Air Con Problems

[stonewell353]

Hi,

I have a 2002 C220CDi and have just tried to top up my aircon only to find that the condenser has a hole in it. MB have quoted me £276 labour and £336 for a new condenser.

With the car being 7 years old I'm loathed to spend £600 on fixing the aircon however need to understand if there are any issues running the car without it (other than not being able to get the cockpit cool in Summer) as I don't want to be faced with an even larger bill because the engine has blown up on me or something equivalent.

Any advice?

 

[The Rock]

It will be fine to leave it broken.

FWIW, I used an indie to replace the condenser and one of the pipes leading to it on my W210. While he had the condenser out he noticed the belt between the two cooling fans was badly worn so he replaced that while he had easy access to it. All in it came to £506.

That beats your MB quote by £106 and includes a fan belt.

Rock

 

[mikestrivens]

It will make it much easier to sell if the aircon is working. Also if you are replacing the condenser you probably need to replace the receiver/dryer (£87.50) as they become "full" and can no longer function as they should after a while.

 

[vijilants]

Leaking condensers are a common problem. They rot at the bottom due to debris build up.

If you go down the MB route the condenser will be extremly expensive.

If you want to get the system running again at a reasonable price, fit an aftermarket condenser as they are usually less that half the price of MB unit. Fitting is not too difficult and a recharge of the system will be anything between £40 - £60.

Aircon specialists such as Aircon direct change these out all the time and supply aswell.