Midas

[atholon]

My AC would work sometimes and other times it wouldn`t. So I called midas to see what I could have done to fix it. I initially contacted someone from Midas who was rotating between stores. He told me that AC inspection was free
in the month of June. I took it into them and later that day they called and told me that the valves on the ac
were leaking and that they could fix the problem for $165. I said sure and hung up. The next day I went in and picked
up my car. I turned the AC on full blast and it blew hot air. I thought "maybe it just needs a little while to cool down"
and I continued to drive to work. The drive is 1/2 hour and during that entire 1/2 hour the ac didn`t work. When I was driving home
at night, when it was cooler the AC started working. I thought "well let me give it a few days to see if it is just getting broken in"
every day the AC would not function. It was off and on like it had been when I took it into midas. I returned the car to them on July 2nd
and they took about 4 hours to tell me that the compresser was leaking and that it would cost $1100 to replace the unit.


Why could they have not caught that the first time?

1. Either they never looked which is a failure on their part as mechanics.


2. They knew that the compressor was leaking and just wanted to charge me the $165 knowing that I would never pay that much to have my car repaired which is extremely dishonest.




I called at 1:15pm MST and I got the message from a woman who sounded annoyed that I would even think of calling corporate "Thank you for calling midas consumer relations our office is closed. Please leave a message and we will
return your call during normal business hours." What kind of company is closed at 12pm PST 1pm MST 2pm CST 3PM EST?

[Mauser 98K]

165$ for shrader valves? ya got shived.

i can getem and installem for less than 10$, every1 i have herd of going to midas has had 1 problem or another and got stiffed on the price and that is what ya call the midas touch.

it sounds like they didnt properly installem\evacuate-charge the system, if ya dont clean the mating surface and install the valves corectly they will leak like crazy, and if ya dont properly evacuate the system(pump it down to a certain level b4 charging) the cooling system wont work ither.


but if it would work and not work other times it doesnt sound like a leak to me, for if it leaked down it wouldnt work at all.


is the compressor engaging\disengaging? ya should be able to hear it when it kicks on and off if not ya can watch it by opening ya hood and watching to see if it is engaging, if it isnt kicking on and off ya have 3 things it could be, ither ya havnt got enough pressure in the system to operate the switch, or ya got a problem with the clutch system on the compressor, id also check the fuse.

or ya compressor is half fried for lack of coolent, if it had a leak and got to low most AC compressors use the freon as a coolent and will fry for it being to low, but depending on the type and year of the compressor it should have a low pressure switch to keep it from operating with no pressure.


do you have any way of getting te low loss fittings with pressure guage on them, ya can usem to check the pressure, or ya can do it the old fassion way, take a screwdriver and avoiding the stream of freon, depress the valve and see if it has pressure, if it has good pressure it will have a loud hiss as loud as the his of a bottle rocket engine, if it just goes hiss and dies out that will be the problem.


just use a good long screwdriver if ya do it that way and wear a glove on the hand ya are using, and be in a gooood ventelated place and avoud the stream, freon is heavier than air and will displace the oxygen in ya lungs sufocating ya.



but it sounds like a charge problem to me, depending on where ya are ya can get cans of freon from wallmart, i dont know if ya need a license to buy it or not, being i have never bought freon on the little cans.



but whatever ya do do not under any circumstance use a tire guage to check freon pressure, some AC systems can have over 200PSI on thr highside, and most tire guages are rated for half that.

[Hellfighter]

you ever think it maybe the switch for it to turn on?

go to your car try it like 10x see how it work turn on and off.

all so turn it on and leave A/C on turn the car off and 5min go by turn the car back on, if the AC kick in right off the back without using the switch (that is already on) then its the switch that turn on the AC unit. switch is going bad is all not making good contact is all.

some time they like to milk you is all

take it to a local A/C shop and have them recharge the A/C they will test it right there before they recharge it up, if there any leaks in the lines or united they will see it.

its a lot cheaper to have it recharge, beside you can go to a car junk yard and locate the unit you need be a lot cheaper then 1000$

[Mauser 98K]

yup thatll do it too, some switches the thing they use to lubem will get gooy and mess the switch up, to check the switch, look and see if it the plugin typem and unplug it after marking and index mark on it.

now get a multi meter and flip the switch to off and check it, now flip it to on and recheck, if ya get low resistance on and high off it good, if it high on and high off it busted.


and ya can check for leak yaself, get a spray bottle and fill it up woth soap water, now spray it on all the joints on the hose and flanges on the compressor, if bubbles come up it has a leak, but this process only work if there is pressure in the system.

[atholon]

Aight, will do.

Mine just has an AC button...I pressed it a few times and it seemed to get colder. I will mess around with it more tomorrow.

[Hellfighter]

you maybe able to find one at the dealership or the car junk yard for another switch if you feel that maybe it, they don't go out to many time. but it do happens.

repairshops don't make a lot of money telling people its the switch they like to make money so they say its the whole main item $$$$$

[atholon]

It still may be the compressor but....I still don`t want to blow any more money on this car...stupid piece of junk.

[Hellfighter]

will you could always take it to a A/C service or call some one to come to the house to refill it and they by law have to test it first before they fill it up

call around, this way you have a 3rd part come and look at it.

if the compressor is bad they will tell you or if no then is bad about it full as it can get, mean the switch is the item

[Mauser 98K]

just get the AC i got in my car.

i got 2\60 AC unit, 2windows down and 60mph.