The aircon in our 156 doesn't appear to be as cold as I remembered it last summer..... and yes, we have run it more or less constantly over the winter before anyone asks.
Has anyone had any success with the DIY refil kits, or should I stay well clear and get a specialist to do it?
It's bloody roasting today, too isn't it!
NeedForSwede had success with the self-kit on his Celica and the A/C on that hadn't worked for yonkers.
Give it a go, it's a fiver. If it works, bargain. If not, only a fiver extra on the cost of getting a specialist to do it. Bear in mind it costs the specialist about 15p (in materials) to do the job and you might even get at least a fiver knocked off the bill if you haggle, or pay cash.
Fiver?!
Where? - I saw the kits in Halfrauds today for something like 15 quid.
SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
^^^^^^^^^
I think I've found the problem.
Heh, yeah, still, they're about the same price on ebay.
Can of gas comes in at a tenner. Might be tempted to give that a try.
My car had been sitting unused for four years and the aircon pressure had all gone, so it wouldn't even start the compressor.
One of the Halfords kits worked fine and its still working almost a year later. Having said that I would recommend you get one with a pressure gauge as its possible to keep the can going too long and actually reduce the pressure again!
Since yours is already working, a slip up could mean you make it worse if you're not careful.
ZIs this easy to undertake for a complete novice?
Well, I bit the bullet and bought the Halfrauds kit. About 12 quid, ISTR, but I never remember important stuff like that ;-)
Takes 20 mins in all - 2 mins emptying the contents of the tin into the system and the rest leaving it running to circulate.
It's definitely cooler in there, but not as icy cold as my VW was. Perhaps it needs a tin of gas as well.
Yes, it's easy to do, just locate the low pressure service valve and press on the adaptor on the tin.
The instructions say to bin the tin and adaptor, however, I'd advise keeping the adaptor as you can then use it to top up with tins of cheapie gas from ebay. Which is my next step.
press on the adaptor on the tin.
Is this on the compressor unit?
It's on a pipe between the compressor and the aircon intercooler / radiator on mine.
Bear in mind it
15p for refrigerant? when was the last time you bought Refrigerant Gas, the last time I bought R123a it was about £15 a Kilo and that was trade price.
Not all tins of gas have the same thread.
It was on an alloy pipe in mine too, with a blue dust cap marked 'L' for the low pressure side, adjacent to one marked 'H' for the high pressure side. They are different sizes anyway so I don't think you can get them mixed up. The hardest part is to keep shaking the can while it goes in, so its dead easy.
Z
I did my Xantia recently. Funnily enough it didn't take the full can. Presumably there was still some in the system and I justneeded to restore the pressure. BTW I used a Hafrauds tin with no pressure gauge and it cost IIRC about £17
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