A Hole In The A/c Condenser

[Maša]

Hello!

First of all excuse my english :)

Few weeks ago the air condition in my Aygo stopped working and I went to Toyota to fix it. They said the gas is leaking and refilled it. They also put some color in the "freon" gas so that next time they would see where it is leaking.

After two weeks I went to Toyota again with the same problem. They told me that "some stone entered accidentally through the front part (the lower net where the air enters; see the photos) and this stone made a little hole". They said that they should change the condenser - gave me the part num. 88450-0H020 - CONDENSER ASSY, W/RECEIVER, FRONT AIR ACONDITIONER-WITH - and the price plus taxes is 418€ euros!!! :o - Of course this can't be covered by warranty. The insurance covers this but it would still cost me a lot.

In my opinion the leak is too high, out of access, so that no stone could get there; also in the green paint I don't see any crash or hole! I think Toyota want to "wash their hands" and don't pay the repair. I have one year more of warranty.

I put some photos for help here.-

Also I want to know is this condenser the same as in Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107 or Toyota Yaris, etc; because I search some spare parts on eBay, in Italy they have some similar new parts (not AYGO...) but I don't know if this can work good in Aygo. The price is around 90€!!! B)

And if I change this part by myself would it affect the warranty?

Thanks.

[adilmon]

Also I want to know is this condenser the same as in Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107 ...

Yes, they are exactly the same, but yaris is different

[Jan van de Wouw]

Changing the Condensor may seem simple, but afterwards you need to get a certified

company to refille the system after pressuretesting it and searching for leaks. I wouldn't

be surprised if you end up paying about the same as your dealers' quote when all is done...

Looking at the hole in your photo I DO believe it may have been a stone or something,

you only need ONE single rogue stone to cause damage and it seems you just were so unlucky.

[T.F.S.B.I.G.W.S.]

It might be worth getting quotes from Citroen and Peugeot - who would, surely, provide a warranty for any work which they did

[Unklian]

I had the same happen on a Honda Accord I owned.

I would buy a condenser from a breakers or eBay as you've said.

From other cars I've seen, Its an easy change job.

Bumper off. Its on this site somewhere.

A few mounting screws and the 2 gas pipe connections.

No need to worry about draining it as all the gas has gone.

Looking at the leak site, very little or no oil has escaped, so you only need a gas re-fill

If you can find a local air-con place,

a check and fill should be 50-60 euros.

There are many ways of filling it youself if you feel confident you have sealed it properly.

look on eBay for r134a and you can find many filling kits.

If you look up air-con and r134a on youtube, there are videos of these kits being used.

Go for it!

Good Luck.

Ian.

[Maša]

Thanks all for help and ideas. :)

Perhaps because the leak is little (takes 2 weeks or little more to loose all gas), is good idea to try some of this "leaksealers" canister before replacing all condenser and refill, etc.

I still don't know whether it would affect the warranty if I would do such repairs ... ?

Salutes!