Air Conditioning - Accumulator/Dryer - availability?

[Dancing Demon]

I had the air con regassed - perfect.

It passed their leak test.

2 days later it stopped working.

Took it back to garage and they regasssed it again - only ONE connection was made to the unit by the battery.

Again it passed the leak test.

Whilst regassing it, it would not take any gas, and then suddenly after a few minutes it took 660g of gas and all worked well again. It was working fine 1 day later, (although not as cold as I had expected) and two days later nothing.

Any suggestions please?

Thanks

Chris

[Van]

How much gas came out of it, this is measured during refilling.

[Dancing Demon]

No gas came out of it..... (maybe 4g or 5g) so it had lost everything.

Kind regards

Chris

[doingitsideways]

If it was down to 4 or 5g after a few days, there is a pretty substantial leak.

The system won't run when it gets down too low, to stop the compressor seizing.

Standard practice it to add a UV dye to the gas when filling so should show up in a garage with a UV lamp to find a leak.

Saying that though, if it was regassed professionally it should have been vacuumed out and pressure tested.

Oh, they only have a low pressure port. It's a Volvo thing.
Makes them a pain in the arse to regas, as the compressor won't run to suck the gas in until the system sees sufficient pressure.
Usually gas is added in dribs and drabs, then the compressor with eventually kick in and the rest will fly in.

[Dancing Demon]

Have found the problem with a/c - hole in the condensor.

Managed to get a new one!

The firm replacing it suggested getting a new dryer/accumulator as well.

I have three part numbers listed:

3457699 which seems to be the same as 471845 and then 3449832 which is apparently for pre 1993 models.

Seems to be plenty of brand new ones for 3449832 but none for the one I actually want/need?

I find it hard to believe there are no equivalents?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Chris

[Rob Houston]

Just had my Celebration aircon done. Just in case, I had explored the possibilities of spares and came up with the following which should be a direct replacement for the receiver/dryer:

"Delphi Dryer, Air Conditioning Receiver for Volvo TSP0175171"

Have a look on ebay - the suppliers had a slight problem with the dryer "not being on the shelf" That was about 6 weeks ago, so they should have sorted that out. Unfortunately, they appear to be the ONLY stockist, I checked as many sources as possible.

It has been mentioned on the forum before and you are probably aware, that if anything on the aircon system is disconnected and left open for any length of time, without capping it - a new receiver/dryer is a necessity as water vapour from the atmosphere will enter the system and contaminate it. There are a couple of silica gel bags inside the dryer to absorb the water in the oil/refrigerant and it's virtually impossible to replace these safely. This is why a nitrogen purge and vacuum is normally done to remove contaminants after a refit.

Hope the above is of some help!
Rob Houston.

[Rob Houston]

Just a quick note regarding the ebay supplier I mentioned. "Youwantwhatwehave" They appear to have a good reputation and refunded my money within 24H. So if you head that way, you shouldn't have too much to worry about - except fitting of course

Rob.