Air Con Condenser - All VH Cars

[dhallworth]

I found a puddle of UV dye on my air conditioning condenser on the V8 Vantage at the weekend so decided I was going to order a new condenser.

After looking on Scuderia parts I found the part number to be 9G43-19710-AA.

Aston Martin Works list it online at £610 inc VAT and the website says that it fits all VH cars.

https://amwparts.com/parts/air-conditioning-conden...

I started to do a bit of digging and found Flying Spares list some AM parts now, including an air con condenser at £300 inc VAT.

https://www.flyingspares.com/condenser-aston-marti...

Normally I don't like aftermarket parts so I emailed them to see who the manufacturer of their part was. They wouldn't tell me who made it stating that it was company policy not to pass on their supplier information. What they did say was it's a part that they commissioned and had manufactured for them and that it comes with a 3 year warranty.

I ordered this on Monday afternoon and it was dispatched same day with DHL on a next business day service. Unfortunately, DHL didn't fulfil the next business day bit but it was delivered yesterday afternoon.

I fitted it last night and it fitted first time, the bolt hole lined up perfectly and the pipework went straight in with no messing around. I filled the system on my car with nitrogen to 5 bar of pressure and it has held overnight so it appears to have fixed my leak. It's also painted black like the AM one is too.

I thought I'd mention this as it's half the price of a genuine one from AM, it fits perfectly and comes with 3 times the warranty of a genuine AM part.

Hope this helps save someone else from the Aston tax.

David.

[Gassmi]

Good find that. The Flying Spares condenser is clearly the same OE manufacturer or a very faithful copy. Half the price, triple the warranty, and fits perfectly no brainer really.
Aston tax is real, and finding these workarounds from reputable suppliers is exactly what keeps these cars usable without getting rinsed. Cheers for sharing the part number too, that'll save someone else the detective work.

[LTP]

Might be worth putting a note in the "Aston Martin alternative parts" sticky

[bullet7]

Be careful that the cause of the dye is a leak from the condenser and not the pipework. The pipework leading up and away from the condenser to the left as you face the car often rubs making a small hole in the pipe resulting in the system contents leaking out, running down the pipe to the corner of the condenser, making it look as though the condenser is leaking. Conndensers are of course prone to leaking, but in my case it was the pipe even though it clearly looked like the condenser.

[dhallworth]

LTP said:

Might be worth putting a note in the "Aston Martin alternative parts" sticky

Have just done it

bullet7 said:

Be careful that the cause of the dye is a leak from the condenser and not the pipework. The pipework leading up and away from the condenser to the left as you face the car often rubs making a small hole in the pipe resulting in the system contents leaking out, running down the pipe to the corner of the condenser, making it look as though the condenser is leaking. Conndensers are of course prone to leaking, but in my case it was the pipe even though it clearly looked like the condenser.

Thanks for the heads up on the pipework. The leak on mine was at the other side of the condenser, at the bottom right as you stand looking at the car so I'm fairly hopeful that was the cause.

I was loosing pressure when testing with nitrogen and it seems to be holding now so here's hoping!

David.

Edited by dhallworth on Thursday 30th April 09:47

[ian448]

I wouldnt be suprised if its been made by NAR group in Northampton who supply Aston OEM rads to the factory, I had a v12 rad from flying spares and the shipping address was NAR groups. So OEM Aston at less than half the price.

[dhallworth]

That’s interesting.

There were no labels on the box or condenser for this one other then Flying Spares.

If I need a rad I’ll be ordering it from them as well then!

[leerandle]

I had my 2006 Vantage Aircon 'checked' and re-gassed late last year and now its not working again.

I assume its the condenser, so might go down this route as well.

I get frustrated by these garages claiming everythings ok, just needs a re-gas and charge you accordingly.

There doesn't appear to be any leaks, so will do some more checking before I buy and fit.

[dhallworth]

The problem is the machines in garages pull a fairly small vacuum and hold it for 20 mins or so.

My car was only loosing 3psi across a week when sitting at 5 bar of pressure with nitrogen in it. It was a tiny tiny leak which would never have shown via the vacuum test.

When it was recharged, did they put UV dye in it? If so, get a cheap UV torch off amazon or eBay and have a look through the grill in the dark and see if you can see any yellow patches.