopped working AGAIN! We took it in this morning for them to strip it down and see what's wrong. They've just rung to say they will have to order a part and book it in again to fit it. It needs a new condenser! So, we were right all along, it shouldn't have run out of gas after 14 months, and definitely not after two weeks. Not sure yet whether it will be fixed under warranty because if the condenser has been damaged it may not be covered, but if we have to pay for it at least it will be cheaper than trading it in for a new car which is what my husband was ready to do if they couldn't find a fault with it. I still want to know why they didn't check it properly when we took it in the first time and it was completely out of gas.

Not a great surprise. Condensers are often vulnerable to stone damage.

grumpyoldwoman

Just an update to say that the condenser wasn't damaged, it was faulty. A lot of Mazda cars were affected so we had to wait quite a while for the new ones to be manufactured. It was replaced under warranty so didn't cost us anything and the air con has been working fine since. So, although it took months to sort out, it all worked out in the end.

Thanks to everyone who commented.

roddydogs

I've got a Mazda 2 less than a year old with the same problem,, it's a known fault. Waiting on parts.

kmb500

Strider590 wrote: »

You don't turn it down or up, the whole point of A/C is that it self regulates the temperature to a set value. Turning it up or down does NOT make it heat or cool any faster.

No that's called climate control, most cars AC do not have that and are just fan speeds / heat levels. Most AC does not regulate it to maintain a temperature.

Robisere

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

My money's on the aircon not having been consistently used when it was a hire car, so the seals have dried out and it's gradually lost gas over time.

This ^^^^ is correct. I have had (thinking back) maybe 7 or 8 cars with A/C. I always demisted with the A/C, even in Summer, when early morning condensation can be as bad, or worse, than Winter. Never hadany need to regas any of those cars.

BeenThroughItAll

Robisere wrote: »

This ^^^^ is correct. I have had (thinking back) maybe 7 or 8 cars with A/C. I always demisted with the A/C, even in Summer, when early morning condensation can be as bad, or worse, than Winter. Never hadany need to regas any of those cars.

OP has already posted that the fault was the condenser, and that it was a manufacturing problem so replaced under warranty.

Nodding_Donkey

grumpyoldwoman wrote: »

Just an update to say that the condenser wasn't damaged, it was faulty. A lot of Mazda cars were affected so we had to wait quite a while for the new ones to be manufactured. It was replaced under warranty so didn't cost us anything and the air con has been working fine since. So, although it took months to sort out, it all worked out in the end.

Thanks to everyone who commented.

So did they refund the money you paid for the first refill?