Air con leak

[Flat4]

Just got the funbus, aka Toyota Granvia, back from MOT and big service, ie cambelt done so less freaking out about killing the engine. Asked mechanic to take a look at the air con coz when I press the A/C button on the dash, sod all happens. It doesn't even light up, engine note doesn't change, etc. He reported there was zero pressure in the air con system, therefore suspects it might be leaking. Reckons the condensor has gone but not 100%. I vaguely remember reading something about an air con engineer doing leak tests, funnily enough on another Granvia, but can anyone tell me if such a person could pinpoint where the leak is coming from? And am I likely to need a 2nd mortgage to cover the cost of such tests?

[jonathan_dyane]

Usually the switch should still light up without gas in the system so if there truly is no gas in it you could have two faults.

[stripped fred]

The air con doesn't work on my sharan as there's a leak somewhere. During the recent warm weather when it feels like a greenhouse inside I do briefly consider getting it looked at but then I realise it's not worth it as will cost more then the car. Air con is one of the first things to pack up on a car in my opinion. My next car will have working air con!

[Fat_Pirate]

I had a mobile air con specialist check my Jag, cost about £50 for him to put in dye and discover pretty much every component was pissing it out.

[jonathan_dyane]

I don't think I could live without aircon in my everyday car which I know is ridiculous. If you're just looking at replacing the condensor and a regas it shouldn't be a costly endeavour

[stripped fred]

I think aircon does make for a much more relaxing journey on a hot day. Even with the windows open on mine it's still sweltering due to the amount of glass.

[Flat4]

I had a mobile air con specialist check my Jag, cost about £50 for him to put in dye and discover pretty much every component was pissing it out.

 

 

That's not too bad for diagnostics, sorry to hear it was bad news! I'd like to know what needs replacing on mine before I start buying bits I potentially don't need. The condensor being at fault was an educated guess, and the A/C switch I know could be another fault, mechanic wondered if the electric feed to the switch was goosed but not alot of point fixing that if the actual system doesn't work.

 

We have 5 dogs and on the bus, only the front windows are electric and I'm not sure the side windows are designed to be left open while driving, so I kinda do need to get the air con working. Does have a huge sun roof in the back which allows some ventilation but yeah, once you've had a car with air con, you don't really want to do without.

[twosmoke300]

A good ac man won't put gas straight into an empty system , dye or not . He should charge the system with nitrogen first to find the leaks . This way you aren't dumping refrigerant straight into the atmosphere.

[adw1977]

Oh, I paid £40 last week to have recharge with dye, knowing full well that it will soon leak out because there was 0 gas in the system and it was only regassed 9 months ago. In the short term I have lovely cold AC and as soon as it stops working again I'm to go back and they will see where the leak is by the dye.

[hpi_matrix]

My partners Yaris had air con that leaked, I took it to a garage and they used soapy water + filling it with nitrogen to find leak, the sight glass was leaky so I replaced that and took it back, the system still wouldn't hold pressure but he couldn't find a leak, he did however actually fill it with gas this time. The air con was still working when I drove it home and I topped it up with a kit from Halfords, it worked ok for the next 2 years but this winter when I forgot to remind her to use it we have now found it has stopped working. I took it to kwik fit (no charge if it doesnt work), it held pressure but was completely empty, they filled it up but it was empty the next day. I tried a stop leak system and top up from halfords but again this didnt last.

[Noel Tidybeard]

this why you should never try being a minge bag with air con- use it or loose it

still going on 11yo spaceship- never been topped up!

[stripped fred]

this why you should never try being a minge bag with air con- use it or loose it

still going on 11yo spaceship- never been topped up!

I thought you needed to get it re-gassed every so often as they also include a small amount of oil which helps to prevent problems in the system?

[Captain Furious]

In my experience its almost always the condenser that fails.  It can be a costly problem to diagnose though, because you need to have it charged and the UV dye added, find the leak, replace the defective part, have it charged again, see whether its worked etc.

 

Most air-con places will put the system under a vacuum before gassing it to see if it has any leaks, however this is not fool proof, I've had a couple of cars pass the leakdown test but still lose their refrigerant over the next couple of weeks.

[BorniteIdentity]

Just got the funbus, aka Toyota Granvia, back from MOT and big service, ie cambelt done so less freaking out about killing the engine. Asked mechanic to take a look at the air con coz when I press the A/C button on the dash, sod all happens. It doesn't even light up, engine note doesn't change, etc. He reported there was zero pressure in the air con system, therefore suspects it might be leaking. Reckons the condensor has gone but not 100%. I vaguely remember reading something about an air con engineer doing leak tests, funnily enough on another Granvia, but can anyone tell me if such a person could pinpoint where the leak is coming from? And am I likely to need a 2nd mortgage to cover the cost of such tests?

I have a Granvia.

 

It also leaks.

 

It is often the pipes that run front to back as there is Aircon in the rear. The pipes run under the drivers side, right next to the sill.

 

Because the cars were never undersealed, they rot as soon as they get a taste of salt here. They are low so bear the brunt of the road.

 

Good luck. You will likely need to get someone to fabricate new pipes or, if possible, cut out the rot and replace with high pressure hose.

[Guest]

I had a real battle with the aircon on the Vito- condenser was goosed, so new condenser bought- steel nuts on pipes to alloy condenser .=.new condenser threads goosed,and pipes US. Local hydraulic place made me up some new pipes and all fitted together, mate at Kwik Fit gassed it for me and I had cold air,all the way through Europe, thank **** as it was touching 40C. Now it's stopped working again..gas is gone

 

Mrs Cade's Panda is 2004, aircon is nice and cool and it's never been touched- I think cars with auto climate which switch on the aircon automatically tend to have less issues, biggest killer of aircon systems, after condenser damage,is lack of use.

 

Aircon in the UK is nice. Aircon in Southern Europe= essential.

[PhilA]

Oddly on my Renault it "just needed a regas", because some muppet had undone the valve and let the freon out.

 

I guess that's why they changed the design of the valves.

 

Phil

[UltraWomble]

The air con on the Almera has never worked - the other day I unscrewed one of the charge point caps and pressed the nozzel in and it went "Psssssssst" so there is still some gas in the system. Whether its enough or not is another matter - so I looked on eBay at recharge kits and FOOK ME its cheaper to take it to ATS.

[Pillock]

Often if there's no gas, the AC won't start up as the pressure sensor will tell it not to so the light won't come on. That's not always true but can be the case so don't assume it's anything more serious until it's been leak tested.

 

I can't live without AC. In fact in my daily, if you turn the AC off it switches it back on the next time you start. I think it's because it's a variable pressure system so doesn't sap engine power until you turn the temp down - so if you keep it at about 20 it doesn't kick the compressor in but does still dry the air.

[kee616]

Kwik fit do a thing where if they can't get the air cooler you owe them nothing, leaks included they put the dye in to

 

My new astra, was my grandads. It had absolutely no gas in and only 1ml of oil they charged it and it all works perfectly no leaks!

The refrigerate leaks on all ac system, something like 10% a year is not uncommon

[barefoot]

Don't talk to me about Kwik Fit and their air con con.

[bub2006]

The air con was working fine in the mondeo over weekend. Now don't work at all. Can hear it clicking on and off but that's it!

[richardmorris]

I'm sure it's nowhere near you guys, but the local mobile chap I use is very good.

He does a lot of work for classic dealers and maranello in egham ( Ferrari dealers).

http://www.air-care-automotive.co.uk/index.htm

 

it was £50 call out to test and diagnose the fault(s), then the cost of rectification. Which in my mercedes' case was a new condenser, pressure switch and pipework. All in £500.

 

Had him back two years later (last year) for a checkup and service and regass which was £60.