What would a journey through flowering meadows and groves be without a pleasant flow of cool air. Air conditioning is a physically simple device, but sensitive in design. When we thrash it every day on roads full of dust and salt, it deserves a proper inspection before the season. It doesn’t cost much and can prevent defects that are many times more expensive.
The air conditioner works just like the fridge. A refrigerant with a very low boiling point will compress on one side to vaporize and take heat from its surroundings. At the other end, it releases it to precipitate and radiate heat out of the car.
However, the delicate mechanics of the compressor and valves are sensitive to the cleanliness and pressure of the filling. According to repairmen, leaks of around 20 percent of the refrigerant per year are common with the current generation. Along with it, oil also escapes, air humidity and impurities enter the circuit.
All this does not do the compressor blades one bit good. In the event of a significant loss of pressure, the control valves turn off the air conditioner completely to prevent damage. Rather than finding out shortly before Krumlov’s trip to Italy, it is better to entrust the car to the experts in the spring.
By that we mean air conditioning experts. Not every car repair shop has sufficient equipment for comprehensive care. On the contrary, many of them bought automatic fillers, which only add the coolant to the required pressure. However, this will only temporarily restore functionality, while leaks and other problems remain unresolved.
It is therefore the exact opposite of necessary care, and repeating it multiple times can have the same expensive consequences as if you did not take care of the air conditioner at all.
A system that leaks a lot of oil along with the coolant does not lubricate the compressor and causes it to seize up. Whereas if too much gets into the oil system by repeatedly topping up both, the compressor can’t compress it and it bursts.
You can see how it should look in the photos that we took at the Auto Karlín service in Borek near Jílové near Prague.
The special machine first vacuums the entire contents of the air conditioner, cleans it, weighs it and calculates how much needs to be added. Then, for a quarter of an hour, the circuit is subjected to a vacuum to rule out any leakage. Only then will they add the prescribed amount of coolant and oil.
This is followed by cleaning the exhausts in the cabin and the entire air path. A good service doesn’t just rely on cleaning sprays, but they run an ozone generator in the car for an hour, which kills bacteria and mold spores in places with high humidity.
For all this, the repair shop charged 999 crowns plus refilled coolant and a cabin filter. The 20 percent of coolant that is usually refilled means 90 grams for the Škoda Kodiaq, which costs almost 700 crowns.
That’s definitely less money than ten grand for a compressor ruined by poor maintenance. Or another thousands for cleaning the circuit from metal filings.
The final advice is simple. Find out in advance how each repair shop takes care of air conditioning. Many of them do not hesitate to show off their good tools and experience on their websites. For others, always insist that you want to see a statement of how much coolant was sucked out of your car. Where they won’t give you one, don’t go there.
