2017 Skoda, aircon shot!

mcscott

Bought my current car, Skida Fabia, in 2021. In 2022, the aircon wasn't cold, so I had it recharged at a national chain. It lasted a day. Eventually they said it needed a new condenser, quoted £700. Took it to a local garage, they couldn't even get a reading on the pressure in the system. Took it to a Skoda dealer. They said it needed an evaporator, part £1100, labour £1100. A third of the value of the car!! Surely an aircon system should last longer than 5 years? Thoughts please!

Mildly_Miffed

The aircon system contains pressurised refrigerant gas, which is compressed and circulated by the engine-driven compressor. If there's insufficient pressure, the compressor isn't operated.

The condenser is an extra radiator, in front of the main one - and vulnerable to stone damage from road debris. If it gets damaged, the gas leaks out. Obviously, if it's leaking, there's zero pressure in the system. The "national chain" should have pulled a vacuum in the system first to test for leaks, before refilling it.

The evaporator is an extra heater matrix, inside the dashboard. That's rare to fail, but it certainly is possible... Probably made more likely if the system's been sat without gas because of a leak.

The other usual failure mode is that the seals in the compressor dry out and shrink if the aircon's not used regularly.

photome

Do you use the AC all year round , that’s the best way to keep it working properly

 Mine is never off and only once had to re gas any of our cars , and that was after 7 years of ownership

had many cars that have done 140000 miles from new and never had AC problems

subjecttocontract

My understanding is that ac needs to be used regularly to help maintain its longevity. I have a 12 year old Mercedes owned from new that has never failed and has only been checked/re-gased once. But we do try to use it regularly.

daveyjp

If a relatively new car doesn't have cold aircon it needs investigating, not just refilling.  On my last car it was as a result of a poor weld on the condenser.

Some owners have no idea how to use aircon and believe the nonsense that it saps power and massively increases fuel consumption so they won't use it.  This will wreck the system.  Switch it on and leave it on.

Also consider the year 2020, Covid lockdown, cars not driven, aircon not exercised, all bad for it.

So whilst it is rare for expensive failures there are reasons it can happen.

Bigwheels1111

I would find a proper tester, I think they use a dye and liquid nitrogen.

This was 10 years ago.

Mine had a tiny stone chip in the rad. £250 repair, new rad + fitting & refill testing £40. £290 in total.

It had been checked at the main dealer who wanted thousands and pressure tested when filled.

Neither place knew what they were doing.

Goudy

Yes, find an air con specialist.
There are usually a few local, some might even be mobile.

As already mentioned, the AC won't work ie it will not active the clutch on the AC compressor if the pressure of gas inside is too low.

Before attempting anything they will (try) and pull a vacuum down in the system first to boil off any trapped moisture.
If the vacuum fails to hold it's leaking somewhere.

To find a leak they will often use fluorescent dye in the system, pressurise it with a different gas and use a light to help find the leak.

Getting to this stage shouldn't be too expensive.

A repair cost will depend on what's leaking.
Often it's the condenser out front as they are in the firing line.
Sometimes seals dry out. The system has a special lubricant in with the gas and if the AC isn't ran very often, it doesn't get circulated and the seals dry out.
Evaporator inside the car aren't that well known to leak but that's not to say they can't or the seals to it aren't leaking.

Stateofart

Mine lasted around 3 years from new.  It was a Ford and a known fault.  It was the evap core and there was a fault in the design.  Basically it leaked over about eight weeks.  Manufacturer warranty covered it and it was a hideously expensive thing to do (the labour not the part).

baser999

Try a Skoda Owners forum, subject might have been covered there

Johnmcl7

Briskoda is a useful resource for Skoda cars:

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/

I'd echo the advice to find an air con specialist to have a proper look at the system, my air-con stopped working and I had it refilled where it passed the pressure tests but after a month or so it stopped again.  It was checked further and found as mentioned above, the condenser had been hit by a stone so it was replaced at a cost of around £200.

molerat

Stateofart said:

Mine lasted around 3 years from new.  It was a Ford and a known fault.  It was the evap core and there was a fault in the design.  Basically it leaked over about eight weeks.  Manufacturer warranty covered it and it was a hideously expensive thing to do (the labour not the part).

I dread to think.  My Ford needed the heater blower replacing and they had the car for 3 days.  I know they had a problem with the cheap condensers that corroded, had that replaced under warranty too.