How much is an AC service where ya"all are?

[vw7674]

Originally Posted by Jethro_Bob
Originally Posted by philipp10
Ok I'm going to play devils advocate here. I have 3 cars, a 2007, 2008 and a 2010....so all are fairly old. None have ever been serviced. All three still cool decently but far from ice cold. I'm going under the assumption that all basically don't have a gross leak since they all cool. But as we all know, every system leaks some and at 10 years old, they are all probably a bit low on coolant. So what's wrong with going the shade tree hack and adding just a few ounces each. If they improve, probably just stop there. What's the worst that can happen? I end up in the garage for a service?



Where I live, shops advertise the hack job for $39.99, a 15oz can of 134a is about $5 retail. It take all of five minutes to put a hose on the low pressure side and guess with a non temperature compensated gauge. Best case scenario, your paying $400 an hour to improperly repair your car. Worse case, he used stop leak, your compressor fails and a $90 job becomes a $2000 system replacement.


This is why the top off cans with gauge are so handy.
If you have auto history & know it's been neglected & you can read instructions,
you can fire up the A/C system & load it & note performance improvement.
You'll actually be more careful than the service guy with eight vehicles stacked up behind yours.

 

[sxg6]

Had the local Subaru dealer do my car a couple years ago. Labor $98. Parts (refrigerant and dye on the invoice, probably oil too.) $15. No coupon or special going on at the time either.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by philipp10
Ok I'm going to play devils advocate here. I have 3 cars, a 2007, 2008 and a 2010....so all are fairly old. None have ever been serviced. All three still cool decently but far from ice cold. I'm going under the assumption that all basically don't have a gross leak since they all cool. But as we all know, every system leaks some and at 10 years old, they are all probably a bit low on coolant. So what's wrong with going the shade tree hack and adding just a few ounces each. If they improve, probably just stop there. What's the worst that can happen? I end up in the garage for a service?

You may well end up with a huge repair bill. The refrigerant moves the oil. If its low on refrigerant the oil does not move the oil like it should and the compressor blows up. BTW I'm doing a $2100 AC repair on a dodge truck right now.

 

[atikovi]

One thing that's hard to fathom is why does just a compressor that cools the interior of a car cost $300 or $400 but you can buy a window A/C that cools a whole room for just $99.

 

[supton]

Haven't had one done in nearly 10 years--once we got rid of our '01 Civic we haven't had a/c problems. Knock on wood! Not too far from it being not worthwhile to repair on the current fleet.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by supton
Haven't had one done in nearly 10 years--once we got rid of our '01 Civic we haven't had a/c problems. Knock on wood! Not too far from it being not worthwhile to repair on the current fleet.

Cars don't rust here. People keep them forever. We still service R12 cars almost daily.

 

[javacontour]

I'm sure you can imagine some of the comments on this SMA video where the problem is fixed by cleaning the MAF with some MAF cleaner.

Some people think he should just give away his time. How much did he do before the camera goes on? As you mentioned, equipment, permits and what not. I'm sure that scanner requires updates and those cost time and money to perform.

Some customers deserve to get fired.


Originally Posted by Chris142
I'm not talking about adding with a can but a whole service. First. I have $20k worth of AC machines. I recently had to buy a $1700 refrigerant identifier because my old one broke. No way will I work on a system without knowing what's in it! Plus its the law that I have and use one.

Don't forget about permits,business license, rent etc. A typical recharge on a small car is about $150-$175. This includes new Schrader valves,oil,evacuate and charge. Also includes the leak detector both electronic and dye.

A big suburban would include a new orifice tube too. Those hold 4lbs of r134a. Figure $200-$225 for one of those.


People are beating my door down at these prices! I guess pep boys and Firestone are much more. We do get the occasional bonehead that tells us to pound sand or to do bad things to myself. Don't need those customers anyway. They can't comprehend that we completely service the system and don't just guess with a can of AC pro.

BTW I love those cans of AC pro! They always over fill the system. Job security!

 

[Schmoe]

Last summer, I paid about 120 for system vac and recharge, 06 Accord.

 

[53' Stude]

Originally Posted by Chris142
I'm not talking about adding with a can but a whole service. First. I have $20k worth of AC machines. I recently had to buy a $1700 refrigerant identifier because my old one broke. No way will I work on a system without knowing what's in it! Plus its the law that I have and use one.

Don't forget about permits,business license, rent etc. A typical recharge on a small car is about $150-$175. This includes new Schrader valves,oil,evacuate and charge. Also includes the leak detector both electronic and dye.

A big suburban would include a new orifice tube too. Those hold 4lbs of r134a. Figure $200-$225 for one of those.


People are beating my door down at these prices! I guess pep boys and Firestone are much more. We do get the occasional bonehead that tells us to pound sand or to do bad things to myself. Don't need those customers anyway. They can't comprehend that we completely service the system and don't just guess with a can of AC pro.

BTW I love those cans of AC pro! They always over fill the system. Job security!



Dont know what ya"all is to be honest

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by atikovi
One thing that's hard to fathom is why does just a compressor that cools the interior of a car cost $300 or $400 but you can buy a window A/C that cools a whole room for just $99.

A window unit AC that's only $99 is only about 5,000 BTUs. A car's AC compressor is roughly 40,000 BTUs. An EQUIVALENT window AC unit is at least $500.

Car AC systems are MUCH more powerful than home AC systems. That's because nobody ever lets their house get much hotter than 80 degrees before turning the AC on. During the summer, you're probably gonna have it running 24/7, always maintaining a comfortable temperature. And if the house does get really hot inside, we generally accept that it will take at least an hour to cool down to a tolerable level.

Cars on the other hand can easily be 130+ degrees if they've been sitting in the sun for more than a few hours. And when you climb inside, start the engine and crank the AC up, you expect the interior to be cool within a few minutes, not hours! There wouldn't be any point in having AC in the car if it takes over an hour to cool down like a house. You'd already be at your destination long before the car's interior cooled down. Plus, cars have little to no insulation unlike a house, many windows facing the sun that heat the interior, and they have many large components under the hood and under the floorboards that get over 200 degrees. Car AC requirements are nothing like a house AC requirements. You're comparing applies to oranges.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by philipp10
Ok I'm going to play devils advocate here. I have 3 cars, a 2007, 2008 and a 2010....so all are fairly old. None have ever been serviced. All three still cool decently but far from ice cold. I'm going under the assumption that all basically don't have a gross leak since they all cool. But as we all know, every system leaks some and at 10 years old, they are all probably a bit low on coolant. So what's wrong with going the shade tree hack and adding just a few ounces each. If they improve, probably just stop there. What's the worst that can happen? I end up in the garage for a service?

You may well end up with a huge repair bill. The refrigerant moves the oil. If its low on refrigerant the oil does not move the oil like it should and the compressor blows up. BTW I'm doing a $2100 AC repair on a dodge truck right now.

like I said.....all the cars are STILL cooling....just not really cold like they would if new. I don't believe for a second that any of the three compressors are ready to blow up. Lots of hysterics here.

 

[Rmay635703]

A can of lubricating refrigerant is cheap enough and easy to add

 

[zzyzzx]

People are beating my door down at these prices! I guess pep boys and Firestone are much more.

Because those places are totally incompetent with respect to A/C service.

I have no idea what places around here charge for A/C service, since I DIY.

 

[wtd]

I have no idea what shops charge around here since I do my own work.

 

[ken9009]

Any one want to guess the cost to do this in a late model car with the new r-134yf coolant .my price is $700.00 for a 10lb. cylinder

 

[Anduril]

All I can say is my vacuum pump, gauge set, and flush gun paid for themselves the first time I used them.

Originally Posted by ken9009

Any one want to guess the cost to do this in a late model car with the new r-134yf coolant .my price is $700.00 for a 10lb. cylinder

I've read that 134a is a direct replacement for the stuff, but I don't own anything that uses it. Much like canned air is a replacement for R12.

 

[Jarlaxle]

$90 for my Vic a couple weeks ago...evacuate, vacuum for 20 minutes, recharge with "recycled" R-134a and new oil, including UV dye.

I will note the A/C in my Caddy had held the same refrigerant charge (R-12 system with R-134a conversion) for at least eight years.

 

[JTK]

This is going back to about 2011-12, but our 2007 Honda Odyssey lost it's A/C. I took it to our local Honda dealer. The leak checked, couldn't find any leaks or problems with the system and recharged. Not sure what else it entailed, but it was only like $80 at the time IIRC. They charged me more for a replacement battery that they talked me into at the same visit.

 

[Rumble]

With 3 older vehicles (actually just 2 now, as we got rid of our '04 PT), I started doing my own A/C work lately. So I don't what shops are asking for A/C repairs. WIth my Caddy, I replaced some of the major components, and converted to R134 a few years back. Same with my pickup, but it had been converted years ago, but the shop did the bare minimum and never cooled all that great. So last summer, I replaced everything on it (except the evaporator core which takes an act of congress to remove from the dash). It cools in the upper 30 degrees now, while the Cadillac gets down to around 40 degrees (still using the original condenser).

 

[wtd]

I think this thread jinxed me since the AC went out yesterday in my daily driver 92 Cavalier. I replaced the compressor a little over a year and a half ago. After it quit working yesterday, I looked under the car and could see that the compressor was leaking oil. I couldn't tell if it was leaking from the pressure valve on the compressor or where the lines go in. It doesn't look like it's leaking from the body seal. I'm hoping that I can replace some O-rings or the sealing washers and be good.