This is probably one for Elekie&AirconDoctor ...
The air conditioning on my Vectra doesn't seem to be cooling as it should! I know that when first started there was a "sucking" sound from the air con (compressor?) that lasted about one second. Now the sound lasts for about three or four seconds with a short "suck" every now and then.
I have checked under the bonnet and cannot see any obvious cracks in the pipes. Is this just a simple re-gassing or is there something more serious? Would Tech 2 show anything?
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You need to see if it has any gas left. If not, then you've got a leak. Usually the pipes or compressor front seal.
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I'll definitely second that opinion;Usual vectra problems.
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Thanks guys. I'll ask my friendly mechanic if he knows a good aircon specialist.
BTW. Would I need a new compressor if the seal has gone or is it just a replacement of the duff seal?
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It's not a 2.2 petrol by any chance is it? Do a forum search and you'll probably find that the pipe mentioned running along the back of the rocker cover has split (mine had).
My CDX had the same problem (lost all gas as a result), but the problem was fixed under warranty despite the fact that mine was 6 months out of the 3-year warranty. This is because on certain chassis builds there is a known fault with the mounting arrangement of this pipe and whilst there is no official recall, Vauxhall were fixing affected cars under warranty (not sure how old yours is, though).
Might be worth a trip down to you local Vauxhall dealer and ask him to run the chassis number through their system.
Another point - make sure you drive with the ECO button pressed (compressor off) to save any potential damage to the unit by running it without gas&lubricant.
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Vauxhall were fixing affected cars under warranty (not sure how old yours is, though).
When they did mine (still within 3yr warranty at the time) they told me that they would do the work on Vectra's up until 5 yrs old for nothing, providing servicing had been done by a main dealer and that the service book had been stamped up as it's a known fault.
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I did the search before I posted - mine's the 1.8 but I'll have a look at the piping again tonight. I think that the aircon pipes run alongside the chassis on mine.
I will pop into the dealer on Friday and see what they say - trouble is mine was serviced independently last year so they may not be too keen. Worth a try if there is a known problem on the 1.8.
Thanks for the note on turning the compressor off. I generally run without the aircon on anyway but tried it last Friday when it was bit warmer than usual. I turned it off after a few minutes as it didn't sound quite right.
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Sorted! Pressure and leak tested followed by a re-gas and all is back to normal. No problems were noted with the system
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Sorted! Pressure and leak tested followed by a re-gas and all is back to normal. No problems were noted with the system
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So where did the original gas go then?
And more importantly, what's to stop your new gas going the same way?
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Yes - I must agree with Dave N.
I re-gassed my 1.8 Vectra and it only lasted 2 / 3 months.
As a follow up, I was told that one of the pipes running behind the radiator low down had cracked - a known fault.
I was too tight to pay for Vauxhall to repair it (it rarely gets too hot in Manchester), but my father (same car-same problem - how sad !!) found that an AC specialist did it for approx 1/2 the Vauxhall fee and was well acquainted with the job.
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So where did the original gas go then? And more importantly, what's to stop your new gas going the same way?
I can't say where the gas has gone - but I have read the other posts on aircon problems and natural leakage is inherent. The car is four years old so a 10% per annum leakage would be 45% (ish) of the gas gone. This is probably a bit high but illustrates the point. The system was cooling but not as it should, and, in fact, there is no longer the slight suck as the compressor kicks in which had been there since I bought the car at one year old.
I left my car with my mechanic and he had a specialist collect the car and test and re-gas it. In these sorts of jobs I will have to trust that the aircon guy has done his job right - I have noticed a yellow dye near the aircon valves so I would say that he has done some form of leak test but I will look at the pipes behind the radiator. I went through my mechanic to get the job done as I can trust him, so I hope that the others he uses can be trusted.
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