Whether to DIY aircon

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?

Reply to
Tony Houghton
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If it's leaked out the gas from the last fill it will just leak out the halfrauds stuff.

You need a pro to look at it, fill with nitrogen to find the existing leak(s), repair these, replace the dryer, pull a vacuum to remove the air & moisture from the system, _then_ re-gas, with the correct weight of refrigerant.

Also get them to check / service the compressor clutch - these wear usually causing the compressor to not engage when it's hot.

Only then will the system work properly.

Alan.

Reply to
Alan

The thing is I'm not sure if it did leak out or whether the cowboys just didn't fill it properly. If the integrity of the system is no worse than it was before they had a go at it, and they haven't butchered the valve, then a simple re-gas should get it to work reasonably well for a couple of years at a fraction of the price of a complete overhaul. But I just don't know how likely it is that the system is still OK, just empty.

Reply to
Tony Houghton

Heck, a can is only £17 from Halfords. Buy one and have a go. It worked in my Xantia

Reply to
Malc

Chances are that if is was simply out of gas then even the cowboys would have got it right.

Reply to
SimonJ

DIY recharge cans will only work *if* the system is still under pressure if only slightly- i.e. HAS NO AIR in it, and it has lost gas naturally- whether its just stopped working, or is working poorly due to low gas.

They also rely on there being the vital lubricating oil still being present in the system!

There is no substitute to vac'ing out and properly recharging with the correct weight of gas.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

I glanced at the Halfords ones the other day and they say they include oil?

No use for my old car with R12, though.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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