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Summer seems to be making a bit of an appearance which has reminded me that my car air con is still not right. Its a 52 Focus TDCi, was apparently working fine until one hot day last July when it refused to cool that air down. I got it regassed and while that seemed to improve things it still wasn't back to its best and seemed to lose effectiveness over time. Now it goes through phases of 'sort of' cooling the air a bit and then not bothering.
To my mind that smacks of a problem elsewhere in the system and given the age of the car I'm feeling like maybe doing a bit of investigation myself - I know there's a compressor, a condenser an orifice, lots of pipes and some gas... what's the collective wisdom on where to start checking and what order to do things in?
If it works whilst the car is at speed but not when going slow or stationary it could be your main fan that is gone otherwise condenser or engagement clutch.
Or gas leak.
.. is it worth it? our A/C system blew up several years ago (900S) and to be honest, the cost was going to be out of all relation to current value of car, nice to have, but...
kcal - that's why I'm doing it myself!
It could be anything, but first I'd start by seeing if the compressor is engaging - you should see or hear it engage. The compressor will not run if there is no gas in the system. Let us know if it engages.
Hth
Marko
I had this on my old Volvo S70
Cooled for 5 minutes then blew hot. regassed to no effect new (to me but a used part) compressor with new cluth did it.(in the end as the first compressor recived had a fitting damaged)
Yep definite click on engaging the ac so I guess that means the clutch is doing something.
Doing it yourself?
Looked at doing it myself, it's a waste of time. Unless you have the vac equipment, which I doubt you do by the nature of your enquiry, then you are literally only saving on the labour when you find whatevers broken. Pipes are supposedly susceptible to going brittle (on my car anyway) and if the seals are gone thats a lot of fiddly shit to deal with. Then factor in the cost of getting it gassed up by someone who knows what they're doing; Halfords cans are shit, not least because you won't have a purged system but also the fact you need the exact quantity of gas and oil in the system or it won't work. Also illegal to vent refrigerant not to mention a health risk.
I'm all for just completely deleting mine as it's one less moving part to go wrong. Buy some Heko's and stop being such a baby. 😛
Squirrelking is mostly correct in the fact that that venting refrigerant into the atmosphere is not only illegal but very inconsiderate to everyone around us on the planet. I work in air con and we not only have a duty of care for our work, but also we have to log refrigerant useage, disposal and installation,albeit on a slightly larger scale than a car, but the principal is the same. Also, weirdly, all 'garages' that carry out this service,should have certification for carrying pressure testing, evacuation and recharging systems. Doing it yourself, without knowledge can lead to frost bite, blindness and danger from over charging and basically really not knowing what you are doing.
When ours went the hey diagnostic step was adding refrigerant with a uv dye in it
The found the dye every where...
It was just a cracked pipe deep in the dash. Part costs were low but the labour was, well I shudder to think. Thank heavens for a dealer determined to look after us and warranties
Yep definite click on engaging the ac so I guess that means the clutch is doing something.
Possibly just low on gas. Is condensation forming on one of the pipes under the hood?
Top of my head I'd say you have a small leak, so you'll need to find a garage that knows what they are doing - [b]NOT[/b] a 'Fast Fit'.
If you don't know a garage just ask if they have the 'Loktrace' kit. Not all will (and don't rule them out because they don't have it), but any AC specialist that has invested in Loktrace will be on the ball.
Marko
Beware of overfilling your system with a kit.
I did this :oops:. Everytime the compressor kicked in you could feel the resistance momentarily slow the engine down before the compressor over pressure switch kicked in and disengaged the compressor clutch.
This was on a 2.5l V6 engine, so there must have been a fair bot of resistance.
Venting some of the gas from the high pressure circuit cured it though. (I know, I know).
Largest ever repair bill I've had was for aircon (about £900). A pipe split between the dash and engine and had to have the engine out to replace it. Pipe itself was something like £250+VAT for a 90cm length! Golf V6 4 Motion.
My 06 Focus A/C leaked from new - 6 times it was in (under warranty) and eventually they sorted it - the condenser was leaking it turned out to be in the end but they replaced every other cheaper part before that.
Any recommendations for an automotive ac specialist in the Reading area? Our S-Max has ceased providing cool air and I was going to regas it myself but this and various other Ford forums suggest it's better to get someone who knows what they are doing to have a look at it.
I was going to post an update - Gary from here :
http://www.autoairconditioningltd.co.uk/
Came out and diagnosed a leaking condenser which is being done next week for a far more reasonable sum than I expected. Website looks like he'll cover Reading so worth a shout. Fwiw I found him via an old post on pistonheads where he was recommended.
If it's so/so, rather than simply non functional, it's likely to be either the condenser, or a leak.
If it's just not working, can you answer the following?
1. Does the cars revs drop when the AC is switched on inside the car?
2. Do you know where the compressor is inside the engine bay, and can you see the drive belt that it's connected to?
Any recommendations in the Worcester/Malvern area? Or any other general recommendations on who to use beyond asking about Loktrace as above?
Had a regass last year and they couldn't find a leak, after which it seemed to work fine, but no cold again now. Don't really want to go back to any old garage and get the same issue again next year.
If it's lasting a year on a regas, it might make good economic sense just to get a cheap gas every year tbh.
Just get it pressure tested & gas with dye used so that if there is a leak it can be found easily.
Then yeah just refill!
Well it's lasting a summer (more or less) on a regas, not sure it was blowing cold by October after fixing in May, but didn't really test it. Have a heated screen, so not all that bothered about it working for demisting. You may be right about the economics, but it would be nice to know the cost of fixing properly.
The place I took it to last year supposedly used a dye and couldn't find any leaks.