the Walnut Diary

Over the course of the summer it seemed that Ruby’s air conditioning system was becoming less vigorous.  Then I rode in the passenger seat on a return from Kingston one warm afternoon.  The passenger vent doesn’t work.  I cooked.  My wife is a lot more tolerant of the heat in a vehicle than I am.

For the rest of the summer we drove Bet’s Lexus to my many medical appointments.  Its excellent climate control and electronically cooled front seats won out.

As I recovered from the heart operation I put my scattered thoughts to the problem.  Leaving an elderly Porsche parked for weeks at a time wouldn’t do.  I recalled that Ruby’s longtime mechanic had recharged the system in B.C. just before Charlie delivered it to the railroad yard in Vancouver back in July of 2016.  I’d go to the local air conditioning shop and have it done again.

Google suggested Olgivie’s on Kilmarnok Island.  I made an appointment and turned up to find a clean facility with a lot of expensive cars, high-end pickups, and heavy trucks around.  The tech came out to listen to my request for a diagnosis, then returned with a printed statement that claimed one a.c. solenoid for the passenger side wasn’t working, but the cooling system works fine with less output on the right.  I gave them the requested $100 and left, more impressed with the car wash than the diagnosis.

Air conditioning performance steadily decreased until I feared for the compressor if it ran out of lubricant.

The next closest shop is Pat’s Radiator in Kingston.  After an initial talk with the counter guy I dropped Ruby off there for service between appointments at the hospital.  They vacuumed the system and recharged it with oil and refrigerant. Because the tech could find no leak, he added a green dye and suggested I have a look after a week or two of driving.  The counter guy told me small leaks often occur in this climate because of extremes of temperature and then can’t be located when it warms up.  Out of the blue he commented:  “You haven’t driven it very much, have you?”  I think he was referring to Ruby’s mileage and condition in comparison to its year. Generally techs in Ontario don’t expect much of a car built in 2003, but Vancouver cars have it easy.

My $238 was well spent, as the a/c now seems to work quite well.  No leaks are evident so far.  I’d take Ruby back to “Pat’s” for other repairs.

UPDATE, 16 DECEMBER, 2017

I should mention that I did take Ruby back to Pat’s for a checkup of the coolant refill. A drop-in, I figured someone would take a quick look under the car and give me the nod and be done with it.

No. A tech put Ruby into the shop and I sat down for a half hour before he re-appeared. I approached the counter. He began to operate the bill machine. Out came the invoice, documenting the cooling system check, declaring that there were no leaks. Amount owing: $ 0.00.

Apparently it is important to document the inspections, and they figure the cost into the original invoice.

Ruby’s HVAC system continues to function well. Pat’s Radiators in Kingston, Ontario rates pretty high in my book.

UPDATE, Spring, 2018

Ruby’s air conditioning acted depleted as the days grew warmer, so I took it back to Pat’s for a top-up.  This time a more senior tech made a determined search for the source of the leak.  This involved the removal of the front bumper cover and an attempt to replace the condensor, only to find that there was no leak in this area.  After a couple of visits to the shop, they charged me $360, topped up the system, and sent me on my way.  By fall the only place I could find the green dye was at the filler nozzle.  Maybe that’s where it leaks.