Broken Aircon

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

The air conditioning in my car stopped working about a month ago. It had been making a funny noise through the vents for a few months and then just stopped working completely.

On recommendation of another thread on here I tried to call WeChillAnyCar which after 30 seconds went to voicemail. I filled in their online form about two weeks ago and I never heard back. I am assuming they are so busy they don't need to chase anyone at the moment.

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Also it is a 14 year old car and I am sure a regas is unlikely to fix it for very long. That means it will need diagnosing and parts replacing and I have a feeling I will be just chasing my tail, will end up spending £1K on a car worth £2K and it still won't work properly.

Has a simple regas ever fixed anyone's aircon for more than a week or two?

The summers are starting to get so unbearable that I am serious thinking about just buying a new car so I have working aircon.

[Roboticarm]

Yes, a simple regas has twice fixed my issue on 2 cars, I know anyone selling will say "ah, mate, it just needs a regas" and that can be BS but it can also be true.

I was surprised to find my local garage offered regassing, you don't need a specialist

[spikeyhead]

Most mobile regas vans will be capable of diagnosing aircon issues and finding a leak

[tallpaul26]

Whatever way you look at it, a whole new car is gonna cost loads more that fixing your current AC!

Systems leak and below a certain pressure pressure the system won’t operate. On some cars a low pressure fault is indicated eg by DTC or just the AC light flashing when you try to activate it.

Mobile AC guy can do system leak test by pressurising with nitrogen. If it’s a leak then UV dye will find it (in my case the condenser was done).

AC is a pretty simple system on cars. I doubt it will run in to more than a few hundred pound to sort.

[vikingaero]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Kwik-Fit!

It's the one thing they can't balls up. I take cars to them for a/c as there is no charge if they can't fix it/lower the temp (check beforehand though)

The machines will pump out any gas, perform a vacuum test to see if it can hold gas, and reload gas into it if it's OK.

[captain_cynic]

vikingaero said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Kwik-Fit!

It's the one thing they can't balls up. I take cars to them for a/c as there is no charge if they can't fix it/lower the temp (check beforehand though)

The machines will pump out any gas, perform a vacuum test to see if it can hold gas, and reload gas into it if it's OK.

st-fit.

They screwed up a wheel alignment. Ended up taking it to a local tyre guy who'd been in the same back alley shop for 20+ years who fixed it for £20.

If avoid them like the plague. Hell I'd avoid the plague less than kwik-fit.

[bigdom]

Being 14 years old, is not a bad thing, as the gas is much cheaper. You want someone who can leak test it with dye. My money would be a hole in the condenser given the age, they vary in price depending on the car.

[eth2190]

I've had a few sheddy cars that just needed a regas. Had one with a leak in the condenser but a replacement was only ~70 quid and DIYable.

Worth having a look on Groupon for any available discounts. Can get 30% off a regas with ATS for example.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

I tried we chill any car again and I got through this time. It's £60 for a pressure check and regas, if there is a leak hopefully they can tell me what it is and I can make a decision from there.

[RizzoTheRat]

spikeyhead said:

Most mobile regas vans will be capable of diagnosing aircon issues and finding a leak

This! I had a mobile aircon specialist come out to me at work a few years ago, replaced the compressor, pressure tested and regassed it for about half what the first garage I'd spoken to wanted for the job

[98elise]

Roboticarm said:

Yes, a simple regas has twice fixed my issue on 2 cars, I know anyone selling will say "ah, mate, it just needs a regas" and that can be BS but it can also be true.

I was surprised to find my local garage offered regassing, you don't need a specialist

Mine does also, on a drive in basis as well (no appointment needed)

Our 15 year old focus AC suddenly stopped working in the winter (screen demist). I assumed it was a major component failure given the age but in the current heat wave I stuck it on expecting nothing but its actually working, just not very well.

I now think a regas is all thats needed.

[98elise]

captain_cynic said:

vikingaero said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Kwik-Fit!

It's the one thing they can't balls up. I take cars to them for a/c as there is no charge if they can't fix it/lower the temp (check beforehand though)

The machines will pump out any gas, perform a vacuum test to see if it can hold gas, and reload gas into it if it's OK.

st-fit.

They screwed up a wheel alignment. Ended up taking it to a local tyre guy who'd been in the same back alley shop for 20+ years who fixed it for £20.

If avoid them like the plague. Hell I'd avoid the plague less than kwik-fit.

Yup. They buggered my alignment as well. Multiple visits and different branches still couldn't fix it. Steering wheel off centre and car pulling to one side.

I haven't returned since.

[captain_cynic]

98elise said:

Yup. They buggered my alignment as well. Multiple visits and different branches still couldn't fix it. Steering wheel off centre and car pulling to one side.

I haven't returned since.

I would have thought that a wheel alignment would literally be their wheel house and they couldn't possibly screw it up. I was wrong, lesson learned

A shame ATS has shuttered a lot of it's stores recently.

[georgeyboy12345]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

The air conditioning in my car stopped working about a month ago. It had been making a funny noise through the vents for a few months and then just stopped working completely.

On recommendation of another thread on here I tried to call WeChillAnyCar which after 30 seconds went to voicemail. I filled in their online form about two weeks ago and I never heard back. I am assuming they are so busy they don't need to chase anyone at the moment.

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Also it is a 14 year old car and I am sure a regas is unlikely to fix it for very long. That means it will need diagnosing and parts replacing and I have a feeling I will be just chasing my tail, will end up spending £1K on a car worth £2K and it still won't work properly.

Has a simple regas ever fixed anyone's aircon for more than a week or two?

The summers are starting to get so unbearable that I am serious thinking about just buying a new car so I have working aircon.

What car is it and where do you live?

Personally, I d find an independent specialist based near where you live and take it in there and get them to regas it. My local VAG indy regas mine and also have a uv traceable dye in the the refrigerant, so they can troubleshoot if any leaks occur. The gas must slowly leak from my car as it needs redoing every 2-3 years.

What you absolutely should not do is leave it with no gas in for ages, as the compressor will be working full whack to try and cool the cabin, which usually results in a knackered compressor.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

georgeyboy12345 said:

What you absolutely should not do is leave it with no gas in for ages, as the compressor will be working full whack to try and cool the cabin, which usually results in a knackered compressor.

I have a funny feeling this is what exactly has happened, it was working for a while, wasn't as cold as usual, then seemed to be making a strange noise through the vents and then just stopped working on a hot day.

[georgeyboy12345]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

What you absolutely should not do is leave it with no gas in for ages, as the compressor will be working full whack to try and cool the cabin, which usually results in a knackered compressor.

I have a funny feeling this is what exactly has happened, it was working for a while, wasn't as cold as usual, then seemed to be making a strange noise through the vents and then just stopped working on a hot day.

As someone else in this thread pointed out, some systems now have failsafes to prevent this from happening, i.e. they won’t run the ac if there isn’t enough gas/pressure, in order to protect the compressor

[chris1roll]

Kwik Fit really can't fk the job up, the machine literally does everything for them automatically- they just have to wheel it out and hook it up - and the pipes are different sizes so they'd struggle to do that incorrectly.

Had a simple regas work on one of our cars, AC was totally non-operational when we bought it, dropped into KwikFit first thing one morning and an hour or so later had functioning AC that kept working for the next four years we kept the car.

[littlebasher]

I recently took a gamble with a £40 regas on a Smart car which had been sat for a couple of years

System was completely empty and i assumed it would probably not work.

Happy to report it still works a treat, the air coming out of the vents is at 2 degrees C !

[Fastdruid]

vikingaero said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

So what other options do I have, my gut feel is saying don't go to Quick Fit.

Kwik-Fit!

It's the one thing they can't balls up. I take cars to them for a/c as there is no charge if they can't fix it/lower the temp (check beforehand though)

The machines will pump out any gas, perform a vacuum test to see if it can hold gas, and reload gas into it if it's OK.

chris1roll said:

Kwik Fit really can't fk the job up, the machine literally does everything for them automatically- they just have to wheel it out and hook it up - and the pipes are different sizes so they'd struggle to do that incorrectly.

Had a simple regas work on one of our cars, AC was totally non-operational when we bought it, dropped into KwikFit first thing one morning and an hour or so later had functioning AC that kept working for the next four years we kept the car.

I beg to differ. I figured the same however on one car there was a small enough leak that it didn't fail the pressure test yet enough of a leak that it stopped working again 3 days later...

Still, that probably is an edge case and 99% of the time it'll be massively obvious.

That said, while they will leak a bit of gas over time that should be negligible, I guess if you never use it then the seals could dry up and all leak out that way but most likely is there is a small leak and it'll fail again.

The coldest A/C I've had was an old Mk2 Mondeo, 8 years old when I bought it, 14 years old when I sold it, didn't touch the A/C in the years I had it and so cold you could be shivering inside while it was 30+ outside!

[Fastdruid]

georgeyboy12345 said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

What you absolutely should not do is leave it with no gas in for ages, as the compressor will be working full whack to try and cool the cabin, which usually results in a knackered compressor.

I have a funny feeling this is what exactly has happened, it was working for a while, wasn't as cold as usual, then seemed to be making a strange noise through the vents and then just stopped working on a hot day.

As someone else in this thread pointed out, some systems now have failsafes to prevent this from happening, i.e. they won t run the ac if there isn t enough gas/pressure, in order to protect the compressor

Everything reasonably modern (and by that I mean last 30+ years!) should have a trinary switch which will prevent the A/C from running if the pressure is too low or too high (as well as typically control the fan).

What is more of concern is that if the fault is due to a serious leak then the system is effectively open to atmosphere, moisture etc and that will corrode and contaminate the system.