Air con- home regas kit?

[oceanview]

I am after a bit of advice or anyone with experience in an aircon issue on a potential purchase.

I am interested in a Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDCI on a 10 plate.

Everything seems up together- MOT history ok, service history good, with recent cambelt, water pump and aux belt. Done 110,000.

I asked the private seller if the aircon was blowing cold, and he was honest and said its blowing cool rather than cold- saying probably just needs a re-gas. Yes that old chestnut!

I replied that if he was prepared to get it re-gassed and it didn't lose the gas and stayed cold, I would probably come and see the car- let me know.

The next day, he messaged to say he had his mate use his home air con re-gas kit and it was now blowing cold. I said let me know in 3-4 days time if its still ok and not leaking.

Had a message today- 3 days later- saying all still seemed ok and was still blowing cold.

What's peoples thoughts?- I suppose it could be just the gas- and is now fine but, i got caught out many years back with a Mercedes SL - that needed new pump and condenser.

Decisions, decisions!

[rigga]

Air con gas can leak out if the system is not used for a long time, the gas has a oil in suspension that lubricates the seals, seals dry out if the the oil is not circulated, and the gas can leak.
Used to be able to get a regas kit from halfords, used it a couple of times, and all has been good, so "home " regas do work.

Saying that, the seller may still be pulling a fast one, only time will tell.

[Burnzyb]

AC gas is very thin and leaks naturally from a system over time through rubber hoses mainly, albeit I think it’s around 100g a year, and without having it properly tested you’ll never know.

[Chris32345]

Burnzyb said:

AC gas is very thin and leaks naturally from a system over time through rubber hoses mainly, albeit I think it’s around 100g a year, and without having it properly tested you’ll never know.

It's nowhere near that's ammout most systems only have like 700-800gram or so and below 500 is think they wouldn't work doo to too little pressure



That being said they do often leak after a few years around seals and such

[dhutch]

Home regas kits are in many ways a bit crap, you can't measure the amount in, or being added, and you certainly can't do a vac test which you should do before regarding any empty system, nor can you remove gas before working on a system.

However for a system which works but is cool not cold, they can be used to top up, as appears to be the case here.

The seller appears to be honest and willing to go out of his way. I would bite his hand off assuming the rest of the car matches the requirements and price asked.

Worse case, the whole lot sh its itself in 6months time an you're no worse of than any other car bought from anywhere else and have to do a £500 garage trip for a new compressor, drier, gas. Which is highly unlikely, and not at all life threatening.

Daniel

[Burnzyb]

Chris32345 said:

It's nowhere near that's ammout most systems only have like 700-800gram or so and below 500 is think they wouldn't work doo to too little pressure



That being said they do often leak after a few years around seals and such

https://www.vehicools.co.uk/faq-s/

Most places quite at least a 10% figure so I wasn’t miles off.


Edit: But I’d also side with the comment above, it’s not often you’ll get a 10+ year old used car with fully functioning ac.

I had someone come to look at a Mondeo I’m currently selling, he kept referencing the ac system, in the end he didn’t use it as a bargaining reference, but I would of politely told him to go find another car with the AC topped up.

Edited by Burnzyb on Wednesday 17th June 23:22

[Chris32345]

Burnzyb said:

https://www.vehicools.co.uk/faq-s/

Most places quite at least a 10% figure so I wasn’t miles off.

Those people are trying to sell you a regas



A system in good condition and used regularly will lose nothing like that ammout




You don't see every car with AC having the system stop working after 4-5 year's do you?

[Burnzyb]

I never have a car for 4-5 years so I’d never find out

[dhutch]

An amount of loss isn't in heard of, but there are plenty of ten year old cars with working aircon!

My car is 19yo and has held its gas since I had I had topped up from cool to cold five years ago.

Daniel

[ChampionRabbit]

I'd be checking to see if the clutch is engaging on the compressor properly. Quite often the shims are worn and the clearance is too great, so although the clutch will engage initially, it soon gives up or becomes intermittent.

Assuming the compressor is easy to access, it's simple to remove a shim or replace them. Worth checking.

[Mexman]

Private sale on 10yr old car, and your getting the seller to run around after you, so you MAY be interested in buying it?
FRO would have been my answer, you sound very needy OP, and a potential nightmare to deal with.

[oceanview]

Mexman said:

Private sale on 10yr old car, and your getting the seller to run around after you, so you MAY be interested in buying it?
FRO would have been my answer, you sound very needy OP, and a potential nightmare to deal with.

Lovely to meet you too!??

No, I don't expect a 10 year old car to be perfect- this one has plenty of battle scars and things like bushes and things are obviously not a big deal .

And I don't think I got the seller to "runaround" after me- I just said if you do decide to regas and it holds , let me know. Didn't expect to hear from him but I did.
I just want one with working air con- not too much to ask really- my 2007 cars works perfectly and so does the old man's 14 year old Civic.

You sound like a pleasure to deal with yourself ??
Anyway, thanks to the other posters with their replys- much appreciated.

Edited by oceanview on Thursday 18th June 08:51

[dhutch]

Fair enough all round.

View the car. Bushes cost more than aircon.

Enjoy