Broken Aircon During Service

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Ah well, took car for 2nd annual service and investigation of suspension noise. Called 2 1/2 hours later to say service done, noise fixed under warranty (anti-roll bar links). Collected car at lunch time and when I went to drive away, aircon panel (Ghia) flashing indicating that there's a problem. There wasn't anything wrong with the aircon when it went in to the garage. I stopped and returned to servie reception where they just told me to wait. After 20 mins I asked what was happening as I needed to be back at work. Told that they need to wait for foreman - another 30 mins as he's at lunch. Told them this was unacceptable and they said the car now needs a 1-hour diagnostic check but they don't know if I have to pay or not.

I have returned to work; they are supposed to call me this afternoon.

Will keep this updated and will "name and shame" depending on what happens...

Aircon appears to be working though - cooled air from vents and the fans work, noises when distribution buttons and recirculation button pressed.

[HJT]

The car is under warranty, even if it is a coincidence, so they need to fix it at no charge to you. I would kick off big style if they say you have to pay, as the aircon was fine when you took it in.

 

Howard

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Just had a call to say just that - they will investigate free and take it from there depending on what is wrong. Bad news is that they can't fit it in for another two weeks (Friday 13th).

Fingers crossed and I'm praying that it fixes itself before then....

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I don't think it's acceptable either, but they won't give me another choice. They say it takes at least an hour to plug the diagnostic unit in and run the check; can't even manage to do it on a Saturday morning.

I doubt that the car will be going back to them for its next service; I'm sure that they have disturbed something when working on it. This morning it hasn't fixd itself yet and I discovered that the fusebox lid was partly open with the fuse puller hanging down still attached to one of the spare fuses.....

I think I may go back to them later this week and ask them what they're playing at.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I've got them to agree to look at the car next Tuesday (3rd June) now. I'm still convinced that they caused the problem during the service. Mind you, reading Porker's tale of woe, seems like my problems are small....

[grifjl]

I have had my Sharan in and hooked up to the diagnostic machine, codes read and then driven out of the garage in the space of 5 minutes (and that was after a bit of faffing about).

 

1 hour is crazy!!!

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Update:

Garage kept the car all day and told me that they need to order parts to get it fixed - the compressor or conderser (bloke on the phone didn't seem too sure) plus some other bits.

I still find it strange that this went wrong when they serviced the car and still feel that they may well have triggered the fault. It's too much of a concidence that after 2 and a half years, the aircon packs up during the 2 and a half hours that they had thecar.

Oh, they have no courtesy cars or drivers available, so another day when I have to walk half an hour to work, and half an hour back again.

Still, the parts are due on Wednesday and the car is booked in for Thursday, so perhaps it will all be working agian by the week-end.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

More bad news: just had a call to say that they changed the condenser and it still won't work; need to order a compressor so the car has to go back tothem tomorrow.

And to think they had it all day Tuesday to fault-find, and now they still haven't got all the bits to fix it.

I'm beginning to wish that I'd bought an Esapce instead.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Even worse news:

Went to collect the car and they tell me that the compressor is out of stock at the Ford parts warehouse - expected delay is 7 to 10 working days.

I'm so ***** off that I phoned Ford's customer assistance telephone number 0845 841 111 and they tell me that the so-called service and treatment I have received is considered normal - diagnostic checks may not reveal the full extent of any problem, just the first thing that gets logged as a fault. As an engineer myself, I would have thought that checking the compressor, especially when they kept the car for a full day to investigate earlier in the week, was the least that they should have done. The sutomer assistance could do nothing to assist and would not let me escalate my complaint by referral to a higher supervisory/management level. So I'm writing to their Director of Customer Service in Glasgow, and copying the letter to the Dealer Prinicpal.

I am now prepared to name and shame.....

Watch this space!

[Dodger]

Surely it's not going to be the compressor either. The technician has broken something related to the air-con during the service. Apart from the flashing light it's working isn't it? Have you had a good look yourself for a wire pulled off? There is air-con related wiring and relays near the front of the engine that might have got disturbed whilst changing the oil filter.

 

Does anybody else know if there are any air-con related sensors in the vicinity of the pollen filter. Perhaps an ambiant intake air temperature sensor that could have been broken when the filter was changed?

 

There is nothing wrong with the Galaxy. It is just Ford main dealer servicing that is a nightmare.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

My first thought last week was that it was a wire thay got pulled off during the service, but the aircon doesn't blow cold. They told me yesterday that the compressor will not kick in now they have replaced the condenser. I assume that they have checked that there is power to the compressor. The aircon is not workin though - no chilled air through the vents, although the display has stopped flashing. Very odd, and I don't think I will take the car to this main dealer again.

I decided to copy my letter to Ford Customer Services to the Dealer Principal, so we'll see what happens (if anything) to speed up the repair.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

The saga is being continued under "and the worst dealer is...."

Just to say here that there was apparently a hole in the condenser so the gas escaped and the compressor went u/s as a result. The garage failed to check the compressor when investigating the fault. I copied my letter to Ford customer assistance (who did not want to assist) to the dealer principal, who phoned me at home to explain what had happened each time that my car went to them. Shame that they couldn't have told me this themselves at the service desk each time that I went to collect the car. Now I just have to wait for Ford to get their parts supply sorted out, and the dealer to fix the car.