Aircon Re-gas

As has been said, avoid Kwik Fit. They regassed my 306 last summer for £30 with a voucher, 2 days later the air con wasn't working at all, just the same as before. I went back there and they hooked it up to their leak tester and told me my system had a leak. I asked them why this wasn't picked up when they looked at it the first time and they said "if it had had a leak then mate we wouldn't have gassed it, it won't let us".
They recommended I take it somewhere to get it fixed then bring it back and pay another £30 for another regas. Now bearing in mind the car had done around 110000 miles without springing a leak, for it to suddenly develop one in 2 days seems just slightly suspicious to me. The conclusion I came to is it must have had a leak when they gassed it, and it then leaked all the gas in the next 2 days, from which I surmise their machine isn't very good.
 
CaptainUnlikely said:
As has been said, avoid Kwik Fit. They regassed my 306 last summer for £30 with a voucher, 2 days later the air con wasn't working at all, just the same as before. I went back there and they hooked it up to their leak tester and told me my system had a leak. I asked them why this wasn't picked up when they looked at it the first time and they said "if it had had a leak then mate we wouldn't have gassed it, it won't let us".
They recommended I take it somewhere to get it fixed then bring it back and pay another £30 for another regas. Now bearing in mind the car had done around 110000 miles without springing a leak, for it to suddenly develop one in 2 days seems just slightly suspicious to me. The conclusion I came to is it must have had a leak when they gassed it, and it then leaked all the gas in the next 2 days, from which I surmise their machine isn't very good.
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I'm not Kwik Fit's biggest fan but you state that it 'was the same as before' after two days. Would it be remiss of me to suggest that your aircon may not have been working, due to a leak, before Kwik Fit got near it?

The rest is typical of the Kwik fit aircon experience. It's all fine and dandy as long as the machine works. Any problems and they're worse than useless.
 
CaptainUnlikely said:
As has been said, avoid Kwik Fit. They regassed my 306 last summer for £30 with a voucher, 2 days later the air con wasn't working at all, just the same as before. I went back there and they hooked it up to their leak tester and told me my system had a leak. I asked them why this wasn't picked up when they looked at it the first time and they said "if it had had a leak then mate we wouldn't have gassed it, it won't let us".
They recommended I take it somewhere to get it fixed then bring it back and pay another £30 for another regas. Now bearing in mind the car had done around 110000 miles without springing a leak, for it to suddenly develop one in 2 days seems just slightly suspicious to me. The conclusion I came to is it must have had a leak when they gassed it, and it then leaked all the gas in the next 2 days, from which I surmise their machine isn't very good.
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Did you find the were the leak was or was it something else ;)

Vauxhall did mine and I had a hole in the condenser, I also looked at colleagues Astra and this had a leak on the condenser as well.
 
Back end of feb, Honda said my air on needed doing and quoted me £47 (main dealer) to do it.

Give. The warmer weather this weekend I can see it does need doing. Is £47 a decent price or is there alternatives that are cheaper?

Never had to bother before, my previous car was like the tundra with the ac on.
 
I'd be happy with £47 from the main dealer.

Saving money elsewhere may be false economy, although you may find that the dealer actually uses a local specialist. You might get a better deal going to the specialist direct.
 
I thought it sounded reasonable (especially as they quoted me £159 for a RE040)

Will shop around once my suspension issues are resolved as I have a feeling I can get it sorted for a little less.
 
I think my Focus needs doing... Tried it the other day and it was barely making a dent in it. My wife has seen someone round our way with some kind of money back guarantee - might be worth a look to get ours sorted.
 
This is the sort of thing a specialist will do for your money, as opposed to link it to a machine, press the 'go' button and hope it works:

To undertake servicing a system ready for re-charging by vacuuming and pressurisation in order to re-charge the system takes approximately 2 ½ hours Thereafter to re-charge with a full charge of refrigerant according to manufactures recommendations takes but a few minutes.
We then carry out a final test and leave the Air-Conditioning System in good working order. In total this programme takes two to three hours to complete.

Servicing of your vehicle's air-conditioning system will ensure a long and trouble free life. Best practice includes:

• checking oil and refrigerant levels where applicable
• where applicable using service gauges to determine high and low
pressure settings and volume of refrigerant
• checking the condition of flexible hoses
• Re-gassing as necessary

In addition to the above. Once every 3 or 4 years the following should be re-placed

The OrificeTube. The Accumulator or Filter/ Dryer. Compressor oil replaced
And if fitted the suction line filter.

As to the filter dryer, it should be changed whenever
[a] the system is opened
when other components are replaced.
[c] It becomes blocked. This cCan be verified be checking temperature at its inlet and outlets pipes.
Some filter dryers are now part of the condenser.

As to the shaft seal, it should not leak, it is a seal, and leakage indicates wear.
Shaft seals depending on the make and model of compressor can be replaced and the same applies to the magnetic clutch and coil.

The above should be carried out at our service centre or the client's service centre.

It is normal practice that work on removal and replacement of fan belts and other mechanical work that is not part of the Air Conditioning system are carried out by our’s or the client service centre.

We will use our best judgement in all servicing and repair work. One such situation is when, after carrying out a leak test, "best judgement" indicates there is a small leak under the dashboard. To remove a dashboard is a major undertaking done usually by a main dealer and the cost can be as much as 4 days labour. Best judgement would indicate that the best practice would be to use an approved Air Conditioner Sealant rather than remove the dashboard.

This sealant is used throughout the industry. The approximate cost of the sealant would be £65 00 and save the four days labour cost, and the car is on the road the same day. A high saving.

It is recommended that car air conditioning systems be fully serviced once every three or four years.
http://www.car-air-con.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=1913
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Can anyone recommend someone decent for this in the Midlands? My '99 Focus AC has never worked in the 4 years I've had the car.

The mechanic who services the car said he couldn't even hear the pump working though so could need more than a re-gas?
 
Vonhelmet said:
Cheers for that... I guess an easy test would be to ask the chap how long the job will take. Three minutes? No. Three hours? Go on then.
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It takes a long time to do properly but don't expect to pay 3 hours labour, particularly at a busy garage. Some parts of the process can be set up then left to run unattended.
 
Just had mine done by a mobile aircon guy - £40. Did a pressure test and found a very slight drop. He put some dye in put it didnt show any leaks - that he could see. Asked if i still wanted to go ahead with the re-gas so i said yes, he did say that i may or may not last very long ( due to the slight leak). He explained that once its re-gased it may well seal the leak once everything gets lubricated etc...........tbh it wasnt working when i got the car a few months back, i have no idea when it last worked. If it continues to work for a good ole time then great. I thought £40 was quite reasonable.

He took the best part of an hour to do what he had to do.
 
Big Chris said:
Can anyone recommend someone decent for this in the Midlands? My '99 Focus AC has never worked in the 4 years I've had the car.

The mechanic who services the car said he couldn't even hear the pump working though so could need more than a re-gas?
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May well need more than a re gas but without gas in the system the pump won’t run anyway.
 
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