fixing/converting air con, cost?

[jasonp]

hiya all, if the air con is not working and would need converting once fixed, what sort of price could you expect to pay? and also what reduction could you expect if buying a 944 with air con not working?,i remember cool-it in bournemouth quoted me around £1,500 to retro fit air con to my s2, cheers jason p

 

[edh]

problem is, all the sellers will claim it "just needs regassing" whatever the fault might be

 

[Lowtimer]

I think the default position for any Porsche of this era is "air con not working" so I would not expect a discount from the usual selling prices.
At this age, and with long lack of use, an air con system may well need a new condenser, receiver / drier, or even a compressor, as well as plumbing leaks fixing and the whole thing charged with an approproate and currently legal refrigerant. Expect a four-figure bill if you pay a proper air con specialist to do it right.

I'm having mine done when it comes back from the body shop so will report back here.

 

[robwright]

You will need a new compressor mate and a new receiver dryer. I imported a remanufactured compressor from the states for just under £200 (don't even other looking in the UK). Receiver dryer you can get from eurocarparts for less than £30. You should change the expansion vessel also but it is buried in the dash and even cool it advised me not to bother. Change the compressor with new o rings lubricated with oil. Install the receiver dryer just before you get it gassed up (preferrably immediately before). Then it's just a case of gassing up with nice new environmentally friendly r134a for around £50. My estimate is around less than £300 if you can do the work yourself and your system is leak free []

 

[ukmastiff]

Ohhhh EDH you read my mind [8|] . Everyone knows there is no such thing as knackered air con , it just ' needs re-gassing' ( according to most sellers anyway).
I dont know if the default position for an older car was a serious comment but if it was I totally disagree, the default position fo me is everything working including the air-con. If the car is minus a feature its minus on the price, otherwise you might as well say no central locking no working sunroof , clock , rear wiper or remote boot release and all the other things we know are eventually bound to go or need fixing on a 944 []

Regards

Mas

 

[Lowtimer]

Merely reflecting the reality that I have only seen a tiny minority of 944s or similar age 964s with working air con in the last three years while I have been looking at them, but have seen a considerable number which had it fitted, but not working. As far as I understand arithmetic that makes non-functioning air con the norm on Porsches of this sort of age.I do not claim that is a desirable state of affairs, merely that it is a usual one, and therefore already reflected in the prices paid for most cars.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

If the car is minus a feature its minus on the price, otherwise you might as well say no central locking no working sunroof , clock , rear wiper or remote boot release and all the other things we know are eventually bound to go or need fixing on a 944

I know what you're saying, but it needs to have a bit of perspective applied.

Would you miss out on a 944 with perfect paint, no rust, a new clutch, recent belt service, overhauled brakes and suspension etc. just because they refused to haggle over a central locking issue we all know is a few pence to fix? Or a heater that blows hot air all the time, less than a £ to fix, or a flapping wiper arm, again less than a tenner.

Older cars will, in fact should, have a few faults. I understand the argument that, if it's only a few pence, you should fix it before selling. But, for someone like me that often involves a day off work to take the car to a specialist, so I'd ignore it until the car is serviced.

Air con is different, as it's the thick end of a grand to get fully rebuilt, unless you do the work yourself. Of course, don't believe the usual "only needs a re-gas", but again it's not the end of the world. How do you value a car with non-working aircon over the majority that don't have it fitted?

Over the years the advice when buying a 944 has been to set £1K aside in the first year, on top of any issues you are aware of when you buy the car. I'd raise that to at least £1.5K now; people do need to accept that this is the sort of money they're going to pay for major work on a Porsche.

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: robwright

You will need a new compressor mate and a new receiver dryer.  I imported a remanufactured compressor from the states for just under £200 (don't even other looking in the UK).  Receiver dryer you can get from eurocarparts for less than £30.  You should change the expansion vessel also but it is buried in the dash and even cool it advised me not to bother.  Change the compressor with new o rings lubricated with oil.  Install the receiver dryer just before you get it gassed up (preferrably immediately before).  Then it's just a case of gassing up with nice new environmentally friendly r134a for around £50.  My estimate is around less than £300 if you can do the work yourself and your system is leak free []

that's a big "if" [] I know I spent a fortune, even after buying a good s/h compressor

Don't forget the condenser either. Often rotten or holed. The rubber in the ac lines will go porous eventually, and its a big job replacing them. I finished up getting pirtek to swage the ends of the old lines onto new flexible hose. And after all that effort the next owner of my car has completely stripped it...

 

[sawood12]

Cost me £80 for regas with r135a ( or whatever it is) plus all the parts necessary for replacement and was worked fine afterwards. Still needed a regard after about 18 months and I replaced the dessicant canister at that stage. Promax do recondishioned a/c bits.

 

[VanhireBoys]

The regassing story is the same here... My system is set up for R8 which is no longer available due to tree huggers []

I was quoted about €750 to get the system sorted out with different fittings and gassed with R135a. Apparentlly this stuff will find the leaks easier. This is the cheapest I could get it for and only if the rest of the A/C is working properly


The heater is good in the car.. clears the windscreen and all - if I get too hot the windows and roof open []

 

[sawood12]

The A/C specialist told me there was alot of hogwash and myth about this. The R135a needs certain seals replaced as it is corrosive to the rubber seals in the system fitted from new, so all that is required is to replace the o-ring seals in the system, replace the valves the regasing system hooks into and you're good to go. Yes this stuff finds leaks but I was having to regas the system every 12 - 18 months (actually every 6 to 12 months of use on the basis I hardly used it over winter) anyway and that frequency didn't change under R135a. Their advice was to regas with the new gas and see how you go. If you need any more reconditioned components then you probably would have needed them anyway.

The reality is that at this age the a/c systems in these cars are nearing the end of their useful life and the major components are ready for refurbishment/replacement, and even if your system is fully operational and fully functioning now, it wont be for much longer. So nothing to do with new gas, just a tired system.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Want a good laugh [] despite my 968 being a complete money pit and general PITA the one thing that has always worked perfectly in my ownership after I fixed a vacuum leak is the A/C. Belt slips sometimes though but that is another issue and seems to be a 968 design fault (you have to over tension the belt to stop it).

Despite what the naysayers may say when it works it is really lovely on a warm summers day, almost to the point that IMHO I wouldn't want to drive one of these cars day in day out without having working A/C.