Air con help

bennyboy · Post by **bennyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:34 pm

Well after 18 years and 177k my lude decides TODAY is the best day for the air con to fail....
Was fine, then just died. Got a bit of a smell through the vents too.
Anyone any experience of this, regards regassing or diagnosing that that is what's needed?
Place near me does the whole shebang, tests for leaks, antibacterial treatment etc so might head down there.
From memory though, is there a complication due to the type of gas used?

nickyboy · Post by **nickyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:40 pm

Take care of my baby

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:43 pm

no the new gas should be r134a or something like that it will have it on your slam panel if i remember rightly if it has r12 you may need new seals or something like that

bennyboy · Post by **bennyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:53 pm

I never understand how air con can just need a re gass, surely if something has escaped from a closed system, there's a leak somewhere

bennyboy · Post by **bennyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:56 pm

nickyboy wrote:Take care of my baby

OK you're freaking me out now

Don't worry, normal service will resume in due course.

nickyboy · Post by **nickyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:59 pm

Next time I need a regas I'm thinking air con specialist, not a garage

Dbo · Post by **Dbo** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:36 pm

just beware the garages that just use bottle gas and connectors. all different cars need the gas put in at a certian rate and if done wrong will blow the system.
most places like kwik fit now use the machines that empty the system then check for leaks then fill, if the machine at any point find a problem it just stops and a full aircon service is then needed.

my last car the quote was huge so just had to live without it

SiR Si · Post by **SiR Si** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:50 pm

As I understand it if your air-con just stops working then it is likely to be one of two things, either you have a fairly bad leak and all your refrigerant is gone hence it stops working or the compressor has stopped working.

If you needed a re-gas the air-con would have got warmer slowly not stop all of a sudden.

If the compressor has stopped working, sometimes this can be due to an electrical fault no engaging the electronic clutch on the accessory belt to turn the compressor, it is worth checking when you push the air con button that the clutch engages and the clutch turns and then turns off when you turn the button off.

If you have a bad leak you can pressure test the system with a gauge on one of the fill points under the engine bay, that will tell you if there is any refrigerant at all and if there is if there is enough pressure in the system.

If you do need a re-gas you can do it yourself, I've done this a couple of time now with these, Ive not had any issues with gas fill rates or anything like that...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Accord- ... 462wt_1199
Although I did pay about half that, the top-up kit has a pressure guage to show how much gas is in the system and can be re-used for diagnosis...

bennyboy · Post by **bennyboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:59 pm

Thanks all.
Si - rep'd

scholar, thanks. Its funny I did wonder if its a mechanical thing, will investigate again tomorrow.
Don't know why it would have suddenly lost the gas, so maybe that's it

bennyboy · Post by **bennyboy** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:14 am

OK, as you were.
Got in the car today and it's working perfectly

so I guess it's most likely mechanical, maybe sticky clutch mech or something. Anyway, not complaining