likely of aircon leak?

[deian]

hi all, I took my car (w203) for an aircon clean and refill the other day and the ppl (ATS) told me it could be leaking as the machine displayed a fault, they said the machine didn't specify whether the fault was in the machine or in the car in the form as a leak, either way they didn't know, they are calling an engineer to check their machine over on Tuesday and they will wait for some gas to check for leaks...

what's the likelihood of my car having a leak somewhere? if so, where is the likely place and what would it cost?

thanks, Deian

 

[Sp!ke]

You need a decent aircon specialist to stick some dye in and locate the leak.

Most commonly it will be a hose union or the condensor that has been damaged.

Was the aircon working ok before you took it for a service?

 

[nigel cross]

Properly in the condenser( radiator), I had mine changed at Ollies about £220 if I remember but don't hold me at that price.

 

[deian]

I bought it with a non cold aircon, so I have no idea, ATS will do the dye test if I've understood correctly, hope not the condenser, will report back when I know more, thanks for the suggestions

 

[W210Virgin]

If it was out of gas then it's a reasonable assumption that there is a leak. Unless it was actually released and not replaced as part of a repair/ maintenance. An air con system will hold pressure for years and years under normal conditions.

 

[Sp!ke]

I don't think you should take it to ATS for this sort of thing. You want an aircon specialist to diagnose what the problem is. ATS will I suspect have an expensive automated machine for re-gassing but I suspect they don't have an awful lot of specialist knowledge in this particular area.

 

[markmifsud]

The gas refill systems normally test for leaks prior to refilling. Once it has removed all of the existing gas it performs a vacuum test and if it fails, it then reports this and will then refuse to charge the system with gas to prevent venting of gas to the atmosphere.

 

[deian]

took it back today and all is done, I guess the guys who did it on Friday didn't know what they were doing? another guy did it today and the other guy watched him, I heard some alarms and saw a flashing red light, my heart sank, but cycle completed, it smells nice (antibac treatment) and is properly cold!

(as a side note, i asked for tracking and balancing, and they correctly refused because the arms are bad, 400 to fix! needless to say I'll do them myself!)