Today I took my '95 850 in to a non-dealer Volvo specialist garage for its
50k service. (Don't drive much.) I told him the A/C seemed to be cooling
OK, but was cycling on and off about every 10 seconds.
Later he called and said the system was very low on refrigerant. No leak
was apparent. He said the system should be evacuated and refilled with
refrigerant, including a dye to help trace any leak. He said the price for
this would be $175.
This seemed to me outrageous. My Hayes manual shows how to recharge the
system with canisters from the auto parts store. When I objected, the guy
said gauges couldn't accurately reflect the pressure, and overcharging could
ruin the evaporator coil, and he didn't want that liability. I declined the
service.
Was this an attempt at rip-off? Should I get some canisters from Pep Boys?
Many thanks,
Mike
