Air conditioning service

[Mustang]

I'll start by saying that my a/c is working just fine. I was just looking into the possibility of having some preventative maintenance done.
I contacted an a/c specialist for pricing to have the a/c unit serviced, here's what I was told.
Total cost of service ~€250
Brakedown of costs:
~€160 for oil change, vacuum drying of system, top up of gas, as required and fitting of replacement receiver unit.
~€90 for cleaning of the evaporator unit and application of chemical coating, to prevent further bacteria growth (which leads to the musty smell from the a/c unit). Coating guaranteed for 2yrs.

Apparently the receiver unit has a filter in it that absorbs moisture over time. They can vacuum dry the system, but can not extract all the moisture. Hence they recommend replacing the receiver unit every 50k miles or so.
The receiver assembly, is the cylinder, under the bonnet, with the looking glass Mitsubishi part no. MB898319.
They estimated a cost for this part of between €110 and €200.
This brings the total cost to ~€450.
I realise that a/c units are not 'fit & forget' and do need servicing from time to time....but @ €450
Now I'm thinking if it aint broken don't fix it
Just wondering has anyone ever replaced the receiver assembly on their car? Or even if anyone has had work done on the a/c unit I'd be interested to get an idea of work carried out, costs, etc.
I'm thinking I might have the service work carried out without replacing the receiver unit.

Mustang

[CJ]

Mustang, just wondering who you spoke with about the work? Have you tired Autoair? While the cost does sound prohibitive, the amount of work required would seem to justify it. It would be worth getting a second opinion on this one.

CJ

[Mustang]

Thanks for the link CJ. Looking at their site, they recommend changing the receiver dryer every 2 years.
The actual cost of the service -€250 does not seem too bad, especially as it includes the anti-bacterial chemical coating. But the cost of the receiver dryer (estimated). Turns a moderately pricey job into a quite expensive job IMO. Like the guy said, it depends on how long you intend keeping the car!
Think I'll contact Mitsi to get a definite price for the part.
Given that most of the FTO's on the road here are '95s (and shortly due for their 5th receiver dryer replacement ) I was interested to know if anyone here has had the work carried out.
BTW I spoke to Autoglass Replacement Centre (based in Cork). They seemed to know their stuff..oil/refigerant grades, etc.

Mustang

[Kace]

I'll start by saying that my a/c is working just fine. I was just looking into the possibility of having some preventative maintenance done.
I contacted an a/c specialist for pricing to have the a/c unit serviced, here's what I was told.
Total cost of service ~€250
Brakedown of costs:
~€160 for oil change, vacuum drying of system, top up of gas, as required and fitting of replacement receiver unit.
~€90 for cleaning of the evaporator unit and application of chemical coating, to prevent further bacteria growth (which leads to the musty smell from the a/c unit). Coating guaranteed for 2yrs.

Apparently the receiver unit has a filter in it that absorbs moisture over time. They can vacuum dry the system, but can not extract all the moisture. Hence they recommend replacing the receiver unit every 50k miles or so.
The receiver assembly, is the cylinder, under the bonnet, with the looking glass Mitsubishi part no. MB898319.
They estimated a cost for this part of between €110 and €200.
This brings the total cost to ~€450.
I realise that a/c units are not 'fit & forget' and do need servicing from time to time....but @ €450
Now I'm thinking if it aint broken don't fix it
Just wondering has anyone ever replaced the receiver assembly on their car? Or even if anyone has had work done on the a/c unit I'd be interested to get an idea of work carried out, costs, etc.
I'm thinking I might have the service work carried out without replacing the receiver unit.

Mustang

Would you like jam with that

Sounds OTT to me for a unit that is working fine. I posted the name of a good cheap A/C guy some months back (do a search). He was charging me 1/2 the other quotes that I received by phoning around. When he came out however he diagnosed (for free) at my place of work that my magnetic clutch wasn't working.

[Mustang]

Update
Cost of the receiver unit part no. MB898319 is €193 (inc VAT).

Kace wrote

Sounds OTT to me for a unit that is working fine.

Think you are probably right. Just contacted my local Mitsi garage.
They told me that they Never touch the a/c unit and have never replaced this part on any of the cars. In addition to this, while checking the pricing, they checked the supply history and said that the Dublin HQ have supplied one of these units in the past!
Don't think I'll be buying the second one

Mustang wrote

They seemed to know their stuff..oil/refigerant grades, etc.

Given that there are only two types of refrigerant used in automotive applications (one of which has been discontinued as it's not ozone friendly) It probably would not be that difficult to get up to speed on refrigerant grades (R134)

Mustang

[Speedyboy]

Mustang I dont think I would bother with the service chances are it wont give problems and if it does it probably wont cost much more than €450 to fix?