A/C Service?

- M
- Mike Morgan
  
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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Sep 10, 2003 9:15 PM

Today I took my '95 850 in to a non-dealer Volvo specialist garage for its

50k service. (Don't drive much.) I told him the A/C seemed to be cooling OK, but was cycling on and off about every 10 seconds.

Later he called and said the system was very low on refrigerant. No leak was apparent. He said the system should be evacuated and refilled with refrigerant, including a dye to help trace any leak. He said the price for this would be $175.

This seemed to me outrageous. My Hayes manual shows how to recharge the system with canisters from the auto parts store. When I objected, the guy said gauges couldn't accurately reflect the pressure, and overcharging could ruin the evaporator coil, and he didn't want that liability. I declined the service.

Was this an attempt at rip-off? Should I get some canisters from Pep Boys?

Many thanks,

Mike

-- To reply by e-mail, remove twangtown and substitute earthlink.

- M
- mdrawson
  
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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Sep 10, 2003 9:22 PM

I've just been through this, and while I believe it's best for a pro to handle the recharge, your guy is overcharging you. The tab should actually come to something more like $130. Including the dye is essential to determine if in fact there's a leak. If you have to recharge frequently, it means there's a leak or the evaporator (very expensive from a labor standpoint to replace) is bad.

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- James Sweet
  
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posted
20 years ago

Thu, Sep 11, 2003 6:41 AM

Unless you know what you're doing let a shop do it, I do my own air conditioning work but I have access to a vacuum pump and my car just happens to use almost exactly 3 cans of refrigerant. $175 sounds pretty reasonable, though it wouldn't hurt to shop around. If you screw up the system it could cost you a whole lot more to have it fixed right.

- G
- George Bray
  
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posted
20 years ago

Thu, Sep 11, 2003 3:50 PM

some canisters from Pep Boys?

Yes, the garage will be making a nice profit out of you. On the other hand, there's quite a lot to learn before I would feel confident at tackling air conditioning work myself. So that's exactly what I'm doing. If garage mechanics can learn how to service air conditioning systems, then so can I! They'd also say they've invested $000s in specialist equipment which you would need. Nonsense! There are workarounds which might cost only a few hundred dollars - not much more than the garage would charge for a single visit. By comparison, if one buys a simple vacuum pump, gauge set and other essential gear, it should last decades.

Another point is that the $175 might be only the starting point. They'll probably rip you off for further charges once they get started, not least because you aren't in much of a position to argue.

Start by visiting aircondition.com and ackits.com where there are forums packed with advice, including how to use canisters from places like Pep Boys. I suggest you need more knowledge than will be printed on the instructions with such canisters.

Regards George