A few months back I got my AirCon recharged at a national chain, it seemed to work fine for a day or so, but then it didn't, obviously all that nice A/C gas had escaped probably killing some polar bears and melting a few more ice caps.  Today, I finally got it properly repaired. As you can see, the original condenser radiator was well past it's prime, being heavily corroded and leaking. Replaced by a new shiny one, I now have loads of lovely icy cold air. Roll on summer... 😛

Hi Stephen, can I ask where you got this done and how much it cost?  I was told I had a leak in mine and an estimate of about £600 to replace so I didn't do it.  That was a few years ago and I have lived without a/c since then but would be nice if I could get it done at a reasonable cost.

2 minutes ago, south_bound said:

Hi Stephen, can I ask where you got this done and how much it cost?  I was told I had a leak in mine and an estimate of about £600 to replace so I didn't do it.  That was a few years ago and I have lived without a/c since then but would be nice if I could get it done at a reasonable cost.

Wow, that sounds like a serious rip off! You can buy a condenser radiator off Ebay (new) for about £80/£90 then shop around for someone to fit it. Took my guy less than an hour which included fitting and re gas. I have been using him for 20 years and this week is his last week as retiring so I got very good 'mates rates'. But even 'normal' rates, I would be surprised to pay more than £250 all in. However, I live in the country, not a vast urban area where garages seem to think folk are made of money LOL

Thanks.  I knew that the quote I got was way off, but then just never went any further with it.  I was told that maybe the seals are now no good due to the time the system has been empty so might not bother as the car is 12 years old and don't know how much longer I will have it.

12 years old? It's a youngster LOL Mine is almost 15 years old, my GT4 is 24 years old, and also have an old 'C' class at 18 years old, don't give up on the girl yet, she's plenty of life left in her!

20 hours ago, StephenFord said:

A few months back I got my AirCon recharged at a national chain, it seemed to work fine for a day or so, but then it didn't, obviously all that nice A/C gas had escaped probably killing some polar bears and melting a few more ice caps.  Today, I finally got it properly repaired. As you can see, the original condenser radiator was well past it's prime, being heavily corroded and leaking. Replaced by a new shiny one, I now have loads of lovely icy cold air. Roll on summer... 😛

We had a bit of a scare yesterday we drove to Arbroath and back and thought the air is not as cool as it should be. I was investigating and found it cost 50 for a regas and upto 65 for the extra maintenance. It turned out I had somehow turned off the AC switch so we were running off pure heater alone lol

2 minutes ago, F0CUE said:

We had a bit of a scare yesterday we drove to Arbroath and back and thought the air is not as cool as it should be. I was investigating and found it cost 50 for a regas and upto 65 for the extra maintenance. It turned out I had somehow turned off the AC switch so we were running off pure heater alone lol

LOL, that's the kind of quick fix we all dream of! Well done...