Fristly you dont have a hole in your compressor, you have a hole in you condensor. you either got that wrong or your aircon "expert" is talking out of his backside.
This is the reason your aircon needed to be regassed int he first place. Aircon compressors make a "thump sound" at start up. The garage is not at fault for your aircon issues.
Its a bit much to be talking trading standards when they probably havent done anything wrong.
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Its not uncommon for a condensor to develop a small leak (through a stone hitting it or corrosion) and therefore the system requiring regassing. A system full of gas will make make a 'thump' when the compressor kicks in. This again is reasonable and will be felt on smaller cars much more than on bigger cars unless you are stationary and in a quiet area. If the hole is till there, regassing will be required again. It is not necessarily the fault of the garage that the hole appeared.
The engine noise may be something the garage did. Why not ask them what they did and why this noice has just started?
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OK, two things -
The 'thump' was ON TOP of the normal 'air con on' noise - that happens a few seconds after switching it on, not over 10 seconds later... and yes, it was the condensor with the hole ! My mistake...
The noise on switch-off it totally new....
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still not the garages fault.
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Its a bit much to be talking trading standards when they probably havent done anything wrong.
I think the OP said he was going to get a report from a main Dealer before running to Trading Standards. I guess if the report said or inferred that the local indy was not at fault then there would be no trip to Trading Standards.
The OP believes that the garage is at fault and wants to find out if it really is at fault. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/11/2009 at 18:31
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Firstly gather the evidence that they have done something wrong then decide what action to take.
Be wary of any engine making unusual noises. Have you checked yourself for anything obvious loose or whatever.
On two occasions in the past using reputable garages i trust and used regularly i have discovered unusual noises and found they have failed to tighten a jubilee clip or bracket.
Sorted it myself and then politely pointed it out to them but continued to use them as let face it we all make human errors.
I would get to the bottom of the engine noise though asap but before you rush to Trading standards discover whats wrong but i think Trading standards would advise you approach the garage first and give them the opportunity to sort.
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>>who advised me that the unit had been over-pressured.
The specialist may well have been right, but, if no-one either reclaimed the gas and measured the mass, or, took pressure readings from the running system, then, there's no evidence the system was over filled.
If there's a hole in the condensor, this can be caused by corrosion, and/ or by mechanical damage from stones and such like, and it doesn't necessarily mean the system was over-pressured.
Usually, if a R134a system is over filled, it becomes less efficient, and, yes, the pressure around the system is higher, but, any AC system will have a high pressure sensor which will close the system down to prevent gross damage.
The best way to see if your garage know how to gas AC systems is to ask how they do it. If they say that they recover all the gas, and then use the correct, measured, *mass* of refrigerant, they're doing it right - if they say they add fluid until the system pressure reads correctly, then, they're bodging a bit.
As for the rumbling, perhaps a good start would be to find out *exactly* what your garage has done.
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car is 7+ years old condensers go
www.crashrepairparts.com/condensers/parts/modelid/...s
your other problem sounds like a dmf issue
have a nice day........
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Hmm OK so the consensus appears to be the air-con could well go wrong at this age... of course, difficult to prove otherwise in this case I suspect - at least the condensors aren't too expensive!
But I will get another garage's second opinion on the noise and take from there - the garage was checking the injectors and pump, btw.
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