Hi braintrust,

The AC in my car stopped working last week - blows only warm air and I will have it looked at.

Incidentaly, I had the car at the dealership today, for unrelated issue, so I asked them to check the AC out - predictably they said "needs a regas" + quote. What I don't understand is all this "test with dye & regas"mumbo jumbo.

Now, I understand the system is probably low on refrigerant, which means there is a leak, which needs to be fixed otherwise it will need another regas soon, right? What I don't understand is why they are not saying "fix the leak AND regas".

If the leak is not fixed I will be back for another "regas" in few weeks....is that their "game plan" or does "regas" imply the leak is fixed or am I missing something else?

FWIW: I don't believe that car AC (or any AC) needs a regular "regas" to work correctly.

thanks

The dye is used to find the leak.

The ac gas will not disappear within a closed system. We all have seen ac systems in cars and homes last decades with zero maintenance.

If you need to 'regas' you have a leak, the leak may be slow and, even with dye, hidden from clear sight. You can only hope your leak is simple and cheap to fix.

My crap old futura falcon which was grey but managed to be hotter than the surface of the sun for some reason had a leak, I would regas it and get a couple of years. Definitely got me through the summer.

so maybe a pinhole leak and that heavy stuff takes a while. I guess it depends on if you're a gambling man, if it stopped working all of a sudden rather than slowly getting ****tier, you be wanting to repair it. Otherwise, gas 'er up and let it slowly leak back out again.

we're going to hit 4 degrees global warming by 2100 anyway, damage is done, our kids are the last generation. Enjoy a cool breeze while you can...

I've had a re-gas and it has lasted for about 8 years so far and still going strong. I guess the AC was only slowly leaking and it still seems okay now. Maybe as the gas leaked it ran longer and longer to maintain temperature in the car and I never realised until it couldn't keep up.

Good to remember to run your AC once a week for a few minutes, even when you don't need it, to keep the seals lubricated,

Using dye is an old technique now. A good a c mechanic would have a wand which detects gas and would tell you where the gas is leaking via beeps that get stronger the closer it is to the gas.. Some seals o rings do deteriorate and it could be as simple as that.

A vacuum test is better but a little more involved but you can detect very small leaks relatively quickly. I have had dye and sensor tests that could not find leaks only to be confirmed by vacuum.

The only extra advice I can offer is that I have found third-party aircon specialists much better than dealerships.

With the dealership I had a leak and they just regassed it. No dye, so the leak was not found and it leaked again.

A good specialist place then added a dye and it was obvious where the leak was.

Thanks guys, I'll call around to verify if they will fix it or just regas. I assume I still get a warranty on the job.
at the end of the day it's no big deal I just hate when job is not done well and feel just a regas is in that category

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Harrow said..
Good to remember to run your AC once a week for a few minutes, even when you don't need it, to keep the seals lubricated,

Even in winter... AC doesn't just keep the aid cold... it keeps it dry. Perfect for demisting on cold mornings.

AC on, Heater on. Windows demisted in seconds.

When I lived in The UK, I was astonished by the number of people that did not know this.
(And also had AC failures every year or so, as they only used it a couple of times a year in summer, which is on a Tuesday this year )

I've just been through the same with my 2006 Prado.

A/C just died a few months back, just started blowing hot air. Paid automasters about $200 for the regas and dye.

The regas worked well for about 3 months until she started blowing hot air again. Back to Automasters who told me that they could see the dye with a UV light and that I had a leak and needed to replace the condenser. estimated cost, $1000.

I called 5 different a/c places in perth, each one said that to replace the condenser the whole dash had to come out. Quotes ranged from $1800 to $2500.

Automasters were able to go through the glovebox to replace the condenser and they charged me $895 to do the job and regas.

A/C blows icy cold now! Happy days/

Take your car to a proper mechanic not a dealership where they employ children with no experience!

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LateStarter said..
I've just been through the same with my 2006 Prado.

A/C just died a few months back, just started blowing hot air. Paid automasters about $200 for the regas and dye.

The regas worked well for about 3 months until she started blowing hot air again. Back to Automasters who told me that they could see the dye with a UV light and that I had a leak and needed to replace the condenser. estimated cost, $1000.

I called 5 different a/c places in perth, each one said that to replace the condenser the whole dash had to come out. Quotes ranged from $1800 to $2500.

Automasters were able to go through the glovebox to replace the condenser and they charged me $895 to do the job and regas.

A/C blows icy cold now! Happy days/

Thought it would of cost heaps more to replace your condenser by going through the glove box. ??
Definitely not the shortest route.

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jenkz said..

LateStarter said..
I've just been through the same with my 2006 Prado.

A/C just died a few months back, just started blowing hot air. Paid automasters about $200 for the regas and dye.

The regas worked well for about 3 months until she started blowing hot air again. Back to Automasters who told me that they could see the dye with a UV light and that I had a leak and needed to replace the condenser. estimated cost, $1000.

I called 5 different a/c places in perth, each one said that to replace the condenser the whole dash had to come out. Quotes ranged from $1800 to $2500.

Automasters were able to go through the glovebox to replace the condenser and they charged me $895 to do the job and regas.

A/C blows icy cold now! Happy days/

Thought it would of cost heaps more to replace your condenser by going through the glove box. ??
Definitely not the shortest route.

Don't forget It's got oil in the system as well there are moving parts that need cooling and lubrication. I've previously stated pay peanuts get monkeys. A $149 re gas (shot of gas and quick check over) might last for a week or month or even a year.
But If in there incompetency they haven't put oil in or put the wrong oil in you best get ready for a large bill. We see it quite a lot, a local dealer had an all in one machine (like you see on the Automasters tv add) it was contaminated and our shop as a result gained a heap of new customers last summer as a result of the big guns taking short cuts ??

i just wind my window down and stick arm out and do the up down hand rollercoaster. best climate control eva

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gs12 said..
Hi braintrust,

The AC in my car stopped working last week - blows only warm air and I will have it looked at.

Just another weird one regards AC stopping...
Happened in my Landcruiser, YMMV.

The AC would randomly drop out during summer only, never around town on short runs but on the highway or stop start on really hot days.
Had everything in AC checked incl service and regas etc

Nothing at all to do with the AC... turns out the 'cruiser has a "feature" whereby if the engine gets hot, the AC is turned off to help the cooling system keep up.

The actual fault was the viscous fan hub for the radiator...

That one got me too
Changed the fan hub, thermostat, water pump and put in a deeper core radiator.
Worked until it came time to overtake roadtrains.
Found it more economical to roll joints and drive to the engine revs and the temp gauge. That way bumbling down the nwch doesn't seem so bad and 90km/h feels like you're flying

Tx guys.

I booked the car for service at my usual mechanic. They told me they do AC repairs too. He said they will pressure test it and if they find the leak they will fix it. If the leak is not obvious they will regas with dye which apparently will make the leak more obvious after a while. Sounds reasonable to me.

The car is 2008 subaru outback and it didn't have any ac issues until now.

I remember family holidays as a kid when we were towing a van across QLD in summer, and dad would turn the car heater on full to stop the engine overheating. No need for air con, we got excited when the heater was turned off.

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gs12 said..
Tx guys.

I booked the car for service at my usual mechanic. They told me they do AC repairs too. He said they will pressure test it and if they find the leak they will fix it. If the leak is not obvious they will regas with dye which apparently will make the leak more obvious after a while. Sounds reasonable to me.

The car is 2008 subaru outback and it didn't have any ac issues until now.

Because it's a Subaru, check your cabin filter. I thought the aircon needed re-gasing in my old 2007 forester but it was just a blocked up filter.

And also for that age Subi - change your oil, filter, coolant and battery as often as possible. Just as an aside
They have a funny corrosion problem from a combination of old coolant and earth making the ally disappear and they blow head gaskets.
Then, as with all boxers, oil sitting in lower galleries makes muck.
Subies are awesome and never break down but they do need those things attended too more often.

The solution for later models was crazy thinner oil to prevent gunge and I reckon they won't last as long, the consumption on my 2014 at 150,000km is a bit high I reckon. 0-20W is dumb for Australia.
They fixed the corrosion/head gasket blowing the right way- better materials

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Mark _australia said..
And also for that age Subi - change your oil, filter, coolant and battery as often as possible. Just as an aside
They have a funny corrosion problem from a combination of old coolant and earth making the ally disappear and they blow head gaskets.

No one seems to make a big deal about this, but changing your coolant is pretty important on any car. Now they all seem to have aluminium radiators, the radiator corrodes more than you think if the coolant gets old. I guess if people aren't keeping cars that long it won't matter, but the next owner will need a new radiator. I don't know if mechanics tell people to change it, or do it anyway, or just wait until things go wrong. I know dealerships in my experience were pretty dodgy when it came to doing things by the book and I am sure the coolant or brake fluid changes never happened.

It was fun pulling out my radiator on the side of the road and crimping a few of the rows in it. Not surprisingly I had a full toolkit to do it, as well as a bunch of water, so it went well, and to cap it off to show you that the world is funny, a licensed mechanic pulled up just after I had re-installed the radiator and asked if I needed any help

^^Agreed
But particularly with the mystery head gasket blowing issue on Subis in the mid to later 2000's- turned out the be a very strange combo of coolant and electrical.

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stoff said..


Because it's a Subaru, check your cabin filter. I thought the aircon needed re-gasing in my old 2007 forester but it was just a blocked up filter.

replaced last weekend :-)
and yes, when I changed it about a year ago (first time ever) it was clogged