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A story of Canadian A/C service abuse 900 1992

posted by  greg_mustang on  Thu Jun 19 03:34 CST 2003
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last visit: Sat May 10 07:26 CST 2014
[RELATED]

Following my recent postings questions about A/C recovery on my 240, I'd like to share with you my story of abuse of what I went through to get my A/C done on my 940, so you understand where I am coming from. I had no choice, my wife was 7 months pregnant, she had needs.

Three years ago... I had to go around to three different A/C guys, incl. dealer, to get a written assessment of what needs to be replaced.

1st guy: "I need to replace your condenser, or weld it to stop the leak - around 400$"

2nd guy: "Your high pressure hose, accumulator, as well as your evaporator. But I cannot show you the leak on your evaporator because I cannot reach down under the dash (???). Your condenser is not leaking. Around 1200$"

3rd (dealer): "High pressure hose, and condenser". Why the condenser? I asked.
"Because if I undo the fitting at the high pressure hose I will likely break the fitting at the condenser. Around 1400$ total". I said, "Change the high pressure hose and DO NOT break the condenser fitting!".

The dealer did the work, changed only the high pressure hose, cost me almost 700$. Three years later, A/C is still ice cold.

Moral of the story: Up here in Canada we get abused with respect to A/C work, mainly due to the fact that it is taboo to even consider touching your A/C system on your own (regulations are VERY strict). Due to this, you not only cannot buy any refrigerant, but even A/C parts are very hard to find, including o-rings, except at the dealer. My most recent search for vacuum pump oil was almost impossible, auto parts and tool rentals did not even know what this thing (matercool 5CFM) was. I had to go to the local A/C shop and beg to buy some oil from them. You know the Mastercool bottles sold for around 3 US$? I paid 19 CAN$ for it yesterday. Anyway...

I just wanted to get my 240 A/C done without spending 1000+$. I completed the full retrofit to R134 myself, with new dryer, ester oil, exp valve, o-rings, and fittings. I bought the pump, bought the guages, and was trying to diagnose my vacuum results.

Thanks to all who provided advice. Not sure what to do at this point. I guess I'll ask the local shop to charge it up, and 150$ later hope it does not have a major leak.

Thanks!
Greg Mustang
Montreal - Ottawa
Canada





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