Hi , the airconditioning on my cruiser is producing a musty smell and isnt working properly ..A garage tried to repressurise the system and failed . It might be a blocked pipe but it could be that the compressor has packed in.
If the former it could be three to four hours work and if the latter it could cost over a £1000 for a new compressor etc. Does anybody out there have experience of similar
faults and possible cures. Or know of a good source of cheap compressors!!
Thanks
{header ameded to include brief summary of question being asked}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 14/08/2009 at 11:20
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Have a look in Yellow Pages for a local car air-conditioning specialist. It is what they do for a living and they are liekly to be more knowledagable, and cheaper, than a main dealer.
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Thanks for that ,however the diagnosis was made by an independent specialist .They just couldnt pin point the cause.The may be cheaper than the Chrysler main dealer but they dont seem to have experience with this model and a dealer might have some experience of the cause .I'm just trying to get info before making a decision as to which way to jump.
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Hi, I'm not an expert but have had plenty of experience of a/c problems having had a SEAT Alhambra for 4 years and the Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan family are very prone to a/c related problems - and I had my share.
This is likely to be a specialist area however to get better advice here you need to define the problem a bit better. Can you give a bit description of what you mean by not working properly. I presume that it is not cooling, but is it ALWAYS not cooling or say only after a run, or it sometimes works sometimes doesn't etc.
You say they couldn't re-pressurise the system. How quick did it go down? Did they try any leak detection? Did it work for a while? Is there a likely to be problem with the control system. Ie the pressurised system is fine but a sensor is playing up somewhere and switching it off.
The musty smell could be as straightforward as the pollen filter needs changing and in relation to the 'main' problem a complete red herring. However on the the other hand it could be refrigerant the smell of leaking refrigerant.
I find it surprising that an specialist has not been more helpful though and as another reply has said the main dealers should be avoided unless you want to spend a fortune getting nowhere, probably very slowly.
Like I said I am no an expert but this might help a little if only to demonstrate that it can be really simple or a can o worms.
Regards.
FTF
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Hi
People always knock the main dealer just because they cost a little more but "IF" properly trained are your best option.
Please go into more what the fault is, When you say there maybe a blockage is this because the pressure is high?
I work for a main dealer and you can tell by this forum I know what I am on about when it comes to Chrysler. If it's high pressure is the fault and that they can figure out why check to make sure the low speed cooling fan works when the air con is on. I find the low speed fan burnt out is the most common problem for high pressure on the PT.
If this is not a pressure problem come back with more info on the fault.
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Agree that at the main dealers it can be very dependent on the quality of the staff and appol's to MelinTec for any offence caused.
My comment was in relation to experience on the Ford Galaxy forum where many posters with heating or cooling related problems on the Galaxy family had whole components replaced at the MD, when a much cheaper repair was possible.
Example; the rear booster heater on diesel Galaxy models. The majority of problems could be resolved by replacing a £50 glow plug, but almost without exception the MD's would replace the whole booster unit at £400 odd.
Regards.
FTF
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Thanks for the reply.
I will try and be more specific. I originally thought that the problem was maybe a blocked pollen filter or something simple and took it to a local air con specialist as the chrysler dealership is a long way off .
The aircon is not producing any cold air at all just the must smell.
The aircon specialist said that they tried to recharge the car but couldnt as the pressure went off the scale. This was down either to blocked pipes or a faulty compressor and would need some time to diagnose .I needed the car and couldnt leave it with them to sort but it should be available to fix in a few days time
I've looked on some American websites and it seems a fairly common problem caused by a switch failing , a related fault is rough idle and occasional stalling at low speeds. We have experienced these symptoms before the aircon failed but when I took it to the dealership a few months ago all they did was replace the spark plugs.
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Hi
What switch? Can't think what switch that would make the pressure high.
Does your cooling fan work then as soon as you turn on your air con?
On the side of your dealer plugs and leads are a common fault for misfires and there is a software flash to help improve this.
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