Bull@#$% Uneccessary Car Servicing Recommendations

[Sump]

jamieduff1981 said:

Motorrad said:

Sump said:

I thought this was common knowledge?

I've never done it and just fix it when it stops working but you are actually supposed to service Air Con units once a year. They take this more seriously in hotter countries though.

How can you service the a/c without re-charging it?

I've lived in plenty of hot places and have never heard of anything like a yearly a/c service.


In fact I'd go as far to say that if you just use it regularly there's no need to do anything to it as long as it remains working efficiently.

I've had 3 compressors bugger themselves. 2 were knackered bearings and one has just stopped compressing so presumably seals have failed. They're not very serviceable though.

Compressors rarely juts bugger themselves to be honest

[Mave]

Sump said:

...but you are actually supposed to service Air Con units once a year.

Oh come on, saying "but you are actually supposed to..." is hardly substantiation of your earlier statement of "you are actually supposed to..." :-) You're making the statement as if it is a fact, but on what basis?

[BritishRacinGrin]

Compressors tend to bugger themselves if some of the lubricating oil escapes. Some compressors are serviceable, there are companies who'll supply replacement bearings, pressure regs etc.
Never heard of annual servicing though, as others have said use it regularly and it'll last years, if not just expect to get it pressure tested and recharged after 3-5 years.

[J4CKO]

I suppose you can justify pretty much anything but that list, in the main is just saying give us some more money and get some impression you are somehow doing the right thing, I suspect half of it would never get done anyway, it sounds kind of like the Paint protection and Gap insurance equivalent for used cars.

Engine flush, who does this any more, with fully synth oils and modern engines you dont get the sludge, certainly not in a few thousand miles, would probably either do nothing whatsoever or more harm than good, its like colonic irrigation for cars, I have only ever flushed engines out after they have had a head gasket issue to clear out the emulsion residue.

[itcaptainslow]

Engine flushing on quite a few modern cars and the use of additives will invalidate the manufacturer's warranty. So if the dealer is doing this they could be contradicting the manufacturer for which they hold the franchise and potentially putting their client's vehicle's warranty at risk...

I disagreed with the flushes etc. bigtime when I was in the trade.

[powerstroke]

jamieduff1981 said:

Motorrad said:

Sump said:

I thought this was common knowledge?

I've never done it and just fix it when it stops working but you are actually supposed to service Air Con units once a year. They take this more seriously in hotter countries though.

How can you service the a/c without re-charging it?

I've lived in plenty of hot places and have never heard of anything like a yearly a/c service.


In fact I'd go as far to say that if you just use it regularly there's no need to do anything to it as long as it remains working efficiently.

I've had 3 compressors bugger themselves. 2 were knackered bearings and one has just stopped compressing so presumably seals have failed. They're not very serviceable though.

Two main types of failure bearing in the clutch collapses nothing to do with refrigerant circuit .
The other is low gas which causes the compressor to overheat
And as oil isn't returned to the compressor instead it settles in the components and system pipework sometimes they sieze or the sealing surfaces is damaged results in a FUBAR compressor and a nasty bill,
So not a bad idea to check if the system is performing correctly and if in doubt recover gas measure oil and recharge yearly!!

[liner33]

Mave said:

Yep, Alfa cold at 12 years, BMW at 13 years, Audi cold at 12 years, mondeo cold at 11 years. Spot a pattern? (ps, don't forget fire is hot! :-))

Did you own them all from new ? Doubt it so worthless analogy, plus cold doesn't mean working effectively.

Its simply a fact that air con systems leak over time

Mercedes E class serviced at 5 year point had 400 grammes of refrigerant in it , should have had 1000gr , still worked but significantly better following refill

I've never had a cars air con serviced and found it still full of refrigerant

[Hammer67]

itcaptainslow said:

Engine flushing on quite a few modern cars and the use of additives will invalidate the manufacturer's warranty. So if the dealer is doing this they could be contradicting the manufacturer for which they hold the franchise and potentially putting their client's vehicle's warranty at risk...

I disagreed with the flushes etc. bigtime when I was in the trade.

On the other hand, when I was in aftersales management (got out 12mths ago) at a multi franchise dealer the opposite was true in some cases. Some franchises actively encouraged upselling oil flushes and supplied the product to do them.

[Crosswise]

There seem to be a lot of people suggesting what should and shouldn't be done to an aircon system. Simply put, there is no point in servicing the system, you are more likely to introduce moisture into the system than do anything useful. The idea that you have to top up the refrigerant every so often is just wrong, if it were correct you would have the same issue with your fridge. If the system has a leak, fix it, change the receiver drier and then refill the system. It's that simple. Compressor failure is often not a simple matter of replacing the compressor, it depends on the system. If anyone needs a recommendation of an aircon specialist in Perth who will give you advice that isn't based on internet heresy, please ask!

[Engineer1]

Cupramax said:

I had a bit of a falling out with my local dealer when my A5 was in for a service last year. Work agreed before hand, £179 for an oil service.

I received a call mid afternoon from a very pushy pleb at the dealer who was no doubt on commission saying the car needed the following:-

4 new tyres which i was aware it needed, but the dealer wanted to charge £255 each when i can get Eagle F1 Assymetrics on the net for £172
An aircon service and cabin pollen filter at £120!!
Scuttle panel removing to clear tree debris from the bonnet drains holes £75

Needless to say they got told to feck right off, i bought the tyres myself, fitted a new cabin filter from ECP for £11 and spent ten minutes clearing the tree debris from inside the bonnet ( i have a huge oak tree outside my house).

So thats £698 cost to me, not £1200 odd in mr Audi's pocket. Thieving b'stards.

But not everyone has the space the time or skills to do that maintenance, and you obviously weren't aware it needed doing or you would have done it yourself before you took it in for service.

[Mave]

liner33 said:

Did you own them all from new ? Doubt it so worthless analogy

Its simply a fact that air con systems leak over time

The Alfa I owned from 1 year old, the remainder I owned for a significant time with no record of any air con work in any of the records. It's a simple fact that sealed systems shouldn't leak. Do you need to annually 'service' your coolant because it leaks?

[El Guapo]

OP, your dealer forgot to quote you for a brake fluid change.

[Fox-]

The biggest example of this is surely BMW with the ridiculous microfilter changes every single time the car has an oil change. Doubles the cost... for what purpose?

[Buster73]

Dog Star said:

Similarly "coked up injectors"! For real?

I have the same issue with MB when I have to have a B service at 2 years old on my SLK. The service worked out last time at £503. It's basically and oil and filter change but the kicker is that there's a "compulsory brake fluid change" which accounts for around 300 of the bill. I've been driving and maintaining cars for about 30 years now and consider that I know sensible and reasonable from being a skinflint, and I know one end of a spanner from another. 2 years and change the brake fluid is taking the piss, but they've got you by the short and curlies because they can hide behind the "safety" defence - and I dare say I'll get pilloried for even suggesting that a 20-30K mile, 2 year old car doesn't need it's brake fluid changing so early.

Next time ask the service advisor why it needs changing , then watch them squirm.

[powerstroke]

Crosswise said:

There seem to be a lot of people suggesting what should and shouldn't be done to an aircon system. Simply put, there is no point in servicing the system, you are more likely to introduce moisture into the system than do anything useful. The idea that you have to top up the refrigerant every so often is just wrong, if it were correct you would have the same issue with your fridge. If the system has a leak, fix it, change the receiver drier and then refill the system. It's that simple. Compressor failure is often not a simple matter of replacing the compressor, it depends on the system. If anyone needs a recommendation of an aircon specialist in Perth who will give you advice that isn't based on internet heresy, please ask!

A fridge has a hermetic compressor and metal pipework a car
Has a mecanicaly sealed shaft in its compressor lots of joints and rubber pipes it has deal with vibration and corrosion so not a good comparison sorry!!

[Mave]

So does the coolant system- and if that loses coolant we fix the leak rather than regularly "servicing" it to top it up...

[Crafty_]

Soon be time for the "winter check offer" here.. £50 to check the antifreeze level and tell you the wipers are knackered. Service departments have targets to meet..

Don't know about others but the pollen filter on my car is on the 2 year "big" service, a bomb/freshen up thing is done too. My car is 7 years old, never had a aircon re-charge.

I don't believe engine flushes are needed if oil changes are regular and the right viscosity is used. Manufacturers test these things for thousands of miles and I've never seen a flush recommended or put in a service schedule - dealers may well sell them for easy profit though.

PAS fluid might need a change if moisture or water has got in, can't imagine its an issue on a 3 year old car. Maybe 10 or 12 years old..

[Crosswise]

powerstroke said:

A fridge has a hermetic compressor and metal pipework a car
Has a mecanicaly sealed shaft in its compressor lots of joints and rubber pipes it has deal with vibration and corrosion so not a good comparison sorry!!

You've explained why car aircon fails far more often, but that isn't a good reason to not fix the problem when it does fail!

[dave_s13]

jamieduff1981 said:

Motorrad said:

Sump said:

I thought this was common knowledge?

I've never done it and just fix it when it stops working but you are actually supposed to service Air Con units once a year. They take this more seriously in hotter countries though.

How can you service the a/c without re-charging it?

I've lived in plenty of hot places and have never heard of anything like a yearly a/c service.


In fact I'd go as far to say that if you just use it regularly there's no need to do anything to it as long as it remains working efficiently.

I've had 3 compressors bugger themselves. 2 were knackered bearings and one has just stopped compressing so presumably seals have failed. They're not very serviceable though.

Air con is luck of the draw ime.

I've had nearly 30 different cars so far, I think and the last 3 have all needed air con work. New compressor on one, totally fubar on the next then recently a holed condenser on the latest car.

[liner33]

Mave said:

So does the coolant system- and if that loses coolant we fix the leak rather than regularly "servicing" it to top it up...

Air con runs at about 10 times the pressure of the coolant system so not a good comparison.

I don't know why its not possible to keep the system leak free or why its even acceptable as deliberate venting of the refrigerant is illegal but the fact is these systems do lose performance over time , and need servicing to keep them working 100%