Recently, all of a sudden my aircond started to be not cold at all (blowing warm air). Change wasn't even
gradual, just suddenly one day not cold at all.

So after a few weeks no aircond I brought to shop (not specialist aircond shop, but the guy does aircond servicing too). He said got no leaks he can find at surface level (without having to remove everything and check), so he refill gas and asked to see how if it leaks again or what.

But by two days later can feel not cold any more. So I went to different shop this time, which is nearer to my house. This new guy said he found the leak, which is apparently in the aircond pressure switch (from here i'm already suspicious because the earlier mechanic already checked this component and didn't find any cause for concern). Anyway I believe him and changed it (and I had to pay charge for changing gas, compressor oil, and servicing too, altogether RM130).

By just THREE DAYS LATER, all the gas gone already, not cold any more. I went back to the same shop and ask wtf, he said that means got ANOTHER leak (wtf two leaks all of a sudden, can meh?). He said must open all the components and it's a whole day job

But just two hours later he called me and said he found the problem (I've heard this before lol). Apparently the cooling coil is leaking, and the expansion valve also needs changing (total damage this time? RM560!!).

I said that day the pressure switch was fine la then?? He said confirm there was a leak at the pressure switch so that needed to be changed anyway.

Now if three days later not cold any more, he will say there's ANOTHER leak somewhere and have to change another component?? This is my first car, never done aircond repair before, how to not get scammed?

UPDATE 31/8/14: Aircond f***ed again all of a sudden. It's been one week. Yesterday still cold, today suddenly not cold at all, blowing hot air. Now what?

UPDATE 7/9/14: Went back to the shop and scolded the manager. After another round of soap bubble leak checking and even checking with nitrogen gas (not sure what that's for), he finally said something similar to what my first mechanic said, i.e. that my pressure valve (was it 'valve' or something else? can't remember) might be relieving the gas due to high pressure that's why it all leaves the system so suddenly. Therefore I'm getting more and more convinced that it's not in fact a 'leak' per se. A leak would mean GRADUAL decline in cooling effect right? In my case it runs very well and very cold for about 3-5 days after refilling gas, then all of a sudden next day I start my car and it's just blowing hot air because the gas is not there any more.
Anyway he refilled the gas for free and asked to drive around for 3 days and get back to him and he'll check if there's any gas leaked out or gone completely so he can do further diagnosis.
Any opinions? Any significance in the fact that the loss of gas is not gradual, instead seeming to be very abrupt?
Drillz of my car:

This post has been edited by marczeman2: Sep 7 2014, 07:43 PM

go to the authorised service center...

it's my first car, but it's 1999 secondhand wira

try go find another mechanic to inspect

This shop seems want to scam you only. Go to other shop,proper car aircond shop. Maybe need request aircon gas pressure leak test (got such thing for aircon?? Need other sifu confirm). And you yourself stay there to verify. This is what i think la.

At least ask them to show you visually, where is it leaking. If the guy says cooling coil is leaking, ask him to SHOW you that the cooling coil is really leaking.

TS sudah kena cut throat.

If leak again I will go there and rage there in front of all the other customers ask him to refund everything (at least labour charge etc)

if the aircond suddenly get warm next time, do rush to the workshop right away.
stop using it and let the engine cool down for 2hrs or more. then start again.

if the aircond is back to normal, then its not leaking. the compressor clutch set is worn, change the whole set magnet+pulley+clutch (compressor clutch not the gearbox clutch ya) only cost rm300, local part not genuine.

This post has been edited by yamato: Aug 23 2014, 09:58 PM

For wira you should just change the compressor + service if can last you for 2-3 years consider bonus already.
Once the compressor kong no need to repair just replace it.
The wira compressor oem brand is Denko not Denso ok

if you are located in seremban i can recommend you a very reliable aircond shop in senawang. did a full aircond service on my 9 years old inokom atos. never service before, only refilled gas twice during that period.

the shop owner spent more than 2 hrs on my atos for the full aircond service on sunday noon. paid rm205 for everything.

Aircon is not an easy thing to repair.

First have you been into frontal collision before (however light it is, it is easy to cause aircon gas leak because certain piping joint has been slightly bend). Usually mechanic will use soap water with bubbles to wipe on those pipe reachable by hand. (Good luck to those unreachable ones).

Second, is your cooling coil. Is it clogged or rusted and leak?

Third is your compressor leaking? or compressor not compressing the gas (eg. the magnet clutch part not functioning)?

Condensor dirty?

...


If you want total fix in one short, the only way to do it is replace every damn thing that is part of the gas travel path.

This post has been edited by dstl1128: Aug 23 2014, 10:28 PM

Confirm your aircon man is lousy. First he has to check for leak everywhere instead of just 1 area. How he check? Did u see? There is leak detector, or old fashion way is using a gas burner connected to a pipe. If u didn't see for yourself, u confirm kena con 99.

Find aircon specialist, not some accessories shop o mechanic that do part time air con that can only recommend change of parts that doesn't solve the problem.

This post has been edited by ahsam1212: Aug 23 2014, 10:46 PM

Thanks guys, I have a lot to learn about car maintenance

service.centre cheaper and got warranty

I LOL'D at those who said service centers are cheaper. Seriously?

And yes, checking aircond is not cheap. If it involves the cooling coil, it involves removing the cooling coil to check if there's a leak(pressurise with nitrogen, dip in water). And usually to gain access and removing the cooling coil involves opening the glovebox(not that hard) and in many other cars, removing the whole dashboard(pain in the ass). You can't exactly check for leaks on the cooling coil without removing it, but usually if there is a leak there, sometimes you can see the signs of oil around the area. Usually if they remove the cooling coil, it is recommended to change the expansion valve AND the receiver dryer as well. Compressor also can leak, at the back of the compressor housing.

So yes, aircond system is not as easy as it seems. I've redid a van's aircond system before, change every pipe, install new condenser, new fan, 2x cooling coil(front and back) which the bill came out to 2-3k

Thanks, that was very informative

hello, people now use air conditioning gas that has uv tracer, they fill the system then come back with uv light to see where gas has been leaking

no need remove cooling coil

The UV is sold seperately in an additive package, it's not pre-mixed in the 'gas' tong, which costs extra. And not many workshops actually have it. Without it, you have to inspect all the piping at the engine bay area, then if no leak, it's pretty much confirmed that it's inside. If inside, it could either be leaking from the pipe to cooling coil joints or the cooling coil itself. So with or without UV light, if it's really the cooling coil, you still have to remove it anyway. But if you have the UV dye, it eases the mechanic's work.

Even if there is no UV dye, traces of oil is pretty easy to spot with a flashlight.

This post has been edited by Nightstalker1993: Aug 24 2014, 05:58 PM

some food for thought:
an entire aircond system with ALL original denso parts for a 1999 iswara cost 2-2.4k ish.
not including labor/aircond gas etc

a Mitsubishi compressor ONLY for a lancer/inspira cost rm4k+ (SC price) part alone

depending on what needs to be replaced, you can get an idea on why air cond are expensive and why they should be serviced appropriately as it can save you hefty repair bills in the long run as opposed to replacing the entire part.

so if you think an aircond workshop is cheating you, think again.
when in doubt, go for second opinions before proceeding and most importantly go to legitimate workshops authorized dealers (eg: denso authorized dealer) or even SC

while you definitely need to pay more especially on the labor side, chance of them cheating you is a lot less and complaints/claims against them should shit happen/they actually cheated you is a lot more effective than against no name workshops (they don't have much to lose)

this.