Air Conditioning

John wrote:

it has a leak, which is why it needed topping up, the trick is to get the
leak repaired and then get it filled, it is not rocket science, any
competent air con place can do it.

John wrote:

Was the weather cold when you tried the A/C?


--
Pete M - OMF#9

'78 Escort 1300 Sport
'99 BMW 318is Coupé


"It's an Alfa, it will go wrong, it will piss you off, why should your
Alfa experience be different from everyone else's.
Now get back out there and swear at it before something else breaks."

Thus spake John (Who90nospam@ntlworld.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

It sounds like your problem is very similar to that with my '00 Astra, where
the a/c compressor runs for about 10 seconds and then stops.  I've had to
have it regassed at considerable expense at my local Vauxhall franchise three
times in as many years, ever since I had the a/c "serviced" after it had been
working perfectly for the previous 5 years, and each time even though they
said they can't find any evidence of a leak (eh?). This time I shall take it
to an a/c specialist.

I was advised that I should run the a/c for at least 10 mins at least once a
week so as to (their words) "prevent the seals drying out".  I've done this
to no apparent avail.  And yet, before I first had the a/c serviced in 2006,
I would maybe run it once a month unless actually required, and it was
perfectly OK all the five years since I bought it.

Weird, weird, weird.




--
                                 Andy Clews
                            University of Sussex
                 *** Remove DENTURES if replying by email ***

It was cold when I tried it.

I believe the latest fill included a dye that will fluoresce under U/V
light.

Hoping to sell the car on Sunday - I may have to own up and drop the price.

On 06/03/2010 08:06, A.Clews@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk wrote:


I owned a Renault Laguna from new for about 10 years, and hardly used
the air conditioning anytime else but for the extremes in summer. Never
serviced the AC, but it was working perfectly when I was preparing it to
be sold. Everything else was near to packing up though, power steering
especially.

Are there different types of AC, some with better reliability than others?

--
Adrian C

Back to my Honda - the first time I had it re-charged was when I noticed a
fall off in its performance - but the compressor and fan used to operate -
it just wasn't as good as it used to be - and I didn't get the slushing /
gurgling noises behind the glove box.

On this latest occasion - it seems that maybe the low pressure has shut down
the mechanism (for protection) as the compressor clutch and the fan doesn't
cut in.

John wrote:

As I see it one of the best reasons for regassing car air con is because it
will always slowly lose pressure, that is an insecapable fact due to the
nature of the rubber hoses and compressor design.   If the pressure gets low
enough and the system is run and a vacuum is created on the low side of the
pump then damp air can get drawn in.  Dampness is a real killer for air con
systems.  So an air con service where all the gas is removed, deep vacuum
applied (which pulls out moisture from the system) and then a regas with uv
dye, is the best thing to have done every couple of years on a modern
vehicle (modern vehicles use 'thinner' gas and much less of it than the
older systems, particularly R12 systems.  A quick top up alone for an ailing
system is rarely a good idea.

Checked again today - it will run for about 5 seconds every 2 minutes. Is
this a symptom of low gas?

Sounds about right, about the only thing kwik fit are good for if you  
don't have a convenient real aircon specialist is their vacuum & regas  
machine.