Air-con problems

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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
Posts
10,906
Location
Kent
It would appear that my air conditioning has decided to give up the ghost at the worst time of year :( I was driving along the other day and I could hear the compressor kicking in more regularly than usual. Then I noticed that the air coming through the vents was certainly not as cold as it used to be, and no different from when the vents are set to cold with the air-con off.

The air-con had been regassed at KwikFit at the beginning of the year; I did it then because it was cheap, and according to the machine readout, there were no leaks in the system. Since then Ive had no problems whatsoever, until I noticed the lack of cold air about a week or so ago. So Im guessing there must be a leak in the system somewhere, as the compressor still activates when the system is on.

Does anyone know of any decent air-con speciliasts in the south east? I don't want to go back to Kwik Fit. Whilst I was happy to have them plug in a machine to refill the air-con automatically, I don't want them to be carrying out any sort of repair work on it. Cheers guys.
 
http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/

Pretty close to you too.

Our car air con didn't work last summer and I got the people (small family business) above to diagnose the problem, and it was a hole in the condenser where all the refrigerant leaked out.

I bought a new condenser (£95 off fleabay), got them to fit the condenser/evaporator (also bought myself) and regas the air con for about £120 cash.

You can get them to buy the air con parts for you, but I paid slightly less than their prices to get the parts from fleabay sellers.
 
If the system pressure is too low due to loss of gas the compressor will not engage. Do you actually hear the loud click at the clutch engages and the change in engine speed?
 
Dogbreath said:
If the system pressure is too low due to loss of gas the compressor will not engage. Do you actually hear the loud click at the clutch engages and the change in engine speed?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it usually only happens every so often, but at the moment im hearing it regularly every 5 seconds or so. Apparently, in the Focus, this is a sign that the system is low on refrigerant.

With the car running and A/C on Max, pop the hood and listen for or watch the A/C compressor pulley. It has a clutch, so the center of the pulley may spin intermittently. It should start and spin for 30 seconds or longer.
 If after 90 seconds it never spins, make sure your A/C is turned on. If it spins for just a few seconds, stops, then starts again after a few seconds, it is short cycling. Either of these could be caused by low refrigerant levels. There may be a leak or something more serious at fault. You may try recharging the A/C system with a leak-indicator additive refrigerant. See advanced troubleshooting information at the end of this article for more information.
Click to expand...
...from http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=85&ht=Air%20Conditioner%20re-fill%20and%20service
 
Last edited:
apologies for the hijack, but I have an aircon problem.

Car is a 2006 Merc E280, and last week the aircon radiator was punctured by a stone, thus all the gas went. The rad was replaced and the system regassed, but it still doesnt work - Any ideas? Cound the rapid depressurisation have damaged something?
 
I had my aircon regassed in January because it was drained of oil and gas and got it done cheaply...

Worked fine for a few weeks, took it back for an imspection in June because it was too hot outside to cope without, seems it developed a leak in a gasket? Near one of them points they do a diagnostic check.

Dont know who was to blame for the leak, but Kwik-Fit spanner monkey blamed it on the diesel engine vibrating the gasket, but they tightened it up anyway and refilled the aircon up again at the discounted rate :confused:

Dunno why I should pay twice really(£25x2), but nevermind.
 
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