What does an air conditioning condenser do?
The condenser sits at the front of the radiator and is an integral part of your air conditioning (AC) system. It converts the refrigerant gas into a cold liquid to provide chilled air throughout your vehicle, to keep you and your passengers at a comfortable temperature on a hot day.
How often should a condenser need replacing?
A well-maintained and properly serviced condenser should last as long as your car will. However, as with all vehicle components, they’re prone to wear and tear, and leakage and blockage can create irreparable damage.
The law, vehicle regulations and your MOT
A faulty air conditioner won’t affect your car’s MOT but it can affect the comfort of you and your passengers. It’s worth keeping your air conditioning running at its optimum performance as the impact it can have on your vehicle’s fuel efficiency could significantly affect the day-to-day cost of your motoring.
What causes an AC condenser to stop working correctly?
There are a variety of reasons your **AC condenser **could need replacing. It could be that the fan has stopped functioning correctly, or that the condenser has developed a leak or blockage somewhere. It may be because it has become clogged by refrigerant contaminated with unwanted elements, infiltrating it from other parts of the system.
It’s also possible that objects being thrown up from the road—including gravel, litter and other debris—could cause damage to interfere with your condenser’s correct operation.
Symptoms of a malfunctioning AC condenser
Your air con isn’t as cold as normal or not working at all
Your condenser could have stopped working correctly if you notice that the air conditioning in your car isn’t providing the usual levels of cold air as normal, or if it isn’t working at all.
You can hear a ticking sound or see liquid
A ticking sound from your engine or areas of liquid leaking around the air conditioning unit are signs that your condenser could be malfunctioning.
Your fuel consumption isn’t as high as normal
A malfunctioning condenser could also affect your fuel consumption, so if you notice that you’re not achieving your usual mpg, it could be time to have your condenser checked out.
Volvo
Volvo Cars is a Swedish luxury vehicle manufacturer, established in April 1927, over 90 years ago.
How popular is Volvo in the United Kingdom?
With around 645k cars on the roads in the UK today, Volvo is a considerable contributor to the UK motor industry.
With a steady rise in status from the boxy estate models popular in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Volvo now produces a strong, executive range of luxury, performance vehicles.
Luxurious executive saloons, estate cars and SUVs
Sticking to the market they understand best, Volvo produces a small range of estate cars and a selection of bang-on-trend SUVs, complimented by 2 luxury saloon models. In other words, Volvo makes cars for ‘grown-up’ drivers where it knows its customers inside out.
Volvo: Exceptional aims for in-car safety
One of Volvo’s key visions is to provide a level of unrivalled safety inside their vehicles and has proven to be a dedicated leader in the field. Their current vision is that nobody should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo car by 2020.
Pursuing perfection through Volvo technology
The ethos behind Volvo reaches further than just selling units and making a profit. By putting their customers first, they have committed to creating vehicles where ownership gives quality time back to their drivers, are environmentally efficient and exceptionally safe.
Using modern technology and striving to develop the systems to lead the field, is something they take very seriously. After all, this is the company that brought drivers:
- The 3-point safety seatbelt
- The Lambda Sond emissions detector responsible for reducing harmful fumes by 90%
- Side impact, whiplash, and roll-over protection
- Blind spot systems
- City safety scanning
- Pedestrian detection
- Auto-braking
Volvo’s reliability and reputation
Volvo ranked joint 20th out of 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018 with an efficiency rating of 91.5%.
Recent Volvo recalls and reliability issues
Various recalls have been made on Volvo models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.
13/04/2019 – Volvo XC60 (2017–2018)
Due to cold temperatures the tailgate lifting arms could freeze and consequently become loose, bend or completely separate
29/03/2019 – Volvo XC90, XC70, XC60, V70, V60/Cross Country, V40/Cross Country, S80 and S60/Cross Country (2014–2016)
Cracks in the fuel hose may cause fuel to leak into the engine compartment
09/02/2019 – Volvo XC90, XC60, XC40, V90/Cross Country, V60/Cross Country and S90 (2016–2018)
A software problem has been detected in the communication module of the emergency call system
03/11/2018
As a result of incorrect assembly, the brake pedal may move out of position
18/08/2017 – Volvo XC90 (2016)
Faulty crimping of the micro-gas generator for the seatbelt tensioner in the third row of seats
21/03/2017 – Volvo XC90, V90/Cross Country and S90/Cross Country (2016–2017)
The bolts that secure the inflatable curtain airbags in place my break
23/01/2017 – Volvo XC90, XC60, V60/Cross Country, S90 and S60/Cross Country/S60L (2015–2016)
The front passenger seatbelt buckle can be incorrectly fastened
15/01/2017 – Volvo XC90, V90, S90, XC60, V60/Cross Country, S60/Cross Country and V40/Cross Country (2016–2017)
Due to a problem with the airbag inflators, the airbags may fail to deploy in the event of a crash
All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.
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