Got the aircon done - by Kwikfit

[Mercury00]

The GF's air con is borked at the moment, no cooler than the standard blowers. When pressing the AC button there is no sound or feeling of anything happening, in my past cars you usually hear it kicking in or at least feel a change in the revs etc. Does this sound like something more than needing regassing?

[oilslick]

Mercury00 said:

The GF's air con is borked at the moment, no cooler than the standard blowers. When pressing the AC button there is no sound or feeling of anything happening, in my past cars you usually hear it kicking in or at least feel a change in the revs etc. Does this sound like something more than needing regassing?

As I understand it if there's no pressure in the system then the clutch in the compressor won't engage to avoid causing any damage by running with no refrigerant/lubrication.

[Ari]

doogz said:

Laura pointed out that the aircon in my car doesn't blow cold.

I pointed out that if it's warm enough to justify aircon, I'll have the roof down anyway.

So?

28 degrees here today, roof down, aircon full on, lovely.

You'd put the heater on with the top down if it were cold, why not the air con with the roof down when it is hot?

[va1o]

Its a shame more manufacturers don't fit basic diagnostics for the AC system. Something simple like the AC light not coming or flashing to indicate a fault would be helpful. In particular climate control systems left on Auto seem to go mad when the compressor is playing up and just blow warm air into the cabin at full force.

[daemon]

Dannbodge said:

My dad has an Air con machine in his workshop for cars that are crashed and repaired.

Mine needed re-gassing so he did it for me. Cost me nothing.

Cool story bro.

[Bonefish Blues]

Troubleatmill said:

My £0.02

Forget the places that use fluorescent dye.
Find a place that has a sniffer.


I had a slow leak that the dye didn't find. They have 4 attempts.
The guy that had the gas sniffer found the leak in 8 seconds. Pinpointed it to within 2cm.

Good tip, thanks

[anonymous-user]

Jimboka said:

Just had mine done by Kwikfit as it was getting a bit tired @ 6 years old!
Good as new again now...

Still works fine, but a few weeks later I found the recharge point dust cover wedged behind battery. They obviously mislaid it and didn't bother to refit. Pretty shoddy ...

[Pothole]

Frankthered said:

Pothole said:

ou are so right, your single negative experience against the half dozen or so positive ones in this thread proves you absolutely right. Doesn't it?

I can add another negative experience I'm afraid!

Similar story - KF regas lasted a few weeks, after which it dropped off quickly. This was back in summer 2012 - it just about got to September.

I left it till the next summer - my mate has the Halfords kit and so we bought a can and gassed it up. It lasted till I chopped it in March.

Personally, I will be wary of using KF again.

Well done, that could not, however, have had any influence on whatsisname's opinion, could it?

[Badgerboy]

Had my S2000 done by a chap in Tesco car park for £30. Being a convertible, you rarely use the aircon, but there is nothing more decadent than having the AC on with the roof down.

The amount of cars the guy had turned away was crazy though, most with knackered compressors as they haven't been used for years.

[Frankthered]

Pothole said:

Frankthered said:

Pothole said:

ou are so right, your single negative experience against the half dozen or so positive ones in this thread proves you absolutely right. Doesn't it?

I can add another negative experience I'm afraid!

Similar story - KF regas lasted a few weeks, after which it dropped off quickly. This was back in summer 2012 - it just about got to September.

I left it till the next summer - my mate has the Halfords kit and so we bought a can and gassed it up. It lasted till I chopped it in March.

Personally, I will be wary of using KF again.

Well done, that could not, however, have had any influence on whatsisname's opinion, could it?

Of course, you are correct. I was simply adding my experience of KF to the discussion so that anybody reading the thread gets a more representative view.

I think Negative Creep's feedback is probably the most telling of all so far.

I would say my view of KF is pretty much what it always has been - they're hit and miss. You might go to a really good branch, a good tech who knows what he's doing might work on your car.

OTOH, you might not.

Pay your money and take your choice.

[ooo000ooo]

stropley said:

I was in our local halfords auto centre yesterday and asked about this cos I just bought a mk6 fiesta which has non-working aircon ..... but the engine is also on its way out so I don't want to spend loads on it.
Explained this to The manager and he reckons they pressure test it first and if it won't hold pressure they won't gas it and you don't have to pay. Seemed like a win-win to me?
MOT is due in August so it'll be booked in there for both things (they're doing MOT half price too).

Saw this yesterday and went to my local halfords last night, air con wasn't working in the celica I bought a few months back no warning lights etc so figured it'd be worth a try. They use the cans and gun stuff they sell in store. Guy connected the gun up said there's no leaks and I ok'd him to fill it up. He filled it for a few minutes and no difference to the air temp.
He went off to get another can and as soon as he connected it up the car stalled! After a moment of panic I started it up and kept the revs up until cold air started to come through.
I presume the compressor was a bit seized?
It's a bit rattley for a few seconds when I put the air con on for a few seconds then clears but nice to have cold air again.

[Pothole]

Frankthered said:

Pothole said:

Frankthered said:

Pothole said:

ou are so right, your single negative experience against the half dozen or so positive ones in this thread proves you absolutely right. Doesn't it?

I can add another negative experience I'm afraid!

Similar story - KF regas lasted a few weeks, after which it dropped off quickly. This was back in summer 2012 - it just about got to September.

I left it till the next summer - my mate has the Halfords kit and so we bought a can and gassed it up. It lasted till I chopped it in March.

Personally, I will be wary of using KF again.

Well done, that could not, however, have had any influence on whatsisname's opinion, could it?

Of course, you are correct. I was simply adding my experience of KF to the discussion so that anybody reading the thread gets a more representative view.

I think Negative Creep's feedback is probably the most telling of all so far.

I would say my view of KF is pretty much what it always has been - they're hit and miss. You might go to a really good branch, a good tech who knows what he's doing might work on your car.

OTOH, you might not.

Pay your money and take your choice.

Pretty much like any other chain, or any mechanic who hasn't been personally recommended.

[daemon]

Frankthered said:

I can add another negative experience I'm afraid!

Similar story - KF regas lasted a few weeks, after which it dropped off quickly. This was back in summer 2012 - it just about got to September.

I left it till the next summer - my mate has the Halfords kit and so we bought a can and gassed it up. It lasted till I chopped it in March.

Personally, I will be wary of using KF again.

So you've a leak somewhere. You went in for a regas, asked for a regas and got a regas. You didnt pay for a diagnosis and / or repair.

Thats like going into a tyre repair centre with a slow puncture, asking them to pump it up, then complaining they did a crap job when it goes down again.

I would suggest the difference in duration could be because the Kwikfit regas was done just before the summer when the aircon has to work harder, likely forcing the gas out of the crack or weakness.

[squeezebm]

ooo000ooo said:

Saw this yesterday and went to my local halfords last night, air con wasn't working in the celica I bought a few months back no warning lights etc so figured it'd be worth a try. They use the cans and gun stuff they sell in store. Guy connected the gun up said there's no leaks and I ok'd him to fill it up. He filled it for a few minutes and no difference to the air temp.
He went off to get another can and as soon as he connected it up the car stalled! After a moment of panic I started it up and kept the revs up until cold air started to come through.
I presume the compressor was a bit seized?
It's a bit rattley for a few seconds when I put the air con on for a few seconds then clears but nice to have cold air again.

Compressor a bit seized

There are many many experts on the internet,but as usual this thread shows none of them actually know anything.

If your AC is not working,find someone who can diagnose the fault and carry out a repair correctly,pay him and drive away.

It's not fking rocket science.

[drivin_me_nuts]

I took my barge to my local branch a couple of weeks ago. They filled it with 3kgs of coolant. The A/C refused to start. I took it somewhere else. They removed 2.3 litres of coolant.. and showed with a UV light where the other 70cl had disappeared to. Yep, lower front wishbones and other places. They then topped it up with 70cl coolant and it blows ice cold.

I'm still not sure how they managed to put so much in the system and I am rather relieved that the system had a pressure release value to vent the excess. Needless to say, I shall not be taking my cars to KW for an A/C recharge again.

last I heard (complained to KW), the machine was taken out of service waiting for an inspection)

[Frankthered]

Pothole said:

retty much like any other chain, or any mechanic who hasn't been personally recommended.

Yes. I've even had a bad experience with a mechanic that was personally recommended. All you can do is try to minimise the risk.

[Frankthered]

daemon said:

Frankthered said:

I can add another negative experience I'm afraid!

Similar story - KF regas lasted a few weeks, after which it dropped off quickly. This was back in summer 2012 - it just about got to September.

I left it till the next summer - my mate has the Halfords kit and so we bought a can and gassed it up. It lasted till I chopped it in March.

Personally, I will be wary of using KF again.

So you've a leak somewhere. You went in for a regas, asked for a regas and got a regas. You didnt pay for a diagnosis and / or repair.

Thats like going into a tyre repair centre with a slow puncture, asking them to pump it up, then complaining they did a crap job when it goes down again.

I would suggest the difference in duration could be because the Kwikfit regas was done just before the summer when the aircon has to work harder, likely forcing the gas out of the crack or weakness.

Not quite, no.

Aircon wasn't working, thought it might be a leak, but thought I'd give a regas a try at MOT time. This was 2012. The regas you get from KF (like everywhere I guess) is supposed to check for leaks and they say they won't charge you if it doesn't work. The sheet I got form KF said no leaks.

Like I said, all OK for a while, but wasn't entirely surprised to find that the performance fell off again.

It was summer 2013 when I tried again with my mate and I drove around for the rest of the summer fully expecting the cool air to fade away at any given moment, but it didn't.

Unless I was sure I just needed a regas, I probably wouldn't bother with KF again.

[ChemicalChaos]

I get the feeling that some kwik fit staff, far from being ripoff merchants, are in fact completely the opposite and rather laissez-faire towards generating profit.

The conversation earlier...

Fitter: I've charged your aircon, the machine says there was no gas or oil in it at all!

Me: Well that probably explains why it was only blowing warm air then!

Fitter: I still need to check it's working properly

[sits in car, revs engine with aircon on and feels vents....with window still open]

Fitter: nah mate, I can't charge you for this, it's still warm

Me: It does feel colder than it was

Fitter: It should be much colder though. Your compressor isn't kicking in

Me: Ah, well. It was worth a try. Thanks anyway!

I set off with the aircon on and window closed... 5 minutes later and it's reached a temperature that Eskimos would describe as "a bit nippy".

Thanks for the free fix Kwik Fit!

[Jonno02]

ChemicalChaos said:

I get the feeling that some kwik fit staff, far from being ripoff merchants, are in fact completely the opposite and rather laissez-faire towards generating profit.

The conversation earlier...

Fitter: I've charged your aircon, the machine says there was no gas or oil in it at all!

Me: Well that probably explains why it was only blowing warm air then!

Fitter: I still need to check it's working properly

[sits in car, revs engine with aircon on and feels vents....with window still open]

Fitter: nah mate, I can't charge you for this, it's still warm

Me: It does feel colder than it was

Fitter: It should be much colder though. Your compressor isn't kicking in

Me: Ah, well. It was worth a try. Thanks anyway!

I set off with the aircon on and window closed... 5 minutes later and it's reached a temperature that Eskimos would describe as "a bit nippy".

Thanks for the free fix Kwik Fit!

Enjoy it for a few weeks while it lasts. No gas at all = leak. The more you use the A/C, the quicker it will drain. Use it wisely in this weather.

[ChemicalChaos]

Apparently the machine detected no leaks in the 45 minutes it was plugged in.

Still, even if it doesn't last then I'll have it done again, and if I have to pay then I'll have the "we'll fix the leak" guarantee