Automotive Air Con Advice Needed

[OnMyWay]

On 11/21/2020 at 4:56 PM, OnMyWay said:

GM compressor p27,000.  I think the lowest I have seen advertised is 25 and he would probably give it to me for that.

Condenser with drier included - p12,000

Front evaporator with expansion valve - p11,000

Rear evaporator with expansion valve - p12,000

 

On 11/22/2020 at 5:35 PM, intrepid said:

Do you only mentioned buying the parts from this guy.  Is he close enough to have him do the work?  I'm sure others locally could do the repair.  However, even if its a long drive it may be worth it to have the parts supplier repair it also if they do the work.  Might be worth it in the end.

So this guy is turning out to be the most promising.    The prices above are from the first guy.  This guy in Quezon City gave me these prices for GM parts.

Compressor 28,000

Condenser (I assume drier is included) 11,500

Front evaporator with expansion valve 11,500

Rear expansion valve 4500 (rear evaporator to be cleaned, no replaced)

Total  55,000

He said if I come to him, he will give parts and labor for 56,000, and it takes 4-5 hours.

[intrepid]

7 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

 

So this guy is turning out to be the most promising.    The prices above are from the first guy.  This guy in Quezon City gave me these prices for GM parts.

Compressor 28,000

Condenser (I assume drier is included) 11,500

Front evaporator with expansion valve 11,500

Rear expansion valve 4500 (rear evaporator to be cleaned, no replaced)

Total  55,000

He said if I come to him, he will give parts and labor for 56,000, and it takes 4-5 hours.

Even with the long drive I think end the end you will have less troubles and worry.  Take the drive and find a place to spend the night. 

[OnMyWay]

2 minutes ago, intrepid said:

Even with the long drive I think end the end you will have less troubles and worry.  Take the drive and find a place to spend the night. 

I forgot to mention, he said the parts will have 1 year warranty.

[Tommy T.]

To me... it sounds like you are doing the best posssible to fix your problem there, OMW.

[OnMyWay]

49 minutes ago, intrepid said:

Even with the long drive I think end the end you will have less troubles and worry.  Take the drive and find a place to spend the night. 

I was thinking about seeing if he would come here.  I think he is actually running the business from his house.  How much would be a reasonable addon to come here?  Google maps says it is 2 hours 15 minutes.  Tolls are almost 1000 including both ways.

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

I was thinking about seeing if he would come here.  I think he is actually running the business from his house.  How much would be a reasonable addon to come here?  Google maps says it is 2 hours 15 minutes.  Tolls are almost 1000 including both ways.

1000 for tolls, fuel for his vehicle and half a days wages?  Plus lunch while he's there?

Anything less than that and it's going to be costing him money I think.

Of course whether he'll come for that is a different issue...

[Gator]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I was thinking about seeing if he would come here.  I think he is actually running the business from his house.  How much would be a reasonable addon to come here?  Google maps says it is 2 hours 15 minutes.  Tolls are almost 1000 including both ways.

Might want to reconsider that and go to him. He’ll have all the tools needed there and the little “bits” that might or might not be required.......nuts, bolts, screws, washers, etc that might not be reusable from your old systems. Even though he sounds like a competent tech, there is only so much he can bring and / or remember to bring. 
 

I’d also consider changing all the lines as well. When the compressor went it’s possible it shot some oil into lines.....even if blown out it’s possible some will remain, turn into sludge and could cause problems down the line. Obviously put a new belt on as well and check the tensioner pulley (if it has one). The bearings in them only last so long and they’re usually not expensive to replace. 

[OnMyWay]

3 minutes ago, Gator said:

Might want to reconsider that and go to him. He’ll have all the tools needed there and the little “bits” that might or might not be required.......nuts, bolts, screws, washers, etc that might not be reusable from your old systems. Even though he sounds like a competent tech, there is only so much he can bring and / or remember to bring. 
 

I’d also consider changing all the lines as well. When the compressor went it’s possible it shot some oil into lines.....even if blown out it’s possible some will remain, turn into sludge and could cause problems down the line. Obviously put a new belt on as well and check the tensioner pulley (if it has one). The bearings in them only last so long and they’re usually not expensive to replace. 

Yes, I have thought about that.  The only reason I thought of it is because another shop in Manila does "at home" service.  

The belt on the AC is the same drive belt for everything.  My main mechanic said it is in good shape.   I was planning on replacing all pulleys and the drive belt at 100 k km when I was planning to do the timing belt.  However, I probably won't keep it much longer.

[OnMyWay]

On 11/24/2020 at 12:10 PM, OnMyWay said:

 

So this guy is turning out to be the most promising.    The prices above are from the first guy.  This guy in Quezon City gave me these prices for GM parts.

Compressor 28,000

Condenser (I assume drier is included) 11,500

Front evaporator with expansion valve 11,500

Rear expansion valve 4500 (rear evaporator to be cleaned, no replaced)

Total  55,000

He said if I come to him, he will give parts and labor for 56,000, and it takes 4-5 hours.

I finally had this done today, and I am very happy that I chose CBR Aircon in Quezon City.  @PaulB Paul is the only other Trailblazer owner I know here on the forum.  Paul, they recommend a complete cleaning every 3 years to avoid replacing all the expensive parts, and they were very good.  The mechanic who did it has done many Trailblazers, and he obviously knows them inside out.

I brought 60,000 pesos with me, so I was very happy that my Filipino friend agreed to do the road trip with me.  I let him drive while in the Manila area, and there was not much traffic.  We arrived at 0815,  The business owner was not there this morning, although I spoke to him on the phone.  I dealt with his brother and the mechanic.  I had been told they have a waiting area, and I was pleasantly surprised to find they have a room set up with A/C and a TV.  I thought we might be waiting without A/C all morning.

Except for a few things requiring two people, the mechanic did everything alone. He started about 0830 and said he would probably finish around noon.  He delivered.  He said the front condenser had a leak and that probably led to the compressor failure.

I really had no idea how all these parts worked together in a Trailblazer, so I learned a lot today.  I was amazed at how quickly he disassembled and how much was disassembled.  Here are some pictures.

Old compressor and condenser after removal

  

Removed dashboard

  

Old front evaporator, from inside the dash        Rear evaporator.  This was cleaned and reinstalled.

                  

The rear compartment where the rear evaporator is.  I had no idea that "rear" meant that is physically supports the 2nd and 3rd row "rear" A/C.

Parts ready for washing                                               Washing

     

 

 

[Old55]

Don, you would need a second mortgage to get that done here in the States! My gosh that was done so quickly.