[Closed] 55 plate Octavia - aircon has died

Use the window until the autumn?

There cannot be more than a month of warm days left... 😕

tried a regas?

"tried a regas?"

worst advice ever.

Get it pressure tested with UV dye. determine where the issue is and take it from there.

blindly sticking more gas in a failed system is just stupid.

my moneys on the dryer corroding through(more so if you have never had the refridgerant changed - pump dying or just a good old fashioned failed seal.

See if the fans (on the rad) are working with the aircon on if not then you've a problem and a re-gas won't help.

Sometimes it can just the bolt holding the pulley that has come loose so worth a checking that but it is also a known issue for the compressor to fail which unfortunately is quite a bit job needing the front end, bumper, crash bar etc off the car for it to be replaced.

I had the same problem on a 56 leon FR. There is a know fault with VAG air con pumps. quoted around £1500 to fix new pump etc. And it could easily go again. That was the end of that car. All VAG cars in my opinion for what I have had are over priced tat. wouldn't ever have another. but each to their own.

That was the end of that car

Eh?

The tax disc sticker on my car fell off, that was the end of that car

trail_rat - Member

"tried a regas?"

worst advice ever.

Get it pressure tested with UV dye. determine where the issue is and take it from there.

blindly sticking more gas in a failed system is just stupid.

+1. Re-gas is one of many things it could be, but seems to be the go-to solution.

At that age, I think it is likely to be the air-con compressor; fairly common for them to fail on VAG cars of around that age.

Dealers wanted £800 or so just for the part when mine went - the local independent I have used for years, also do air-con stuff & got me a new compressor, fitted & ready to go for £500.

A few questions would need to be asked before advice.
Has it been getting less cold over a long period? If yes and on that age of car a re-gas may/could help.
Has it been getting less cold over a short period? If yes, if may still be the gas but could also be a small leak. Will be checked by a reputable garage before re-gas.
If it’s suddenly stopped producing cold air, unlikely to be just gas but a number of thing that would all need checking - most mentioned above but should include a failure (leak) in the pipe system/evaporator/condenser, a failure of the pump/compressor (clutch/belt) or a failure in the control system (electrical). All would probably need an expert of some sort.

It was the last scenario that affected mine earlier in the year - corroded wiring.

As another suggestion. My Touran had a stone go through its aircon radiator (if that's what it is). Happened 8 years ago and never felt the need to have it fixed. Very very rarely miss it. My point being that it wasn't really down to a part failure.

Kwik Fit used to do a £50 regas that they only charged for if successful. If you are gas-less, you will be gassed-up but if it's another problem, you won't be out of pocket

The pump went in my Octavia of the same age. Right before a week away on the hottest week of the year.

Still, can't be any worse than being on the motorbike in 37ºC like I have been this week. (Considers inventing actively cooled motorbike gear...)

Rachel

ollie T - Member

I had the same problem on a 56 leon FR. There is a know fault with VAG air con pumps. quoted around £1500 to fix new pump etc. And it could easily go again. That was the end of that car. All VAG cars in my opinion for what I have had are over priced tat. wouldn't ever have another. but each to their own.

My old 900 failed on the aircon many years before the rest followed suit.
TBH it wasn't worth investigating and getting fixed - that was my approach anyway.,

Yes there were days when it would have been handy - great even - but not hundreds of pounds worth of handy & great.

Yes there were days when it would have been handy - great even - but not hundreds of pounds worth of handy & great

Kwik Fit used to do a £50 regas that they only charged for if successful. If you are gas-less, you will be gassed-up but if it's another problem, you won't be out of pocket

no but if they fill it without checking for a leak the gas will escape into the atmosphere which is bad. If they do a leak test first then go ahead, if not go somewhere that does a proper leak test and will do other checks.

Aircon parts do seem to be overly expensive. It's basically the same as a fridge so shop around and it should be more reasonable.

Common faults are corroded radiators, corroded pipework (often aluminium pipes are run along the bottom of the front panel attached with rubber/steel P clips which leads to corrosion) and the pumps themselves. I would look at corrosion or mechanical damage to the exposed parts first though and they can lead to failure of other parts (another reason to get a proper test done).

55 plate Leon had similar compressor issues - however, rather than getting rid we got the £1500 Seat quote down to about £575 at the local Volkswagen dealer (to my shock, and that included water pump whilst at it). Then off to local independent who beat that by another £50.

He did say afterwards that he'd never do it for that price again as he had to take the engine off its mountings to get it done. He considered it a learning exercise! Look at online forums - very common its seems.

The automatic machines that most places use vacuum the system and will tell you if there is a leak (as it won't hold the vacuum).

yes the vac machines are good....if the place you use has one. It wont let you fill if it wont hold a vac.

how ever from reading on here its clear that most folk thing a regas is that piece of shit you get from halfords for 40 quid squirted into the system.

You scrapped a car because the air con wasnt working? REALLY

I was thinking this as well. I've never had a car where the air-con hasn't eventually broken. I believe it's even broken on my ex-wife's extremely reliable Honda Jazz.
Amazingly, all the cars I've had where the air-con broke still allowed me to get to my destination and also had the backup of windows which opened. These amazing devices allow one to get many more years out of the car.

ollie T is now in hiding with a dentist from the mid-West.

I had my 15 year old Golf re-gassed recently. It had been getting warmer? less cold? for some time. There was some gas still there, but the fault was a pressure sensor.

The test and re-gas was a one off fee, if it required further work, which it did, I didn't have to pay for the second re-gas.

Now blows icy cold. It's a big difference to winding the window down, especially on the motorway.

Cheers guys - my initial thought was that it was likely to be a pump/pipe or compressor problem. Think it was re-gassed last year.

Yes there were days when it would have been handy - great even - but not hundreds of pounds worth of handy & great.

That is where we are coming from, especially as we are planning on replacing it in a couple of months anyway.

Plus there is always the chance that if we don't get it fixed, the next two months will be the hottest August and September on record..... 8)

[quote=trail_rat ]yes the vac machines are good....if the place you use has one. It wont let you fill if it wont hold a vac.
how ever from reading on here its clear that most folk thing a regas is that piece of shit you get from halfords for 40 quid squirted into the system.

Mrs B car had poor A/C took it to halfords they hooked it upto the machine 1 hr later I was on my way. System re-gassed and nice n cool. Total cost £49

just to put the record straight I meant I sold the car. We buy any car gave me more than i would of got selling private or trade in and Mrs T and young ones now have a new Nissan Qashqai to go to the shops in.

You're just making it worse for yourself by admitting to buying a Qashqai now....

unnecessary flaming of Ollie, I feel! also unnecessary "I just open my windows why should you get it fixed" comments...about as useful as saying "when my radio broke I just sang to myself why should you fix yours?"

ANYWAY I'm an 06 Octavia owner here that has been through this. When I bought the car the only fault was a nonfuctioning AC. Took it to Skoda: they suggested regas but did vacuum test and saw that the condensor/radiator for the AC system was holed and so gas had all leaked out (PO lived in Scotland and didn't see the point of fixing although kept everything else perfectly). Briskoda says this is not uncommon from stones etc being flicked up.

Skoda mechanic was a good guy and charged me £50 for diagnosis and told me part number. replace and fit would have been £500 thru Skoda. I got used part from Hills Motors (very efficient modern breakers in Skelmersdale) and had it fitted (and system regassed) by independent for £140. fitting is slightly annoying because you need to remove bumpers etc. independent garage was a great guy too.

point is, if there is absolutely no cold air coming out (as opposed to weak) then it may be just the condensor, which is a relatively cheap and easy problem to fix...

If you live near a rural area have a look for somewhere that does the aircon servicing for farm machinery, they can be substantially cheaper the usual car places and do a pretty good job.

Those big glass cabs in combines need some hefty aircon systems.

resurrecting this one.

My '06 90k Hyundai Tuscson air con compressor bearing is knackered, so I'm told from the dealer, over £1400 to replace.

bit stuck really, cars probably worth about £2.5k if that, been problematic since we had it, but warranty sorted most stuff out. I reckon over the last 4 years we've spent around £4-5k on it, hindsight would be a good thing, but because of that we're kinda reluctant to let it go, 'if this is the last major thing' as we keep saying.

so, can't afford the £1400, hopefully we'll be able to get it cheaper somewhere else?

should I just be looking at air con specialists, or will any who can offer the recharge service be able to help with a replacement? my usual garage doesn't do air con so can't help.

any recommendations in North Glasgow?

ta

lovewookie - had the aircon go in our 06 Focus and it was going to cost lots to repair. PX'd it for a newer car which we'd been considering anyway - it was certainly getting to the point of starting to increasingly become unreliable. FWIW, they don't check the aircon when PXing...

I've got a 2008 Passat. The aircon had never worked 😆

[i]air con compressor bearing is knackered[/i]

Edd China would just knock the bearing out and fit a new one.

Any chance of you getting all Wheeler Dealers with it?

Oh my lord. How will you get through a scottish winter without aircon?

When the AC compresseor died on my Ibiza, I was told by a dealer that a re-con unit was £800 for parts alone, so I was looking at well over £1k to repair.

The garage I get all my servicing through luckily does a/c as well. They fitted a new compressor for £500 including labour.

So, it probably pays to ask around, rather than assume that it'll be prohibitively expensive.
You can also get re-con units online for quite a reasonable price.

I can do without aircon. however from what I've gleaned, as the aircon works off the timer belt, if the bearing is stuffed it can be quite catastrophic.

not being a car mechanic though I don't know for sure and just have the dealership's say so that it's not good if it collapses.

parts from the dealer are £950+vat.

webuyanycar will give me £1500 for the car in it's current state, so they say.

guess it's down to finding a decent garage...

trail_rat - Member

"tried a regas?"

worst advice ever.

Get it pressure tested with UV dye. determine where the issue is and take it from there.

blindly sticking more gas in a failed system is just stupid.

I know this is an old post, but... Some places offer a "success or refund" guarantee which makes it either a success, or a free diagnostic.

And also, sometimes the only useful result is "regas fixed it"- if an older car needs more, you might not bother to do the job so exact diagnostics aren't more useful. I regassed mine on this basis, that was exactly the amount I was willing to spend, if it didn't work I was just going to not have air con.

It's like that bit in House MD where the hot one goes "But it could be 4 different things" and the grumpy one goes "Well treat him for thing X" and the one with the nose goes "but what if it's Y" and the grumpy one goes "If it's Y then he'll die anyway".

My 56 Octavia compressor died, cost about £650 from memory. Tried to get it regassed a couple of years later, kwikfit were unable to get it done due to leak on the condenser so they didn't charge. About £220 to get it replaced by aircon specialist

lovewookie - Member

I can do without aircon. however from what I've gleaned, as the aircon works off the timer belt, if the bearing is stuffed it can be quite catastrophic.

I would definitely get that checked out. To me, it would seems strange to run anything off the timing belt that could fail & cause irreparable engine damage.

I think mine runs of the aux belt for the alternator etc.

This any good?:

http://automotivecompressor.co.uk/epages/eshop931745.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop931745/Products/1364

My 56 plate Golf GTI has just had the compressor fail as well, it's a known issue. Apparently replacement ones should not fail as easily. Quoted around £700 - £600 at independents.

I would definitely get that checked out. To me, it would seems strange to run anything off the timing belt that could fail & cause irreparable engine damage.

didn't really make sense to me either, but allegedly these are single belt.
I'll have a closer look when I get home with a torch.

Just had a quote back from clickmechanic.com who will replace the AC compressor and regas for £246.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

Lovewookie - I'm the OP on this thread. Can your guys supply and fit here down in Derby?

I shan't even say how many pound coins my ac on my 57 plate octavia has cost..in the end it became a game of "well blow me, that didn't fix it,I REALLY wonder what is broken"...
The garage were impressed at my perseverance (they would be). It was a bit "double or quits" in the end!!

DrP

DrP - Member
I shan't even say how many pound coins my ac on my 57 plate octavia has cost..in the end it became a game of "well blow me, that didn't fix it,I REALLY wonder what is broken"...
The garage were impressed at my perseverance (they would be). It was a bit "double or quits" in the end!!

DrP

I think I had two attempts at mine, one Kwifit regas that didn't work, followed by my regular garage doing the UV check, which indicated a leak which would be on the costly side to fix.
I think that was five or six years ago, maybe more, and the car is still going; I can live without AC, so long as the heater works in the winter, I can just put the fan on high with the temperature set as low as possible during the summer, or else open the window.
Having owned cars with heating that could best be described as rudimentary, like a 1953 Morris Minor, I'm happy with what I've got.

Love wookie be careful. Lotta horror storys on car forums about folks getting seemingly too cheap quotes off those sites only to find price goes up once the cars in bits ,.,,,, i get that sometimes it costs more due to crap customer description pre quote. But just do your homework on the garage before giving them the car

Lovewookie - is that click mechanic price including parts or just labour?

Have you gone onto the Hills Motors (breakers) website to see how much a compressor is? Btw if you like your local garage you could have them replace the compressor (if the gas has already leaked out I don't believe there's anything very special about the operation) and then take it to somewhere else for a regas and pressure test (which is a smaller job).

Lotta horror storys on car forums about folks getting seemingly too cheap quotes off those sites only to find price goes up once the cars in bits

Exactly.

Any decent independent will have enough work and a reputation to safeguard to not bother getting involved in these schemes. I know a few who signed up for one of the 'get a quote' operations and despite going as low as possible on the price, they never got a single job.

Ask around and find a local garage and stick with them. It'll pay in the long run.

Hth
Marko

yeah I'm kinda cautious about that, it's damn cheap.

When the quote came in i replied with 'can I confirm that this is to replace the AC Compressor and regas?' to which they said yes.

I have a local garage having a look today so before booking with the other, if that's the way to go, I will be very specific about remove old, supply and fit new, regas, check it all works and that it's actually for my make and model car.

cheapest I've seen new AC compressors is about £240, but there are a few variants.

"I will be very specific about remove old, supply and fit new, regas, check it all works and that it's actually for my make and model car."

Do remember a contracts only as good as the paper its written on. once your cars in bits they have you by the balls.

yeah. it's a call out service too, they use local guys to come to your house or place of work, so I thik it's a case of triple checking they are sent to do what we've agreed.

not pushed the button on it yet....

is that to supply the parts as well or is that you supply the compressor and he does the fitting and re-gas?

I simply wouldn't bother paying for someone to the aircon on a sub £3000 car if it was something serious. Unless I lived much further south than the UK. I would have a crack at doing it myself though and getting someone to vac and re-gas if I had nothing better to do.

No cold air from my 04 Plate A4 here. Have been winding the windows down for the last 2 years and finally asked the local independant Audi specialist to look at it last month, hoping (but secretly knowing the worst) that it just need a re-gas. Turns out the compressor has failed, ...175k miles on the clock, so not too bad an innings. I think I'll just be continuing to wind the windows down.

is that to supply the parts as well or is that you supply the compressor and he does the fitting and re-gas?

that's to supply fit and regas.

If I can get away without fixing the aircon then I'd prefer that route, but have been told that it needs done or other bits will become damaged. I'm becoming less convinced by this, but will know more later on today one a guy with more experience has a butchers.

A/C failed in our Galaxy.
Latest in a long list of issues with what is a POS of a car. 🙂

Its just so damn practical though, so we keep it going.
Opening the windows is fine...until they also fail due to the wiring issue that effects all Galaxies. 😐

The high point of the summer was when the heater mixer flaps failed, & it was pumping out full heat, not pleasant with the knackered windows. 🙂

There's an awful lot to be said for buying a car with nothing thats electric, automatic, systematic, hydromatic or any other stupid rsed feature deemed essential in modern motoring.

Op, push the car off a cliff.
Punch the air, passionately snog the Wife, & watch the cars flaming demise. as the sun sets.

(Make sure you get the above in the correct order).