About 7 weeks ago I noticed that the compressor of my 09 plate Focus was not clicking on when the aircon button was pressed even though the light was.

I bit of troubleshooting showed that the aircon relay was okay and the compressor clutch actuated when I bridged the relay with a piece of wire.

At this stage I called out a mobile aircon guy, who said there was virtually no pressure in the system and on adding gas he said there was a significant leak from a bend in one of the pipes from the condenser, which was part of the condenser assembly. Found by using a sniffer.

I looked at where he said and all I could see was a perfectly clean un-corroded alloy pipe that looked almost as good as new.

Anyway he had re-gassed the system and told me to call him WHEN it failed again for the next stage, ie replacing the condenser.

This was getting on for 2 months ago and the aircon is still working perfectly.

Is it possible this can have been a dried out seal which has now re-sealed itself ? There is a joint on the pipework where the car plumbing meets the condenser plumbing, and I am guessing there is a seal in there ?

Any comments as to this mystery welcome.