Air con not cold

[Stanchiam]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for all your feedback. Frankly I do not know much about the various parts of the car, how it works, etc.

Thus, when the aircon broke down, my objective is just to fix it and get back my cold air.

 

When i went down to Mark Cool and asked Ah Huat to diagnose, he actually did a very quick check, and said the compressor was faulty, need to replace. I asked him whether can replace some small parts, like clutch etc, so that it will work again.

 

He told me for certain brand, yes. And he led me to the back of his workshop and showed me the ones where the clutch can be replaced. He told me the one suzuki used (i checked the brand of my original compressor is valeo), the clutch cannot be replaced. Whether true or not, i really have no idea. I paused and think for a while.... autobac charge me $1130. Mark cool charge me $750. He seems to be quite genuine and i read many good review about him, thus i took the plunge and let him do it.

 

Subsequently i called up a retailer selling aircon compressor. I told him the valeo compressor suzuki use, and i was told if i just buy the compressor, will cost $400 plus.

 

Well, anyway, i take it as a lesson learnt.

 

compressor is a compressor, do not believe the valeo compressor is so special design where the clutch cannot change

if cannot change then how the clutch is fix in place? simple logic will tell u that any part can be change or replaced if it is not glued or cast as one piece. Perhaps you should ask the retailer selling the valeo compressor if the clutch can be replace if future have any problem to confirm that u r being con.

 

you tell your autobacs story(fatal mistake) and they will try to use your story to convince you

since u tell them autobacs say compressor spoil, they will tell u yeah it is spoil

anyway, that is how they make money, by telling what you want to hear in the first place

 

do u know salesman is good at what? they are good at looking at your body language and the way you speak

if they feel u r desperate and just want to get it fix, they will know what to do next

if u walk out and say u will consider, i am sure u he could tell u he offer u a 100 dollar discount

that is what china store or salesman will do if u walk out, they will give u instant offer

 

anyway like u say, lesson learnt.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Stanchiam

[Viper76]

Heard Mark Cool aircon at woodlands park E4 is good.....

[Kr_toy]

Yeah, too bad many aircon WS mentioned on this forum is a con shop.

[Naimed]

How come Mazda cooling coil so expensive ? My fren was quoted $1500 to change cooling coil for MX5 roadster ?!?!

At the AD?

[Kb27]

Consider this scenario where you have a broken TV. Very often, electronics fail due to simple problems like a blown capacitor or fuse which costs a few dollars at the most, You bring your TV into a repair shop, they offer you to change the entire circuit board for $500+$100 labor or get a new TV for $700. Do you question him to replace the $2 capacitor ?

 

Sometimes the labor for changing a sub-component is much more, and may require more than a basic technician. If you can, by all means DIY as that is always the cheapest but of course take time and effort.

 

 

 

It's not merely about replacing a $2 capacitor or whatever.

People are not willing to pay for the time spent troubleshooting the right part that failed.

They only see that $2 capacitor.

 

So, many workshops may just resort to swapping out parts until they hit the right one.

And of coz, they make the customer pay for it.

[Baal]

 

It's not merely about replacing a $2 capacitor or whatever.

People are not willing to pay for the time spent troubleshooting the right part that failed.

They only see that $2 capacitor.

 

So, many workshops may just resort to swapping out parts until they hit the right one.

And of coz, they make the customer pay for it.

 

This is exactly what my bike shop said. He will terminate such customers.

 

There are those that after a few years, they are totally convinced of his expertise. So when have tricky problem, they will go to him to get diagnoses. Then say need to await pay day then come mth end to do.

 

Instead, 1 to 2 mths later when they come back & do reg maintenance, he realised that the problem had been rectified. When he probed, the customer went to another shop to fix it (since he can confidently tell other ws what the prob is & no fear of being a carrot. And of course, no need to pay for "troubleshooting")

[TVT]

 

This is exactly what my bike shop said. He will terminate such customers.

 

There are those that after a few years, they are totally convinced of his expertise. So when have tricky problem, they will go to him to get diagnoses. Then say need to await pay day then come mth end to do.

 

Instead, 1 to 2 mths later when they come back & do reg maintenance, he realised that the problem had been rectified. When he probed, the customer went to another shop to fix it (since he can confidently tell other ws what the prob is & no fear of being a carrot. And of course, no need to pay for "troubleshooting")

 

Well, at least the customer did came back regularly for servicing n maintenance. So in fact, the expert WS did not lose completely....

[Baal]

 

Well, at least the customer did came back regularly for servicing n maintenance. So in fact, the expert WS did not lose completely....

 

Its the labour, expertise & know how that was learned over 2-3 decades.

 

Coming back to change eo, only earn a few bucks per bottle. A 400cc bike only uses 3 bottles.

Many 2B bikes only uses 1 Bottle.

 

So for what was changed, the rightful amount should have been $80 (parts + review bundled in) + $40 (labour). Eg.

However, by getting free advice, cust just goes to another shop, zero in the problem & pay Nett $60-70.

 

Which explains the Car ws practice earlier mentioned.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Baal

[AuWeiJianClarence]

i am driving a 2006 nissan latio. jus experience air con not cold.. jus nice next day going back TC for servicing so ask them check, end up leak on coil. quote me total $500 plus to change. dun think worthwhile since til 2006 july. any other reliable workshop can intro?

[Pisces69]

i am driving a 2006 nissan latio. jus experience air con not cold.. jus nice next day going back TC for servicing so ask them check, end up leak on coil. quote me total $500 plus to change. dun think worthwhile since til 2006 july. any other reliable workshop can intro?

 

 

I wud intro u to Markcool at Woodlands. See the foreman Ah Huat only. I dun trust any other guy.

 

BTW coil leak is only change coil n labour is a killer cos must remove lots of stuff.

 

Maybe just see Ah Huat n see what he says. He might hv some ideas ?

[Alphas]

When doing major repair, I get 3 opinions and the cost of repair. It is not true that well known shop or person is always the best. They can ride on the fame and charge higher or unnecessary replacements.

 

Previously I got my air con mixer removed for free from small jb shop that I frequent for repairs. Even well known shops charge for replacing nonsensical parts like compressor, coils etc.

[TVT]

Previously I got my air con mixer removed for free from small jb shop that I frequent for repairs. Even well known shops charge for replacing nonsensical parts like compressor, coils etc.

 

What is a air con mixer ?

[Si4dr]

My air-cond become hot in start-stop traffic but ok if driving continuously.

I off the air-cond for 30s and On back cold air came out but not for long during start-stop. Anyone have similar problem?

 

Gas & cooling fan just top/up/change 6months ago.

[Alphas]

 

What is a air con mixer ?

My cerato is manual air con so there is a device call warm/ cold air actuator that control the temp. Somehow the lever got jam and stuck at warm air position so no matter how to rotate the temp knob it still stuck at warm air.

 

No problem with the air con knob just need to repair the stuck lever but heck I don't need warm air so told the WS to remove it. Later I went back to check the actuator, it is actually working just the lever is stuck!

[Blackyv]

Sian... Just now on the way home, aircon was working as usual then suddenly aircon blow air only, not Cold.... No matter what setting I set, only blow normal wind.... Like working in fan mode only... Sian... Have to go workshop to check . funny is my Latio comes with this sharp ionizer thing and when it blow air only, it actually running in 'ion' mode and not cleaning.. When i open window and let outside air in, it still didn't turn to cleaning mode.... Anyway, ... I suspect the aircon coil leak already... Change mine 3+ years ago and it's about time to change again...

[Dream]

let me share my experience...

 

every morning for approx. 4 weeks, my air-con will delay to blow out cold air (magnetic clutch did not activate). It will only activate about 3 to 5 minute later and the time to activate seems to increase slowly. Afterwhich, it was almost ok for the rest of the day.

 

I have asked and read around (friends, colleagues, forum etc) and almost all share their experiences and concluded that the compressor kaput. I was quoted $300++ for a re-con and $600++ for a new compressor.

 

I was mentally ready for a new compressor until I read in a forum that one of them replaced his air-con relay to fix the problem (approx. $60). I searched and found an air-con relay that costs only $5 (from a colleague). I replaced it and until now (1-1/2 weeks), the air-con is working fine (touch wood).

 

So my point is not to replace the big item straight away. IMO for air-con, it is not a new technology, so it itself should be quite stable unless there is impact to cause it to malfunction (leak).

 

Not an expert... just sharing my thoughts

 

YNWA

[Optramagnum]

Let me share my misfortune.

 

May 13,I changed my compressor as it was producing "grinding" sound when it kicks in. As a p plater and a newbie, i just nodded my head. $550 Damage

 

Apr 14, air-conditioning not cold, went to check and found out cooling coil leaked. Car still left 4 yrs plus, so changed. Damage is $450.

2 weeks later, not cold again, went back same wksp, denied that it's faulty coil as it's still under warranty. Diagnosed it's broken air intake valve nipple (same as needle thingy which you see when u uncap to pump air into your types. Damage is $30.

 

May 14, not cold and leaked gas again!! Went to same and other wksp to confirm that my 1yr old compress body is leaking!! LL, change again. Damage is $535.

 

Ppl always say put aside 2-3k to replace faulty parts when u purchase used car. How true is that.. Nowadays, whenever I go servicing, my hands will shake.. hahaha.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Optramagnum

[Pisces69]

Sian... Just now on the way home, aircon was working as usual then suddenly aircon blow air only, not Cold.... No matter what setting I set, only blow normal wind.... Like working in fan mode only... Sian... Have to go workshop to check . funny is my Latio comes with this sharp ionizer thing and when it blow air only, it actually running in 'ion' mode and not cleaning.. When i open window and let outside air in, it still didn't turn to cleaning mode.... Anyway, ... I suspect the aircon coil leak already... Change mine 3+ years ago and it's about time to change again...

 

 

Huh. How come yr AC coil spoil so fast? Cooling coil usually last longer than the 10 year COE even.

 

My Optra its already 8 years n still good. Usually coil can last very long. Only my compressor I changed abt >1 year ago.

 

I have an aftermarket ionioser but that dun affect the ac cos it just cleans n sterelizes the air.