Air con issue , self diagnosis ?

[Bald-Eagle22]

Guys , just purchased a run around citroen Berlingo . Air con light is on but not working - where would you start in fiding out the problem myself ?

Was thinking Kwik Fit to see if its a leak ? If its a leak I belive they dont charge you ?

Car Air Conditioning Regas

www.kwik-fit.com

Anyway i can check the compressor or leaks myself ?

 

[kindai]

Anyway i can check the compressor or leaks myself ?

Not without the right equipment, you need to get it under a constant vacuum with monitoring.

Most likely just needs a re-gas. If you suspect a leak they can add a dye to the system which glows under UV light.

 

[Phil W]

Majority of the time it's either a re-gas required and/or new condenser required.

 

[paradigm]

But as a sealed system, it shouldn’t need a re-gas unless the existing gas has somehow got out.

Re-gassing without finding the cause is a sticking plaster at best.

 

[decto]

I thing the gas just leaks out over time as seals not perfect.

My previous car, added gas around 10 years, was ok when I sold a few years later.

Wifes car stopped working at 7 years. Added gas 3 years ago, still fine.

My current car has the new R-1234YF which is known to leak more. Top up at 4 years, again around 2 years later. Now another 2 years later, working but I expect to top up again.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

But as a sealed system, it shouldn’t need a re-gas unless the existing gas has somehow got out.

Re-gassing without finding the cause is a sticking plaster at best.

Car air con has plastic seals that move and deteriorate. Some gas escapes, but yes, worth checking for a leak. House air con has metal soldered seals, so they don’t.

 

[ianh]

Be aware that there are also pressure sensors in the pipes which can also fail and tell your ECU that there's no pressure (which stops the A/C working) when infact there is pressure. Had this once before on an older Citroen C5 and the system didn't leak and held vacuum so it wasn't a gas pressure issue, had the car scanned for fault codes (nothing showing on dash) and it said no pressure (which we new it had), so I replaced the sensor and it fixed it!

 

[bobuk]

Normal to have a regas every 4 pr 5 years. Get regassed with dye in it.

 

[RJC]

Check any relays, I looked at a colleagues Peugeot a few years back and this had a good standing pressure but A/C did not work (compressor not starting) turned out to be a faulty relay.

 

[Nasher]

Halfords do a free pressure test. Good place to start. The compressor won't turn on if the pressure is too low.

AC not working on old cars is pretty common. The condensers go after a while and that's what usually lets all the gas out. About £400 to replace it usually, unless you know a guy.