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Air Con Condenser rad for Gen 7 needed


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The driers are full of beads or small pellets of what are called molecular sieve and these filter out water vapour from the system. Water gets in because it can diffuse in through the rubber hoses, then it can start and corrode from the inside out. Except for the Gen7, the cars I've had all had a sealed unit drier with the sieve inside, but the 7 must use some kind of re-fill pack?

 

An AC system in good condition needs a regas about every 4 years and I take the view that I'm happy to use a good professional, usually charging ~£50(?) to do it. A pro will take 30-45 minutes to do the job (anything less is worrying).  Be sure to check that you get leak-indicating dye added.

Edited by bazz54
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7 hours ago, slybunda said:

How much mobile gasser charge?

 

On mine he tested all the electronic components individually, did a leak test to identify some seals had gone, replaced 4 seals I think it was, then another leak test and re gas. 100 quid Inc vat and worth it in my book, especially driving round recently in 30 degree heat with leather seats but ice cold air con 

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Odd iv had the gen7 for 8 years and when i first got it it waa 13 years old and ac did work but was never mega cold unless driving on motorway. Over time it lost its kick.

Iv got various cars over 10 years old that have never been regassed and are still cold.

 

Mums 2004 astra was regassed but didnt last a few months so has to be leaking. And leaks are usually from the condenser.

Also that dryer thing may be like a silica gel packet you get in boxes that ship out electronic goods to absorb any moisture.

 

Gonna get condenser sorted first before i go for a gas job. Dunno if they oil the system before or if i need to oil it up when condenser is fitted.

Job looks easy like changing coolant rad. Probably easier since no bleeding etc needed.

Bumper off job though.

 

As mentioned above if nissens and valeo is oem then im gonna try and stick with them for a replacement.

Edited by slybunda
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Yea on my gen 6 the air con has never worked while ive had it so well worth it to get it fixed.

 

The leak on mine was the seals where the pipework connects to the rad or condenser. I bought a spare rad just in case but the existing one turned out to be fine.

 

Think the common leak places are the seals I mentioned above, the rad itself or the compressor shats itself.

 

The oil gets put in with the gas when they regas it, all done together 

Edited by 99GT
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Ahh thats the other thing i was gonna ask.

If changing the condenser do i just get seals that go on the condenser? Should i not touch the seals on the compressor side unless im opening up the pipes to the compressor?

From the sounds of it i should change all the seals compressor and condenser side to be on the safe side.

Also from reading around it seems nissens is oem for volvo. However if you go main dealer for nissens condenser you will get nissens made in Sweden. Aftermarket nissens is made in china depending which car its for.

So dunno...

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On 25/07/2021 at 17:51, slybunda said:

Mums 2004 astra was regassed but didnt last a few months so has to be leaking. And leaks are usually from the condenser.

Also that dryer thing may be like a silica gel packet you get in boxes that ship out electronic goods to absorb any moisture.

 

Gonna get condenser sorted first before i go for a gas job. Dunno if they oil the system before or if i need to oil it up when condenser is fitted.

Job looks easy like changing coolant rad. Probably easier since no bleeding etc needed.

Bumper off job though.

In theory, they are legally obliged to show that the system does not leak before they refill it. That is because the gas is a powerful green house gas and there are tight restrictions on allowing it to get in to the atmosphere. So they put on a vacuum pump, pull out anything that's left in there and wait to see if they get a good vacuum showing no leaks. But quite how sensitive the test is to very small leaks is hard to say.

 

The oil gets injected in to the system as the new gas goes in.  In the past, AC specialists had a variety of kit, but increasingly they all seem to be using pretty much the same highly-automated units, but I'd still much rather have a specialist do the job than some bloke at one of the chains.

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On 22/07/2021 at 21:43, Fuppylodders said:

Just been googling about these cancelled purchases, and came across this:

 

"Another increasingly common tactic is for foreign "sellers" to use eBay to collect personal information. You buy from a fake listing, pay, then seller cancels the order with a lame excuse. Once they have your paypal user name, then they can narrow down the amount of tries to hack it, needing only a password, not both data.

 

I even had this occur with the same "seller" twice in a row.

 

I reported it, but like many other problems, eBay employees are too busy tooting their own horn to care."

Might be worth increasing the strength of your paypal pw just for safety...? :shrug:

 

A lot of sellers are middlemen. So they will create 1000s of listings of items that they dont personally have in stock but there suppliers have, when an item sells they then ship directly from manufacturer/supplier. This is why you might find the same item for sale by 10 - 20 different sellers but when you buy it, they are all out of stock - this happens with UK sellers as well. A member on here had it with ta22 shocks a few years ago. 

 

ebay doesnt give out email address's anymore to sellers, you get a forwarding email address instead. 

 

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24 minutes ago, ams said:

A lot of sellers are middlemen. So they will create 1000s of listings of items that they dont personally have in stock but there suppliers have, when an item sells they then ship directly from manufacturer/supplier.

 

This maybe why my condenser purchase seems to have been accepted okay 6 days ago, but there is no notice of it being posted yet...

Although these days of bonkers Brexit mess it could be delayed by import red tape (?)

 

Just as well it's not urgent :mellow:

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I think we've gone from "just in time delivery" to "just too late". Lots of people stopped working it the height of Covid, and are now reluctant to return. Then there are all the pinged people in self lock down. I've had grocery deliveries for 12 years from Ocado... but not this week, or next week, or maybe even the next week :blowup:

Edited by bazz54
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  • 10 months later...

Considering replacing my condenser rad soon too as it’s hardly got a fin left on it and is leaking round the joints. Were the O rings easy enough to get or did you have to get them in from Japan/UAE?

 

How did your replacement go in the end? Any problems along the way?

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10 hours ago, KeithL said:

Considering replacing my condenser rad soon too as it’s hardly got a fin left on it and is leaking round the joints. Were the O rings easy enough to get or did you have to get them in from Japan/UAE?

 

How did your replacement go in the end? Any problems along the way?

Hope this helps 

 

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  • 2 months later...

I regassed mine a week ago with a diy kit and it worked great for the week. Checked the engine trays under the rad with a UV light and the dye lit them up like a disco lol. Condenser is hanging in bits so have bit the bullet and am fixing it.

 

 

New nissens condenser ordered up just yesterday for £144 delivered on eBay. Was lucky to find one there, they usually get snapped up quickly it seems.

 

will pop into local Toyota dealer to get the O rings and will fit it all soon. I’ll take a few pics for my build thread if anyone is interested too.

 

will have it all finished just in time for the colder weather coming in lol.

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So, all that gas has just gone in to the atmosphere!   It really is time that selling such DIY air-con stuff was made illegal.   If you don't do a pressure test before re-filling, you are just guessing that you don't have other leaks and the same thing could well happen again.

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14 minutes ago, bazz54 said:

So, all that gas has just gone in to the atmosphere!   It really is time that selling such DIY air-con stuff was made illegal.   If you don't do a pressure test before re-filling, you are just guessing that you don't have other leaks and the same thing could well happen again.

It passed a vacuum test the first time I had it re-gassed at a garage last year. I guess I was hoping the leak-seal additive in the DIY kit would plug up whatever leak was present this time round. No such luck.

 

Next re-gas after I fit the new condenser will be at a garage where they can test it again before filling.

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Just an update but since changing the A/C condenser (about a year ago) i can confirm the A/C works okay now :dance:

 

it works mildly which IME is preferable to A/C that freezes one into stage of hypothermia ...like wot the one in my old Corolla used to.

 

The only issue that remains is the smelly sock smell that seems to emanate (?) usually more noticeable just after turning the A/C off 

 

 

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21 hours ago, Crazy Cat Lady said:

Just an update but since changing the A/C condenser (about a year ago) i can confirm the A/C works okay now :dance:

 

it works mildly which IME is preferable to A/C that freezes one into stage of hypothermia ...like wot the one in my old Corolla used to.

 

The only issue that remains is the smelly sock smell that seems to emanate (?) usually more noticeable just after turning the A/C off 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback on how yours went! Just waiting on my new condenser to hopefully sort mine out too.

 

Have you tried one of those Aircon refresh blaster cans? I know some of them do claim to kill bacteria in the system. You just turn up the aircon on recirc and stick the opened can in your cupholder and leave it for 15mins or so

 

Holts LOYTEC1 Air Car sanitizer 150ml https://amzn.eu/d/7Rb9j1A

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1 hour ago, KeithL said:

Have you tried one of those Aircon refresh blaster cans? I know some of them do claim to kill bacteria in the system. You just turn up the aircon on recirc and stick the opened can in your cupholder and leave it for 15mins or so

 

Thanks for the sanitiser recommendation!

Just ordered one, should arrive here on Wednesday, those minging microbes have their days numbered :thumbsup:  

 

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