AC issue with a simple solution but Garages scared me off.

[Raj]

Since I purchased the car my rear AC vents were blowing hot air even after setting the temp to low but the front ones and the cooler work fine. I asked Craddock to check that when the car went there. He told he took out everything and its very complicated but did something and its working. I didn't think of it much as mostly I drive the car alone or my little one sits at the back but never complained. I only realized last week that the rear vents are still blowing hot air as there were passengers in my car so I checked it. There was also a dog at the back. Poor thing don't know how it was in that hot boot.
Now I don't want to go to any Garage, so-called dedicated mobile AC technician. He didn't go into all those sensors, electric wire connectors, motors and other components story as other garages mentioned.
He simply took out all the gas from the system. 600 gms came out but the car should have 1000 +/- 50 gms. Simple solution. He vacuumed the system to take away any air pockets and filled in factory spec gas and exact quantity.
It is working excellent now. I was so excited I asked him to come next week again and do a full bacterial clean for LandCruiser and Accord.

 

[Tractionman]

Good call Raj.
An independent one man operation is generally a better choice than a main stealer or any old garage.

 

[Brett]

I had mine done at my local dealer, they did a good job. I was experiencing similar problems to Raj. Passenger side cold drivers side and rear vents blowing hot. It took them a while because they used all their gas up and had to go out for more. £45.00 and it's been ice cold since.

 

[Towpack]

I've got mine booked in at a local F1 autocentre for a regas. It's still working but struggles to get much below 10deg in really hot weather but it's at least 6 years since it was touched so it's not doing bad I guess. The last place I used, an aircon specialist near Barlborough has gone, as has another local soecialist in town.

 

[Shayne]

While on the subject i asked them to regas my 80's aircon at halfords just because i was there a while ago and they tried but couldn't .

I don't much care about a/c as i always have the drivers window open but i guess it should be fixed regardless .

So won't take gas , whats that about ? is the pump shot or might i pull it apart and get it working again ?

 

[Towpack]

I regassed mine some years ago with a couple of those cans from Halfords and it worked fine, for a while. Then I had it done professionally and they found a very slight leak on the condensor. I sourced and fitted one myself along with a new dryer prior to having it regassed and it's been good ever since. "Won't take gas" could mean a number of things. Didn't they elaborate? I'm guessing there's a leak somewhere.

 

[Shayne]

This is halfords carpark commando's , with a shrug "doesn't work no charge" I've seen little old ladies helping them fit window wipers so not the place to ask advice

 

[Shayne]

She wants hers done because its not as cold as it used to be so i will just make sure its parked next to mine when the mobile expert arrives .

 

[StarCruiser]

The best thing in my opinion is to ask in local food establishments, take seats etc who they use for their fridges. He’ll be so busy you may have to wait and/or hassle him but you’ll likely get a far better job done as he’s dedicated to refrigeration and knows the systems inside out. Garages generally only connect a machine and push buttons. Fridge engineers can leak check, vac out, fill with nitrogen etc before weighing in the correct amount of gas.
Well done Raj for finding your ‘go to’ guy.

 

[Charlie]

I would ask the question, “where is the refrigerant leak? In my experience if the system error is due to low pressure, 9 times out of 10 it’s due to a leak.

 

[GeekOKent]

@Charlie won't it be 10 in 10? If the gas is gone, it must have leaked out?

 

[Towpack]

The vehicle aircon specialist (now gone) I used a few years back ran a full 45min pressure test as standard procedure prior to regassing. In my case where the system is still working but not quite as cold as it used to be then maybe a straight regas will suffice. I've had a good look round with a UV light and can see no leaks. On a system that hasn't worked for some time or had new parts fitted then a pressure test is an absolute necessity.
I'm guessing the place I'm booked in at will have some sort of robotic machine that will do everything so I'll see how it goes. Come to think of it, the last regas by the specialist was done by such a machine!

 

[GeekOKent]

I had the 120 done at Toyota and they basically had the machines hooked up for a few hours. I don't know what all they did, but 9 odd years later it's all still working quite well.

 

[Gary Watson]

I do mine my self being a mech by trade and having my A/C accreditation got own gauges, vac pump etc, a lot of places have the fully automatic machines they hook them up and let it go then walk away to do something else, if you got a problem the gauges will tell you 9 times out of 10, if you got a leak most times it shows up from the vac test, after all most systems these days have that many "O" rings in them it's not hard for some body to over tighten a connection and the pipes these days are aluminum and so are the connections and nuts, also what they don't tell you is the chemical make up of the flexible hoses is finer than the chemical make up of the gas so the gas will at some stage leak out through the hoses, hens why home systems do not leak as much as auto uses dose they have no flexible hoses in them just solid pipes
I do my own have no probs and it comes out of the vents at -10 then the compressor cycles out it is a Sahara model so its got cold box in consul and rear as well

 

[Raj]

local dealer

I ve to visit your dealer at some time. They seem to be good.

 

[Raj]

gas will at some stage leak

this is why I was asked to check and refill gas atleast every 2 years

 

[StarCruiser]

Best thing is to use the AC at least once a week. R134A is a much smaller molecule than the R12 it replaces but hoses are the least of the problem. The compressor shaft seal is simply a lip seal and the gas leaks out there as the system is not hermetically sealed like ‘home’ units. Exercising the AC keeps oil flowing round that lubes the shaft seal and prevents the leakage being too bad.

 

[Gary Watson]

how true that is

 

[oneafrikan]

@Raj i recall you’re near enough to London?
Would you mind DM’ing me your guy?

Our AC wasn’t quite cold enough in Spain in August (last done in 2016) so want to get it checked & cleaned if I can…

 

[Gary Stockton]

I can recommend an indy A/C guy for central Scotland - comes to you, knows what he’s doing. Mr T told me, after sucking on their teeth as they do, it needed a new condenser and HP hose - 2 grand sir. A/C guy tested, checked etc and found 2 perished ‘O’ rings, replaced those, cleaned and refilled and been brilliant ever since… well worth the £100 it cost.