Broken Heater and Air Conditioning (VR exec)

[Jeff T]

As the title says, my heater doesn't work and neither does my air con. I've had a quote from a local mechanic and he reckons it will be about $600 for the heater core and another $300 or so for the air con. In other words, almost a third of the value of the car just to get these fixed.

Does anybody know of a cheap place in Sydney to get these fixed? I'm in the Hills district.

Heater: was not connected right from when I first bought the car. I bought it in summer, and forgot to check the heater. I'm assuming the only reason they would've disconnected it would be because the heater core was clogged and leaking.

Air con: stopped working about 6 months ago. Took it to a mechanic, they put a squirt of gas in and it didn't work. Think it's a problem with the compressor.

The other option, is that I fix the heater myself. Anybody know if this is a tough job?

Thanks guys,
Jeff

 

[POVRTY]

to replace the heater core you need to pull half your dash out its up behind your stereo head unit. might take some time but it will save you a few hundred

 

[kopper69]

I would be giving it a go yourself. There are going to be some things you cant do yourself. You need the car to get to work etc etc. This problem, you can do all the work, and as long as you get the dash back in roughly, you can still get around when you need to. Good learning experience.

 

[Jeff T]

Okay I've done some reading of old posts about changing the heater core. Looks like if you do it the proper way you have to have the air-con degassed. Sounds like a pain in the arse. I've already pulled the dash apart a few times changing the stereo around.

I guess I'll do it the dodgy way by cutting the pipe and sliding a new unit in.

With the air con, does anybody know a good place around the Hills? $300 sounds a lot to get it fixed.