Did THEY miss something when they put my car back together??

[Watson21]

I dont know whether anyone will know what the problem is here, but here goes.

My car started making a VERY loud noise a few months back and it was coming from under the bonnet. To cut a VERY long story short, Benfield replaced my Alternative because they said the bearings had collapsed.....since then, my Air Conditioning comes on, but cold air does not come out, it stays the same temperature.

Could this be that they did not connect a belt or something back to the Air Con unit when they replaced the Alternator??
Excuse the lack of under-bonnet knowledge.

Any ideas? Please?

[onlydiesels]

the aircon is the same belt which runs the alternator,so the belt will be on,more likely that they`ve disconnected the aircon pipes + maybe not regassed it but they would have to be a bit of a numpty to forget something like that. have a look on your invoice to see if they`ve charged you for a regas,cos that`s something they won`t forget to do!

[Watson21]

the aircon is the same belt which runs the alternator,so the belt will be on,more likely that they`ve disconnected the aircon pipes + maybe not regassed it but they would have to be a bit of a numpty to forget something like that. have a look on your invoice to see if they`ve charged you for a regas,cos that`s something they won`t forget to do!

thanks, i will have a look when i get home or might just call in and ask them because its only along the road.

Thanks again

[silencer51]

Do this simple test:

Open your windows, turn on the engine and let it idle, then turn on the AC. You should hear a 'click' sort of noise coming from the engine bay (that's the AC compressor engaging).

If you can't hear anything, then the compressor doesn't engage, so either the electromagnetic clutch the compressor uses is dead or they forgot to put the belt back on (!?)

Of course, lack of coolant is also a possibility.

[Watson21]

Do this simple test:

Open your windows, turn on the engine and let it idle, then turn on the AC. You should hear a 'click' sort of noise coming from the engine bay (that's the AC compressor engaging).

If you can't hear anything, then the compressor doesn't engage, so either the electromagnetic clutch the compressor uses is dead or they forgot to put the belt back on (!?)

Of course, lack of coolant is also a possibility.

There is no click (although there used to be) and also there is no change in engine tone, again, there used to be.

Would this be their fault though or would it be classed as a serviceable part which means i would be left with the bill??

[cactusbob]

The aircon compressor will also not engage if the gas is low in the system, the aircon light will still illuminate though.

[Watson21]

Well.....my car is booked in for an interim service on the 14th of December (because I am only at 61000 miles and its asking to be serviced) and i have asked them to have a look at my Air Conditioning thing while they are at it.

I WILL leave with working Air Conditioning.

[Watson21]

Well....it appears they are going to fix my Air Conditioning as part of the Gold Service. It needs regassing which is the apparent reason for the lack of cold air when demisting.

Shame its gonna cost me nearly £200 for the service like.

[BurntCarcus]

I took mine to kwikfit, they do regassing for about £40 Mine was also blowing out luke warm air at 14d on a sunny day after they regassed it it dropped to 4d. They also told me that there was only 4ml of oil left in it and if i hadnt got it filled up it would have casued the seals to go. Im sure that would have been expensive. He also told me you should run your aircon at least once a week so it dosent seize up, even in the winter!! Oh and they test it before and after, and if its any less than 30% colder than it was at the start, you pay nothing!!! or something like that..... cant remember exactly.