Simple vaccuum test and recharge, most aircon faults are as simple as that!, don't go looking for problems before they appear!, I have swapped pumps and after a quick recharge had a reliable system,
I had an S reg Xantia 1.9td , no aircon for 6 months then recharged, worked perfectly for a year then the pump self destructed, fitted a pump from a 307 hdi, worked perfectly for another year ( the mating of a xantia with a bmw wrote the car off but the aircon still worked!)
Mind you her indoors 306, vacuum check OK, recharge found a major leak in the condensor, oh well thats another £100.........thats the exeption that proves the rule!!
The seals need frequent lubrication to remain effective. If the system is not run at regular intervals the seals can in effect dry out and leak. Often all that is needed to revive them is running the compressor with a good charge of gas and oil.
A BMW I bought last year had leaked it's gas, and had not been run for over
6 months. Was recharged in October and has been working fine ever since.
I'd advise you have it properly evacuated and recharged with gas and oil before thinking about replacing the seals. Mike.
You could be right, but IMO it is more likely to be as Guy suspected. A simple seal leak. IME, unless a condenser has been damaged I would expect it to last 10 years and over quite easily. I've had several cars over 10 years old with a/c that have never had their condensers replaced. 2 1990 Celica GT4's and a '94 and 96 BMW at present. I aso have a 1985 Rover Vitesse. The a/c on that was still working well until a couple of years ago. It lost it's gas after being garaged for a few months. I've no doubt it simply leaked out because it wasn't run during that time. In any case the simplest way to find out is to get it regassed with a dye that will show up any leaks. Mike.
well first apply a vac to the system. the system must have a leak. if you have been retro fitted then just go to a shop and ask to have a test done. 35$ they will likley try to sell you repair. just say no and go home and add positive pressure. with a soapy bottle of water spray it around joints and lines. locate problem and fix. have a mobile a/c repair guy charge it.
The molecules are so small these days that the system can never be airtight and there will always be some loss at the seals even when there is no fault.
Mine always loses almost exactly 20% (by weight) per year. There are no faults and my dealership said that it was absolutely normal. I get mine recharged every couple of years and it's fine.
If the aircon is not used, weekly, even in winter the seal shrink and it does lose a small amount of gas, you may find there is still gas in it but it's just below the pressure to allow the compressor to run, I have recharged a few and they all had gas just not eough! The system I have access to, removes all the gas before vacuuming, then refills the system using the gas you have just taken out, 90% fo the ones I have been involved with just needed a recharge, The system measures the amount of gas when removing it so it's easy to see how much has been lost, even my wifes 306 had about 400g of gas in it but when it was recharged the condensor was leaking, so we quickly took the gas out again! even when the pump in the xantia self destructed the compressor part of it was intact it was the clutch bearing that broke.
Most aircon systems have between 700 to 900g of refrigerent, so if you lose
150g in a couple of years because the previous owner never used it and all of a sudden no aircon!
It is possible you have a leak, then it is expensive to repair, but have a test first, at around £60 it really is the cheapest diagnosis, and you may end up with working aircon!! or go to halfrauds and buy a kit and shove some gas in yourself!
If you can't pull a decent vacuum you have a pretty serious leak, most likely the condensor on a mondeo....
If it pulls and holds a good vacuum, I would then do one of two things depending on what the general condition of the system looked like-
a) begin to put a full charge in with a big shot of dye, running the system with fingers crossed. If it appears to hold run the car around for a day or two using the a/c as much as possible. If it conks, the leak will be pretty obvious due to the dye. Fix leak, repeat.
b) Charge it with ~180psi of nitrogen and get round as much of it as possible with the sniffer. Sit back for an hour or two, then re check the pressure. If this appears ok, vac out, and go to a)
Obviously all of this is dependant on a local decent a/c guy who is more interested in fixing your system than draining your wallet inbetween sucking teeth...
It's *always* on but the compressor doesn't kick in if the air temperature is cold enough. Perversely, I'm most likely to switch it off on a good summers day and open the windows and sun roof as I find the A/C can dry my eyes out!!
My money is on the condenser. They corrode at about that age and I had to replace one on a similar age Mondeo last year. You can buy them fairly cheap on ebay but you will also need a new dehydrator and some PAG oil. I think it cost me about £220 all in, including the re-gas.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.