AC connected to the coolant?

[cartyre]

Hi all,

The repair centre told me that the mechanic said that the coolant was very diluted and that if my AC is not as cool as usual that is the reason why.

I called my local Dacia service centre and they said that makes no sense as the coolant is nothing to do with the AC.

Can anyone advise please?

I have noticed the AC is not as cool as usual since I bought the car 5 years ago.
Dacia have quoted me £220 to refill the AC. Which seems alot. But I am worried if I get the AC topped up by a different garage it may invalidate my Dacia warranty

Thanks

[hxc_]

It will not invalidate your warranty.

That garage is talking nonsense. The systems are not linked.

[tvrolet]

Are you sure the repair centre said coolant and not refrigerant?

[sherman]

Coolant is for the engibe.
Refrigerant gas is for the AC.
The only thing that touches both systems is the aux belt.
I would be asking for a pressure test of the AC first. If theres gas in the system it will just need a top up. If theres no gas you have a leak and will need parts.
A full AC service is about £200 depending on the dealership.
If you wait a week or 2 there will be an AC service special offer on for summer making it a bit cheaper.

[Catnip64]

What work are you having done at the repair centre and why use them rather than the Dacia dealer?

[AlexRS2782]

Catnip64 said:

What work are you having done at the repair centre and why use them rather than the Dacia dealer?

Based on recent post history possibly ongoing work linked to this:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[E-bmw]

cartyre said:

The repair centre told me that the mechanic said that the coolant was very diluted and that if my AC is not as cool as usual that is the reason why.

They are talking utter b0ll0cks.

cartyre said:

I called my local Dacia service centre and they said that makes no sense as the coolant is nothing to do with the AC.

Can anyone advise please?

They are 100% correct.

cartyre said:

I have noticed the AC is not as cool as usual since I bought the car 5 years ago.
Dacia have quoted me £220 to refill the AC. Which seems alot. But I am worried if I get the AC topped up by a different garage it may invalidate my Dacia warranty

Getting your AC topped up somewhere else will NOT void your Dacia warranty.

Buy the current (there always is one) AC top up/test deal with Kwik fit, get on with life.

[ian332isport]

While probably not the case here, some cars do have a water cooled condenser instead of a regular air cooled one. If the water circuit is empty, it can stop the aircon from working correctly, even though it's fully gassed.

[a7x88]

It is true that some cars they are linked - most common one I’m aware of is the B58 in the M140, 340 etc. have a water cooled condenser (as well as a charge cooler) running on a secondary circuit filled with engine coolant.

If that circuit is empty of coolant the AC will not work as it will be over temperature/over pressure

[E-bmw]

Although none of those examples fits with "the coolant was very diluted and that if my AC is not as cool as usual".

[paul_c123]

My guess is that something got misinterpreted. "Coolant is diluted" probably means "refrigerant is low pressure".

[E-bmw]

paul_c123 said:

My guess is that something got misinterpreted. "Coolant is diluted" probably means "refrigerant is low pressure".

I certainly won't disagree that there could certainly be a degree of mis-interpretation/mis-hearing/mis-remembering/mis-understanding in there.