Air Con Servicing?

[ThePrisoner]

Anyone had there air con serviced this year ready for summer?

Gonna get mine done at the end of this month when I get paid. My heater doesn't do a very good job of de-misting the windows when its cold, and it isn't as ice cold as the 406 we have at work.

Don't think it has ever been done, and according to specialists it needs to be done every 12-18 months to prevent mold and spore build up in the system.

Pris.

[406 express]

have you been given a price on it? think mine needs doing, get a bit of a mouldy smell when it gets turned off after prolonged use

[neildavies]

have you been given a price on it? think mine needs doing, get a bit of a mouldy smell when it gets turned off after prolonged use

A fousty (dampish) smell when you switch off the air con is normal, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

There is an air canister you can buy that you set off in the car. You then leave the air con on (recirc), get out quick and shut the doors and windows, and it kills any bacteria that's in the system.

[ThePrisoner]

£55 at a local independant garage for a full service and re-gas.

Not sure how much my main stealer will charge but it can't possibly be less than £100.

Pris.

[Pidge]

My advice is to only get the air con serviced when it does'nt give you satisfactory cooling/conditioning (unless of course you need your service record stamped).

Over time, some of the refrigerant (R134 A), will leak over the seal of your pulley shaft where it enters the Air Con Compressor. This will eventually lead to unsatisfactory cooling; depending on the car, it can take 3 or 4 years or longer to reach this state.

The stealers will recover the refrigerant that is left, weigh it, and then top up the system to the manufacturers level. Typically, a system can hold say 750 gms of refrigerant and leak perhaps 200 gms. The stealers will top up using YOUR refrigerant that was recovered and their own 200gms. It is therefore possible that you will be charged for your own refrigerant that was put back in!

Sometimes damage can occur to the Air Con components such as the condensor which is usually fitted to your radiator (stone chips etc), you obviously then need to get it seen to ASP, however it can cost a lot.

[Welly]

knowing what I know now about car air-con (and I've had to deal with 3 different car air con failures in the last 5 years) I would test the air con temperatures yourself first.

This way you will be able to see first hand whether the system is struggling (low on gas) or not.

If the temps are ok then leave it alone.

My car does not smell bad at all, apart from a slight humid/steamy smell if you turn off the a/c until the moisture evaporates from the system in the car.

Some cars are minging and smell like old boots when the a/c is on but somehow the 406 don't seem too bad for this.

[muffindell]

I agree with the damp type smell which goes after a short period of use. I've also used the 'air con bombs' which get rid of the nasties, the verdict is still out, they work in a sense the smell goes away, but only for a short time. Apparently gas leaks through the rubber hoses over time and thus needs recharging, but if luck is on your side then it happens slower than others. The main thing with air con is to use it throughout the year, it doesn't need to be on cool to work since it de-humidifies the enviroment as well when heated, which is excellent news on wet days in winter and stops the screens from misting up. The other benefit of this is that the seals dont dry out, crack and leak gas into the atmostphere depriving you of nice cool air in the summer and killing an Eskimo into the bargin!

Mat

[mjb]

When I first got my car the aircon STUNK! I mean really, REALLY stunk! I guess it's linked to the fact that according to the loose collection of receipts that constituted its "service history", it had only done about 3000 miles in the previous 3-4 years...

A few months of regular use sorted it all out though

[Razza]

Took mine to Kwik fit and paid £45 for a full recharge (no-reuse of exisitng refridgerant). It's made some difference - 3 degrees cooler apparently....

[jameslxdt]

Don't think it has ever been done, and according to specialists it needs to be done every 12-18 months to prevent mold and spore build up in the system.

Pris.

what a load of wank
if your a/c works then dont touch it
the only reason these so-called 'experts' tell you to regass so often is because its such a huge money spinner
the gas they put back in to your car is 95% of the gas they took out
r134a is about 10p per 100gram the d8 406 i believe takes 750grams
so say you pay about £100 for a regas, it takes about 15 mins and costs regasser about 15p in gas
your not getting much for your money!

[mjb]

There is something to a 'proper' refill though. While it doesn't prevent mould, spores, fungus and cure all the world's poverty while it's at it, a decent engineer will be able to flush all your existing refrigerant out with something like nitrogen (I believe), safely dispose of the old gas, detect any leaks and seal them up, and give you new gas.

Refrigerants do actually degrade over time apparently and become less suited to the job. Also depressurisation is as certain as a helium-filled balloon being flat after a week - albeit much, much slower than a week!

Mould and crap will always grow in the ducting of any ventilation system. It just gets blown out into the cabin all the time in insignificant quantities you never notice it. However parts of some cars ventilation will remain un-blown if the aircon's never switched on, leading to bad smells when it's finally fired up. It also doesn't help that aircon creates an environment this stuff can thrive in. The portable aircon unit I have for my bedroom stunk the other day when I switched it on for the first time this year, but now it's fine again after a bit of use - same applies to cars.

[jameslxdt]

nitrogen is only used to detect leaks, as its illegal to put r134a into an a/c system thats known to have a leak

the a/c system is self cleaning as the air pass over the heater matrix before its cooled to burn off any germs, spores, fungus, whatever you want to call it

regassing is something you only do if it dont work, its not something you do as regularly as changing oil

[mjb]

its not something you do as regularly as changing oil

*COUGH* ;)

[jameslxdt]

how long since your last oil change then mjb?

[mjb]

not long actually! only about 5 months....


...20,000 miles?

Considering the last one was about 3 years and 50,000 miles I'd say I'm not doing too bad

Why doesn'jt my beer work if i don't undoo the f*cking can?