The air conditioning on the family car (Rover 420SDi) wasn't working too well so last August I called out a mobile regassing unit. They had a lot of trouble getting the new gas to go in, so they said, then after that it didn't really work at all. You could still hear the compressor clicking on and off occasionally, but you need a thermometer to detect any change in temperature. They fobbed me off a few times about trying to fix it and when I finally got an appointment to visit their HQ I found it boarded up :-(.
I just found out about the DIY regassing kits from Halfords and I'm wondering whether I should try one or if that would just be wasting more money because it needs a more thorough overhaul by competent professionals. I don't want to spend too much because the car's getting on now, but we're probably going to keep it until it's only fit for scrap, which could be quite a few more years, and it would be nice to have aircon back.
On the one hand the aircon hadn't been working well ever since we got the car 2 or 3 years before, and I don't think it had been deteriorating very quickly, if at all, so if there was a leak originally it was very slow. So a regas might be all it needs.
On the other hand, I might have the same problem as the cowboy regassers, or they might have damaged something, or having virtually no gas and no usage over winter might have knackered the seals.
What would you do? And can anyone recommend a good aircon specialist in the Southampton area?