AC not used for a year

[Dan]

Hello, thanks for any advice you’re willing to give.

I have a 2013 Kia Soul 2.0L with a 6 speed manual. I have had this car for about two and a half years.

Last March during a road trip my AC stopped blowing cold. We took it to Kia, they said the condenser was bad, quoted 750 dollars and out the door we were.

Last summer was relatively cool and, me being all macho, thinking I don’t need it.

Fast forward to this week and we’re in the middle of a record breaking heat wave and i can’t take it anymore.

The system worked fine before the condenser went bad. I’m worried that the compressor sent bad just sitting there.

Should i replace the compressor too?

Thanks for advice in advance.

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

If the system remained with a charge in it, it should be fine.
If due to the bad condenser you lost all the Freon…
That will be another story.
The compressor may still be ok, but with the system open to atmosphere it will get moisture in it that could cause issues.
A good AC service shop can determine the condition of the system and advise you.

[Dan]

Thanks for the advice, i havent checked pressure, but considering some 14 months of being open it’s probably flat.

Kia checked it then saying that the compressor was fine, but i couldn’t afford the work, in fact i can barely afford the consenser alone.

Since i already know what went bad, it doesn’t make sense to give kia almost 800 dollars to fix it.

Unfortunately, i don’t trust any shops around here, i had one tell me my brakes were bad the day after i replaced them, and another refused to touch it because it has hail damage. I could take it to Kia, but the diagnosis would wipe out my repair funds.

[Author]

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