Hi
I have a 6-yr old Volvo S40 with air-con. This does seem to work fine but does it need to be regassed or recharged at a set interval?
Thanks
Chris
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Aircon should be serviced annually, but I confess that I neglected to get it done until the sixth birthday of my Golf. Fortunately it was fine. The aircon man said HJ's advice was good: if you've got aircon, then use it, and every month or so give it a sustained freeze blast followed by a sustained hot blast. I've now set the Golf and my other car up for aircon servicing every year, not least because I've found someone to do it properly (including the addition of a dye to expose leaks) and at less than half the absurd cost of VW's standard aircon service (he does all the aircon servicing for the local MB dealers). He says there's no reason why, with proper servicing, aircon shouldn't last as long as the car lasts. If you're within, say, 20 miles of St Albans, I could give you his number. In any case, as usual, find a good independent agent rather than a main dealer.
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In a similar vein (sp?)..
I've been ringing round to try and get the aircon in my '95 Daewoo regassed. Everywhere I've spoken to insist I have the system tested before regassing it at a cost of about £30. It costs about £30 just for the regas.
I'm not wanting to spend much money fixing it - anything more than £50 (i.e. test + regas), and I'll live with the aircon in its current state (works, but not very cold). So it doesn't make sense for me to have the test, rather just regas it and see what happens. I don't think the systems ever been 'topped up' so I strongly suspect a regas will put it back in good order.
Why can't I just have the regas and live with the consequences?
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I`m almost sure that when I had my Omega aircon fixed they extracted the contents and weighed it . Then refilled it with the correct amount. Unfortunately there was an undetectable leak and so I had to have a new compresser. Could`ve bought three freezers from Comet with the money it cost !
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Have you tried outside the motor trade? I think a refrigeration engineer would do a simple re-gas for you.
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'Why can't I just have the regas and live with the consequences?'
You probably can, but it will still cost you £60!
We need to know what's happening before recovering the refrigerant, and compare it to what happens after it's done. Refrigerant has to be recovered by law, and the whole process takes about 45 minutes, whether 'testing' or not. We also have a duty of care to our customers, not just in the eyes of the law, but also to maintain our insurance cover. I can tell you now, if someone comes to see me wanting only half a job, then something goes wrong, they're soon back on my doorstep screaming blue murder and threatening all sorts. The fact that it was explained to them beforehand, and the fact that they 'gave permission' to cut corners, doesn't exempt me from the law or public liability.
As I say to people that question my charges, they are more than welcome to do it themselves. They then spend the next 10 minutes telling me how they don't have the knowledge, experience, tools, gas, PAG oil, leak detector, dye, nitrogen, flushing kit, fittings, O rings, wiring diagrams, gauges etc. They also don't have my road risks and liability insurance premium to pay.
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Of course the alternative is to wind the window down - we don't get that much hot weather anyway - you might save a little fuel (and the environment). All this extra complication just puts you at the mercy of the specialists and their inevitable prices.
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Of course the alternative is to wind the window down -
There's nothing worse than being stuck in a traffic jam on a hot summers day and simply opening the window won't cool you down. Neither will the dashboard vents - all they'll do is blow warm air at you. Give me air con anyday of the week. I can keep the windows shut - this cuts down on noise polution from the outside world, and also trafic fumes don't enter the car if I have the recirculate button pressed as well.
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In a similar vein (sp?).. I\'ve been ringing round to try and get the aircon in my \'95 Daewoo regassed. Everywhere I\'ve spoken to insist I have the system tested before regassing it at a cost of about £30. It costs about £30 just for the regas. I\'m not wanting to spend much money fixing it - anything more than £50 (i.e. test regas), and I\'ll live with the aircon in its current state (works, but not very cold). So it doesn\'t make sense for me to have the test, rather just regas it and see what happens. I don\'t think the systems ever been \'topped up\' so I strongly suspect a regas will put it back in good order. Why can\'t I just have the regas and live with the consequences?
My dealer cured a \"warm\" aircon problem by changing the pollen filter!
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I live close to, in Enfield and haven't had my volvo aircon serviced in 7 years - perhaps I should?? Could you supply details of your aircon 'specialist'?
cheers
cadmiumuk
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Apart from filters and the heat-exchanger to blow out what else is there to "service"?
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Re. the aircon fixer in Herts, I guess I'd better ask him for permission before publicizing his number. Watch this space.
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You can go to www.autoclimate.com and get the name, address and telephone number of a local independent specialist.
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Talking to the fitter who serviced the aircon on my 406 today, he said that some manufacturers don't put a full charge of gas in when the car is new. It seems that a smaller charge can deliver plenty of cold air, so why waste expensive gas giving the punters a full charge if they won't see any difference. Anyone heard of this before?
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Yes, my mum once complained that the aircon in her new Accord in Oz (made in Japan) not cold enough. The dealer promptly collected the car, two weeks after sale, and gave it a full service. They did not say what they have done but the aircon blew freezing cold there after.
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dear chris2003
i live in st albans and my aircon in jazz has stopped working.have been quoted some silly prices. please give your guys tel. no.
thanx regards john L.
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dear chris2003 please give your guys tel. no.
Somehow I don't think he'll hear you.
He last visited the forum: Tue 13 May 2003
However, I think it was Roger Jones that was offering the phone number, and he's still around.
DD.
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Acjon
Try filling in the form in this link. I'd have done it for you but I don't know the St Albans postcode!
216.87.13.185/autoclimate/flash/servicebooking.html
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Try
www.aircool.biz/
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Don't know if they still do it, but I remember last year Halford sold an aircon top-up kit for about £30. Had an amount of gas in it and "lubricants" to treat the seals with.
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Just found it..
tinyurl.com/nn6pd
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Or this one, with a built in guage...
tinyurl.com/ofo9z
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Don't know if they still do it, but I remember last year Halford sold an aircon top-up kit for about £30.
Previous comments include
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=22...1
&
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=17944
Make up your own mind as to whether buying a cheap diy kit is worth it in the long run.
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Try - www.aircool.biz/
>>
There are also some interesting FAQs etc on the site including a high tech system clean I was not aware of.
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Three years on and I've learned one thing, at least: regassing needs doing not every year but, according to Steve at Aircool, every three years.
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Well said Dave N.
£60 to have the job professionally done, with a 1 hour wait. What more do people want. Looks a good deal to me, especially as the 'new' fluid will have the correct lubricant as well as gas in it.
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