My car is an AC success story.
I took it to Valvoline this morning, for a recharge. Big mistake.
They said they'd vacuum out old refrigerant, any debris and water, which I saw online is good to do, first hook a vacuum pump to it. Then they said they'd fill it full of new refrigerant. They said to leave it there forty minutes, take a walk or something, then come back and it would be done. So I did.
I came back and they said they were finished. However, the thermometer in the vent read 60 degrees, with AC on full blast, the same temp it read when I arrived. I said, "Um, nothing has changed."
He finally said they'd remove their refrigerant and put mine back. since it didn't work and I'd need to go to a mechanic to find out what was wrong because recharging had not helped. Ok, I thought, does that even make sense? Where had they stored my refrigerant? I was staring over towards their AC machine looking for maybe a bucket, labeled "Jody's Refrigerant" or a balloon or I don't know what.
A different employee came over and I asked her what in the world that meant. And she said its all the same refrigerant, yours, ours, gave a small smile. Hmmmm.
So they unhooked the hoses on the high and low ports and off I went. They did not charge me, thank the gods.
I went straight to an auto parts store and bought a new cabin filter. My old one was very dirty.
Then I went straight to James Garage--an auto shop. He was very very busy and said come back at 1:00, that he could at least check something on the compressor.
I went back at 1:00. He hooked up his hoses to the high and low pressure AC ports and made a startling discovery. Zero refrigerant in my system. Big fat zero.
Hmmmm. So what in the world did Valvoline do? My brother said probably nothing. Probably they sucked nothing out, put nothing back in, and took nothing back out. Ok, great job Valvoline. Won't go back there.
Anyhow, the good news is, after James Garage recharged the refrigerant, I have nice cool air again! He said the compressor is weak but should last awhile longer.
I'm fabulously happy.
Neither of our rigs have AC.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on, and stay safe.
You live in northern ID. I doubt you'd need to fix either.
DeleteWonderful news. And at least the second place was honest.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to find an honest place.
DeleteA strange series of how things went but a good result.
ReplyDeleteYes quite strange but ending came out ok.
DeleteI'm glad Valvoline didn't charge for doing nothing other than telling you a story. And you found a fix that should last a little while.
ReplyDeleteIt's good when you charge nothing for doing nothing. I hope the fix last quite awhile!
DeleteI try not to use chain auto repair shops whenever possible. Too many horror stories.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the stories too.
DeleteYay! Glad it was a relatively easy fix, but too bad Valvoline was useless. Yikes.
ReplyDeletefirst time for ages I've gone to one of those little oil change or anything else fix it places because I've heard the stories, know people whose cars were damaged.
DeleteGood grief. I'm glad you're content with the ultimate results. ~hugs~ Best wishes, my dear.
ReplyDeleteYeah, at least its working.
DeleteIn all areas of life, we have to advocate for ourselves, especially women. Grrr...
DeleteNo kidding, with being a woman, and now older, feel like there is constantly a target on my back for dishonest people, manipulators and those trying to take advantage of anyone they can for their profit.
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