air con leak

[s88urd]

Right, apparently my alternator was not held in place by any bolts (the guy said who changed my cambelt)
He bolted it back up and no probs. However i have no air con, check the compressor and all is ok.
Go and get it re-gassed and success!!!
However i hear a hissing noise and a massive pool of air con gas (fluid) has leaked all over the floor.
Took it back to the guy who done the cambelt and he said because the alternator was propped up against the body when i took it to him that it probably bent the pipe, and now he has put it straight there is a leak.
Does this sound feesable?
Looks like the pipe which goes from the air con unit round the altenator (sorry for lack of technical knowledge)
2003 ph2 172

 

[lemonnobby]

possibly rub away but alternator with no bolts in it lol dont be silly.

 

[BrianR]

Its highly possible he has naffed it when he was doing the Cam-belt and is trying to pass the buck.

I don't think the alternator would stay in place if there were no bolts at all holding it, highly unlikely.

If the air-con was working when it went in, I would go back and tell him to sort it out.

Even if he was right about the cause, no-one in there right mind would gas up the air-con without doing a pressure check first, just a waste of gas, IMO

 

[lemonnobby]

its also against the law if it has a known leak. he may have pulled the pipe a bit far when doing the cam belt easy done

 

[s88urd]

stuck what to do now, kwik fit (i know i swore) refilled the air con, he has said to go back to renault im so unsure what to do
obviously i want this sorted and sorting right, i just wasted £44 getting the system re-gassed, the bloke who done the cambelt said he didnt go anywhere near the air con pipe.
Is there anything like trading standards etc i can mention because as you all rightly said, it worked before it went in

 

[BrianR]

I think what I would do in your situation, is put the facts in writing, to the Guy who did the Cam belt and then you can not be criticised for not giving him a reasonable opportunity to remedy the problem.

You need to cover just the facts, ie

On [day date time] I gave you care and custody of my vehicle to effect repairs as we had contractually agreed.. ie replace cam belt ..........etc.....

When I handed the vehicle to you, the air conditioning system was fully operational and there were no known faults on the car.

When the vehicle was returned to me on [day date time]the following faults were apparent
1) ..........
2).........

I reported this to you at [day, date, time]

You said ...........................................................and that I should have the air con recharged.

Then repeat what Kwik Fit reported and include a copy of the invoice from them detailing the work they carried out.

Finally add..

"I hereby give you notice that if the damage caused by you whilst carrying out the work on my vehicle, is not rectified to my entire satisfaction within 7 days and at no further cost to me, I will take action to recover the cost of the repairs, and the subsequent cost of attempting to re-fill the air con system, from you."

Just make sure that you stick to the facts and don't get drawn away from the core dispute by promises or threats.

Send all correspondence to him by Special Delivery (not recorded....too easy to fiddle) and if he makes no sensible offer, take the car to somewhere you can rely on and get it fixed then send him the bills.

If he doesn't pay up, use the County Court to recover your money, costs and interest.

You will have to pay out to get your car fixed but then it sounds like you are going to have to do that anyway, at least this way, you should get your money back.

If you belong to the AA or RAC, arrange an independent vehicle inspection.

Your insurance may also cover legal expenses......check !

Copy all correspondence to your local trading standards officers.

 

[s88urd]

many thanks for that brian will get writing now!!

 

[edde]

If the alternaotr had no bolts in it you'd know as the aux belt tensions and hold this you'd have known in about 1 second hearing the car running there was a problem.