Automotive air conditioning service

chico bill

Silver
May 6, 2016
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I decided to take Cavok’s recommendation and go to Mello in Cabarete for my air-conditioning problem. Here’s what happened. Following Cavok’s directions, I came to a derelict junkyard-looking place set back from the road. I figured that must be the place. I was right. Upon pulling in, I was immediately greeted by a young Dominican kid who I would guess was about 10 years old. He greeted me with “hello”. His English surprised me, so I asked if he spoke English. He responded “pocito” which of course is Dominican for “no”. Nevertheless I was impressed by the kid's attempt to make me feel comfortable.

I expressed to the kid in my broken Spanish that my air-conditioning was getting weak. He told me to release my hood latch and then disappeared into the ramshackle trailer. I assumed that he was going to fetch his dad. Wrong again. Instead the kid returns with hoses and gauges, opens my hood, and connects the gauges. He immediately diagnoses my problem and tells me that I am a little low on gas, and he asks if I would like him to add some gas. I respond “si”. So the kid carefully hooks up the gas canister and begins to release some gas into the system while at the same time dousing my radiator with cold water from a hose. I’m thinking to myself “this kid seems to know what he’s doing”. While he’s working, I ask him if he thinks that I might have a leak someplace, and he responds with his professional opinion of “no”. The car is 9 years old and I believe this is the first refrigerant recharge that it has ever had, so hopefully the kid was right. After finishing his work, the kid advises me that he is done, and he wants me to feel the air coming out of the vents in my dash. I agree that it is much better now, and I ask him how much I owe him. 350 pesos.

As I was driving home, the air coming from my dash was so cold that I had to add a little heat to temper it. I never met Mello but instead was serviced by a young child who seemed very knowledgeable and gave me excellent service. Gotta luv the Dominican Republic.

Had a 2000 Isuzu Trooper - never had to touch the AC, nor even top off with gas. After 18 years and 180K miles I sold it with the AC still as cold as the day I bought it in 2000. Same for the power steering and alternator, although I did have to replace the starter.

Isuzu makes some of the best components for a vehicle
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,262
363
0
As I was driving home, the air coming from my dash was so cold that I had to add a little heat to temper it. I never met Mello but instead was serviced by a young child who seemed very knowledgeable and gave me excellent service. Gotta luv the Dominican Republic.

it's a dominican version of "are you smarter than a 5th grader". 4th grader, even. :cheeky:

thanks for reporting back.
 

Juan Bosch

Active member
Dec 8, 2015
488
152
43
I decided to take Cavok’s recommendation and go to Mello in Cabarete for my air-conditioning problem. Here’s what happened. Following Cavok’s directions, I came to a derelict junkyard-looking place set back from the road. I figured that must be the place. I was right. Upon pulling in, I was immediately greeted by a young Dominican kid who I would guess was about 10 years old. He greeted me with “hello”. His English surprised me, so I asked if he spoke English. He responded “pocito” which of course is Dominican for “no”. Nevertheless I was impressed by the kid's attempt to make me feel comfortable.

I expressed to the kid in my broken Spanish that my air-conditioning was getting weak. He told me to release my hood latch and then disappeared into the ramshackle trailer. I assumed that he was going to fetch his dad. Wrong again. Instead the kid returns with hoses and gauges, opens my hood, and connects the gauges. He immediately diagnoses my problem and tells me that I am a little low on gas, and he asks if I would like him to add some gas. I respond “si”. So the kid carefully hooks up the gas canister and begins to release some gas into the system while at the same time dousing my radiator with cold water from a hose. I’m thinking to myself “this kid seems to know what he’s doing”. While he’s working, I ask him if he thinks that I might have a leak someplace, and he responds with his professional opinion of “no”. The car is 9 years old and I believe this is the first refrigerant recharge that it has ever had, so hopefully the kid was right. After finishing his work, the kid advises me that he is done, and he wants me to feel the air coming out of the vents in my dash. I agree that it is much better now, and I ask him how much I owe him. 350 pesos.

As I was driving home, the air coming from my dash was so cold that I had to add a little heat to temper it. I never met Mello but instead was serviced by a young child who seemed very knowledgeable and gave me excellent service. Gotta luv the Dominican Republic.

This story made my day.....
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
10,231
4,478
113
Cabarete
rhanson1, I'm glad it worked out well for you. That place looks like a total disaster, doesn't it? If it hadn't been recommended to you, you wouldn't have never pulled in the driveway. Mello has a/c down cold. Pun intended.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
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While he’s working, I ask him if he thinks that I might have a leak someplace, and he responds with his professional opinion of “no”. The car is 9 years old and I believe this is the first refrigerant recharge that it has ever had, so hopefully the kid was right.

Nice outcome, great testimony and glad everything worked out!

Now, no to rain on this happy parade - chances are your system is leaking somewhere, AC's are sealed system and designed not to be recharged, unless of course a leak exist.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
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Had a 2000 Isuzu Trooper - never had to touch the AC, nor even top off with gas. After 18 years and 180K miles I sold it with the AC still as cold as the day I bought it in 2000.

That's the way it supposed to work by design and not necessarily by the way it was built. AC's are hermetically designed sealed systems - in a perfect scenario, no recharges ever needed.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,246
4,332
113
rhanson1.... hahahaha

wonderful..... how many stories like that are there out there??

Hundreds ? Thousands?

My 2005 Jeep needed service... recently ... for the same issue.
A mechanic twice your boy's age worked on it.... Auto Aire was the sign.

Filled the gas, fixed two air conditioning leaks and a brake line one....
Found them and fixed them himself....
I forget the price.....

Never ceases to amaze me- La Rep Dom
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
10,231
4,478
113
Cabarete
With all the pothole and rough road surfaces here, the vibration alone is probably enough to cause a small refrigerant leak. I've had to add a can of gas every 3-4 years. Much cheaper, easier, and faster than trying to fix it.
 

rhanson1

Active member
Feb 23, 2012
284
54
28
If it hadn't been recommended to you, you wouldn't have never pulled in the driveway.

No . . . no way . . . hell no. Not even close.

And there would be no reason to. There are no signs and no indication that this place in the business of repairing anything. Clearly Mello depends upon word-of-mouth for all his business.
 

rhanson1

Active member
Feb 23, 2012
284
54
28
Now, no to rain on this happy parade - chances are your system is leaking somewhere, AC's are sealed system and designed not to be recharged, unless of course a leak exist.

I realize of course that you are right. The gas didn't just magically disappear, and no leak of any kind ever gets better on its own. Quite the opposite. But I loved this kid's reassuring answer to my question. He knew what I wanted to hear and he played it. This kid was not dumb.

My hope is that the leak is small and requires only infrequent charging. I know that these leaks can often be difficult to locate and sometimes expensive to repair. Time will tell. Fingers crossed.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
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I realize of course that you are right. The gas didn't just magically disappear, and no leak of any kind ever gets better on its own. Quite the opposite. But I loved this kid's reassuring answer to my question. He knew what I wanted to hear and he played it. This kid was not dumb.

My hope is that the leak is small and requires only infrequent charging. I know that these leaks can often be difficult to locate and sometimes expensive to repair. Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

Your story and testimony here and the word of mouth through your acquaintances would make the business grow - am sure you will pass the word around.

Love stories as this one.

Was the kid greased up all over his face and clothes?
 

JackB17

New member
Sep 29, 2012
20
0
1
I tried this place yesterday as my A/C had suddenly stopped cooling like it used to.
The same kid (looks like he is 12) did the recharge. Had to give him 250 pesos and he sent somebody to get 2 cans of refrigerant.
Did the recharge and so far so good. Nice and cool,
Labor charge was 50 pesos!
All done in about 20 minutes.
Will go there again at the drop of a hat!
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,262
363
0
i support child after school labour. this little dude will get further in life than most of his pals.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Keep in mind that adding freon is not fixing the system.

Just adding freon is not a difficult task.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
I tried this place yesterday as my A/C had suddenly stopped cooling like it used to.
The same kid (looks like he is 12) did the recharge. Had to give him 250 pesos and he sent somebody to get 2 cans of refrigerant.
Did the recharge and so far so good. Nice and cool,
Labor charge was 50 pesos!
All done in about 20 minutes.
Will go there again at the drop of a hat!

I do hope you provided him with a propina?

50 pesos for this task is just a blessing. God bless this kid, this island and all whom recharge AC systems for 50 DOP!
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
10,231
4,478
113
Cabarete
I'm pretty sure that kid is Mello's son. The thing about Mello is you can be sure you won't get gouged and he will only do the actual repairs that are necessary. He doesn't have special gringo prices.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
The air conditioning in my 2010 Honda CR-V seems to be getting very weak. Any suggestions on where I should take it for service in the Sosua-Cabarate-Puerto Plata area? I don't care about cost - I simply want it fixed correctly without damaging something.

You might want to consider this first. If your A/C system is just low on coolant you can buy a pressure can over the counter and fill the A/C system very inexpensively. If the system does not hold the coolant than you probably have a leak in the system and that will probably be expensive to fix. It's a very easy process to add coolant into your A/C system yourself. I would go that route first.