Gregmeister
Member
Hey Guys
When I bought my car, one of the the bargaining chips used was the fact that it needs a new/ recon aircon compressor. I could tell this, because it is whining like a *#^@!! Also, the gas was practically finished, pointing to a leak in the system.
So I first took it to Strand Fitment Center, who re-gassed it and put in dye to assess where the leak was coming from. They very quickly concluded, by way of a styrofoam cup and a UV light, that my evaporator needs replacing, as this is the most common cause for leaks in these cars anyway. They reckoned my compressor was not that bad, and that they had "heard worse"...
After getting the quote and realizing what an unpleasant job replacing the evap was going to be, I thought I would get a second opinion. So I went to a guy the previous owner suggested, from Durbanville Coachworks. He actually had a lift and we proceeded to hoist the car and look underneath. There he clearly showed me that there was actually more gas leaking from the compressor than the evap...
His advice was to leave the evap for now, as it was not leaking that much and that it's not a "motor" part of the system, so cannot cause the system to fail and rather replace the compressor before it explodes.
I tend to agree with him on this, as first-off, why replace the evap @ R7+K, only for the compressor to fail and contaminate the system, and secondly, I'd rather regas annually until it really gets bad, rather than have my whole dash stripped apart...
Now this guy recons I should rather get a new compressor from the manufacturer and fit that. (Recon apparently more expensive...) Parts+Labour comes to R4350. What you guys think about this course of action and pricing?
Alternative vendor suggestions welcome. I am also concerned about people not familiar with these cars working on mine...
sorry bout the long spiel..
When I bought my car, one of the the bargaining chips used was the fact that it needs a new/ recon aircon compressor. I could tell this, because it is whining like a *#^@!! Also, the gas was practically finished, pointing to a leak in the system.
So I first took it to Strand Fitment Center, who re-gassed it and put in dye to assess where the leak was coming from. They very quickly concluded, by way of a styrofoam cup and a UV light, that my evaporator needs replacing, as this is the most common cause for leaks in these cars anyway. They reckoned my compressor was not that bad, and that they had "heard worse"...
After getting the quote and realizing what an unpleasant job replacing the evap was going to be, I thought I would get a second opinion. So I went to a guy the previous owner suggested, from Durbanville Coachworks. He actually had a lift and we proceeded to hoist the car and look underneath. There he clearly showed me that there was actually more gas leaking from the compressor than the evap...
His advice was to leave the evap for now, as it was not leaking that much and that it's not a "motor" part of the system, so cannot cause the system to fail and rather replace the compressor before it explodes.
I tend to agree with him on this, as first-off, why replace the evap @ R7+K, only for the compressor to fail and contaminate the system, and secondly, I'd rather regas annually until it really gets bad, rather than have my whole dash stripped apart...
Now this guy recons I should rather get a new compressor from the manufacturer and fit that. (Recon apparently more expensive...) Parts+Labour comes to R4350. What you guys think about this course of action and pricing?
Alternative vendor suggestions welcome. I am also concerned about people not familiar with these cars working on mine...
sorry bout the long spiel..
