Car air con compressor refurbish

[john]

On a different note.

The a/c compressor in the car is broken according to the garage. I need a new one. Can anyone recommend somewhere that could refurbish the old one?

 

[Neil]

On a different note.

The a/c compressor in the car is broken according to the garage. I need a new one. Can anyone recommend somewhere that could refurbish the old one?

Depends what's up with it, what sort of car, and age did it come off, and did they mention what they thought was wrong with it?

If it's the compressor itself, could be leaking seals, or bearings gone south.

If it's the conventional type (ie not ultra-modern) it could be the magnetic clutch has worn out of tolerance. Often these can be replaced / re-shimmed, but often awkward to do whilst still on the car, normally because of access.

Most air-con engineers don't really seem interested in doing work like that (you may be lucky, though, and find one that is).

With my car, the problem was poor performance caused by the clutch wearing out of tolerance - so when the under-bonnet area got warm, the mag clutch didn't have quite enough pull to keep it engaged.

I bought a 2nd hand replacement (cost me £20) from ebay, re-shimmed it myself (in my example, just meant having a clutch puller kludged by drilling some holes in a small, triangular piece of metal) pulling the clutch off, taking out / grinding down one of the shims / washers, measuring the air-gap with feeler guages, then putting it all back together again.

It then cost around £150 to have my replacement compressor put on, and regassed. Total cost would have been that plus around £30 quid (including postage) for a cheap 2nd hand compressor from ebay. I've now re-shimmed the original compressor, so I have a spare that can go on.

A new compressor will be hundreds - I would have though a minimum of around £300, perhaps even as much as 7-800.

I don't know how much it would cost to refurb your compressor, I guess it depends on what is up with it, but thought I'd give you the example of mine, in case it's a similar problem.

BTW the garage costs for putting on my replacement compressor and re-gassing were from a good independent garage, not main-dealer rates!

 

[john]

The bearings in the compressor are definitely shot - you can hear them from a mile off. It's an older 97 3 series so will probably go down the route of a used item from ebay if getting these refurbed isn't something common.

 

[Neil]

The bearings in the compressor are definitely shot - you can hear them from a mile off. It's an older 97 3 series so will probably go down the route of a used item from ebay if getting these refurbed isn't something common.

You may find an air-con shop willing to, but I didn't for something a lot simpler.

I very much suspect there's no money to be had in opening one up (assuming your compressor can be dismantled, some can't, realistically, these days). Similar story with auto transmissions - whereas in the past, with older generations of transmissions, they would be refurbed, these days that's kind of dying out, and replacement (either used or new) seems the way things are going.

I guess getting a used one is a bit of a gamble, but if you can get one for the sort of money I did (20-30 pounds) it's not a lot to risk.

Good luck, hope you get something sorted and it doesn't cost you too much.

 

[legrandefromage]

On a different note.

The a/c compressor in the car is broken according to the garage. I need a new one. Can anyone recommend somewhere that could refurbish the old one?

open a window?