Oreily's AC condenser quality

[DrDusty86]

I will have a new AC and accumulator installed when I get the leak fixed. The bottom half of the condenser has smashed fins. A new one should be better for compressor life and overall system performance right?
Update: I wiped the low pressure line cap with a paper towel. The towel had a ring of oil around it. So I think I found the source of the leak. If the valve is not sealing well the the oil will show up on the cap that's screwed on right?
How are Oreily's condensers quality?
Dusty

 

[AVB]

The connectors on a/c guages get a lot of oil built up on them and will leave some behind on the fittings. The Oreily's condenser is probably the same as any other aftermarket condenser.

 

[DrDusty86]

I would have thought they would have cleaned the caps. It was a ring of oil. How else would the caps get oil inside them. Your theory doesn't seem to hold much water if the shop was clean and did good work.

 

[AVB]

I doubt they cleaned them. Some times when you take the caps off you can see the refrigerant boiling in the oil if the fittings are leaking.

 

[DrDusty86]

Mine are angled so I can't get a good view of them. I'm just puzzled, I had a VERY slow leak and then they replaced the valves. Now, 28 oz lost in a 25 day period. WHY? WHERE? It seems like it was a mistake they made. The only things they did were VAC, recharge, find leak, "fix leak" Vac, then recharge. They claimed the system was in perfect condition after that. [censored]? 25 days later I lost 28 oz.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
Mine are angled so I can't get a good view of them. I'm just puzzled, I had a VERY slow leak and then they replaced the valves. Now, 28 oz lost in a 25 day period. WHY? WHERE? It seems like it was a mistake they made. The only things they did were VAC, recharge, find leak, "fix leak" Vac, then recharge. They claimed the system was in perfect condition after that. [censored]? 25 days later I lost 28 oz.


This work was done at the Ford dealer right?

They obviously made a mistake....or as
Judge Judy says and "on purpose".

I remember hearing quite a few techs and service writers mentioning over my years at dealerships...." that in order to fix this we have to break something else". No lie.

Take it back and make them fix it right.

Tell them exactly what happened and firmly insist that they need to correct whatever it was they did to increase the problem. Yep, it sounds like they broke something else while fixing the original problem.

 

[DrDusty86]

I already made an app. with them for Tuesday. I told the service guy that I got 25 days of use out of it and it has lost ALL freon. I was told it was in perfect shape when it left. He said it may be something our techs did and if so, that will be covered under warranty. My car NEVER lost all freon especially at such a fast rate. it has to be something they did wrong.
I'M bringing them more business having them install the new condenser and accumulator. So they will still make money. I will mention that to him. I will also show him the picture of the paper towel with an oily ring. This whole thing is making me sick!

How should I approach him when I bring my car in? What should I say?

 

[AVB]

It is hard to say, did they put dye in the system? That much of leak should leave some evidence. The valves could be leaking. If they added oil or dye through the service ports, they could have wiped it off or sprayed it with brake clean and still have some residue left behind. Spraying with brake clean kind of waters the dye down, when it evaporates it can still leave some dye behind. A little bit of dye goes a long way.

Some times people disconnect the guages with out closing the valves and it can spay a little oil out. I have seen gauges with oil and dye dripping off the connectors. It is hard to get them clean after that.

 

[punisher]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
This whole thing is making me sick!

How should I approach him when I bring my car in? What should I say?


Being a former dealership tech I can see both sides of the situation. Mistakes are made. Sucks that MAYBE it was on your car. I remember one job on an early '90s Taurus. Full AC compressor slam, back in two weeks not cooling + peeved customer. Too bad they decided to tear off their AC manifold/return line on a parking lot wheel stop. Didn't believe me until I showed it to them on the lift.

This whole "oil on the fitting" complaining is just silly. I would not have the huevos to even bring this up to a service advisor.

They worked on your car for a leaking refrigerant concern. The refrigerant leaked out while still under the warranty period for the work they did. If the parts they replaced are leaking- it is covered. If another part is leaking that they missed, then they would be liable for eating the original cost of diagnosis/labor/parts of the original ticket. ie deduct that from the cost of any addl repairs.

As far as what to say. Show them your original RO, tell the SA the refrigerant is still leaking. If you want any addl work done, tell him/her. Complaining won't help. This is just a car. Getting "sick" over it is counterproductive from any angle you look at it.

A firm, cool customer always makes out best.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
I'M bringing them more business having them install the new condenser and accumulator. So they will still make money. I will mention that to him. I will also show him the picture of the paper towel with an oily ring. This whole thing is making me sick!

How should I approach him when I bring my car in? What should I say?


I wouldnt imply that you are bringing them more business by bringing them an aftermarket compressor and R/D for them to install. Youre keeping their techs busy for another billable hour or so, but they are not making profit on the parts. Plus, if you bring it in, and have another issue, they will blame it on the parts you bring. I dont doubt they will find another leak elsewhere to prevent blame from being on their parts.

The issue with valves leaking is that the valves are open when the gauges are on, and how does one verify vvacuum loss unless the gauges are on?

 

[DrDusty86]

it makes me "SICK" because it is something that they could claim it is now $500-900 more to fix, when they F-ED up the first time, if they want to charge me addiional money for another leak I feel like telling them, next time I will take my business elsewhere if it continues. The leak was NOT nearly this bad before I brought it in, I feel like I'm going to get screwed now. I will ask for any parts they replace to be put in the trunk.
If I have "another" issue" after this I WILL NOT RETURN there for business.

 

[DrDusty86]

I think my approach will be " you guys have always done excellent work for me, I'm sure this is a simple error and I also brought a condenser and accumulator if you wouldn't mind installing them" That way I don't come across as offensive and complement their work they have done in the past. If feel this type of approach is direct and reduces the chances of me getting screwed.
Dusty

 

[kschachn]

FWIW, I have my A/C certification and I used to do work for people helping them out with their cars. I no longer do that especially for older cars because it is a losing proposition unless you replace nearly every component in the system. It also depends on how long you went with it broken, those systems that have been out for a year or more are much more likely to fail after repair.

My theory is that these older systems have been operating at reduced pressures over the years due to small leaks. Then when a big leak happens (like a busted condenser), and you replace just the failed component this brings the whole system up to design pressures. That puts strain on the hoses and the non-replaced parts (like the evaporator) and another subsequent failure is inevitable. I can't tell you how many times I have replaced a leaking evaporator for someone and then about a month tops they are back with another failed part.

Often when people take a car into a repair shop the shop says that they want to replace X, Y and Z along with the failed part. They have a reason for saying this, not that they want to gouge you.

 

[mechtech2]

from punisher:
This whole "oil on the fitting" complaining is just silly. I would not have the huevos to even bring this up to a service advisor.

Yes. Embarrassing and petty.

 

[DrDusty86]

FIRST: I BROUGHT IT IN THE FIRST TIME 26 DAYS AGO I SAID I HAVE A SLOW SLOW LEAK AND ASKED IF THEY WOULD FIND IT AND FIX IT. THEY "CLAIMED" THE SCHREADER VALVES WERE LEAKING, CLAIMED TO HAVE CHECKED OUT THE SYSTEM. AFTER THE VALVE REPLACEMENT. HE SAID IT IS IN GREAT WORKING ORDER. I SPECIFICALLY ASKED ABOUT THE CONDENSER, THE COMPRESSOR, ACCUMULATOR AND THE HOSES. HE SAID "NOPE" THOSE ARE FINE". 25 DAYS LATER THE SYSTEM IS DRY. AGAIN, WTH?
GUYS, AM I NOT TYPING ENGLISH OR WHAT???

 

[kschachn]

Hey yeah, good luck getting any help on here again.

I sure as heck am glad I'm not at the shop you are going back to.

 

[DrDusty86]

DUDE, PEOPLE ARE ACTING LIKE THEY HAVEN'T READ MY 3 PREVIOUS POSTS. Some info they are acting I already posted..several times.
It's getting OLD.

 

[kschachn]

This is a public message board. You get what you get, your job is to weed through it all and take what is useful and discard the rest.

My post was trying to tell you that it is quite possible that another component failed after the repair. It *may* not be a mistake they made, it may be, but it might not. We don’t know now do we? We only go by what you say and what you are telling us, no one here has nor can we troubleshoot your air conditioning system over the Internet. So we can only offer suggestions based on what you tell us, which in this case is actually very little.

Some Schrader valves leak a little, that is one of the reasons they have caps. The caps are not there just to keep out dirt but they are actually designed as a secondary seal for the valve. The ones on my Toyotas are dry as a bone under them but the ones on my BMW have a little oil like yours did. But if the oil is only under the cap then the cap is doing its job. If the fitting is oily around the sealed cap then it is leaking.

Maybe that shop was incompetent, maybe they just missed something, maybe they damaged something else by accident, maybe it is just a coincidence something else failed, maybe mice chewed through a hose. It can all happen. Until you take it back and find out though all this is just guessing.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
DUDE, PEOPLE ARE ACTING LIKE THEY HAVEN'T READ MY 3 PREVIOUS POSTS. Some info they are acting I already posted..several times.
It's getting OLD.


Dusty don't be too annoyed, most techs don't want to think their skills for doing competent repair are beyond reproach, but the fact is they are not. I have also found that increasingly over the past couple of decades that what once was reasonable ability to correctly and properly make repairs has become a rarity at least in my experience, not only that when a lot of these people make GROSS errors and mistakes they simply will NOT step up and take responsibility for them instead trying to blame the parts, or the customer anything except taking responsibility for their own work.

Not only that it is VERY common from my experience that shops will break something else deliberately during the repair of the original problem so you will be back to spend more money, and yes that makes them guilty of fraud and theft.

There are still honest, competent techs out there but they are getting fewer by the day. Sadly most are neither.

 

[crazy8]

Just to upset you a little more, I highly doubt that they will install non OE parts and if they do there is usually no warranty on anything. If you want those parts replaced you will have to purchase through the service dept. ;>((