Air Con

[Davezj]

All this info seems pretty good for jerry shaw, but no specifics.

by all mean correct me if i wrong but this is how i have test my air con on my other cars. get the car running and watch you fingers.

1. the canister with the view port on the top of it, at the front left of the engine bay as you stand in front of the car. This canister has a connector on top of it pressure sensor mention earlier in the thread. remove this connector and short it out with a bit of wire (or equivalent anything will do).

2. switch on the air con on fan to max and air con on (snowflake switch to on not snowflake ECO as this is lower power air con).

3.there should be an audible klunk. which is the compressor clutch kicking in.

4. you can disconnect and connect the pressure switch short and see the clutch clicking in and out.

5. this shows it is a low pressure gas fault. but does not guarantee the compressor will compress the gas, only that it will engage and disengage. if the rest of the system is gassed up correctly.

6. one thing to try if the clutch does not klunk over when it should is give it a bit of a whack or gentle tap if you like, sometimes the clutch can stick if it has not been operated for a long time as mine did on my jeep. i gave it a bit of constant pressure with a metal bar and switched it on and off a few times with the pressure switch short method, which started it working but then it stuck again so a bit of wd40 and then some 3 in 1 oil kept it freed up and it work from then on. I know it sounds a bit odd putting oil on a clutch but it worked, the oil goes behind the clutch on the shaft of the compressor.

hope this helps.

Cheers dave

[Jerry Shaw]

WOW!!! So many replies, thanks everyone.

I wasnt on the net to see these last night as I was away in the truck.

A friend came round tonight and as I was showing him the car, we opened the refill valves and there was nothing. I mean not even a weak farty sound let alone a good hiss.

I'll try the pressure switch trick when I get the chance and hopefully that'll get me some way to sorting it.

I'm not entirely fussed at getting it going but as its such a nice car that has had a good service history, it'd be a shame not to have everything as it should be.

Again, many thanks. I really appreciate it.

[Kieran]

When you say you opened the refill valves, do you mean you just took off the blue protective cap, or did you use an adapter and lock onto the brass valve that's beneath the cap? If you just removed the cap, you wouldn't get a gas escape anyway - the cap's just there to stop crap getting in the refill valve area.

[Paul Beazer]

There are 2 valves, dont touch the bigger one thats high pressure. Press the smaller one it quickly, you should get some gas released, if not you have no gas in the system, which would explain the lack of operation. Dont try and short out the pressure switch as you may bugger things up (no gas = likley no oil either) by running the system dry.

[Jerry Shaw]

When you say you opened the refill valves, do you mean you just took off the blue protective cap, or did you use an adapter and lock onto the brass valve that's beneath the cap? If you just removed the cap, you wouldn't get a gas escape anyway - the cap's just there to stop crap getting in the refill valve area.

We removed the blue caps and quickly depressed the valves under them.

There was absolutely nothing, so its either not been maintained or theres a leak.

I know that depending on how long it been like it, the seals have probably perished aswell so there would be any point regassing, lol

Catch 22, need a regas to check it, lol

[Paul Beazer]

A re-gas would prove little other than you may have a leak (which unless its pissing out you wouldnt hear above the noise of the engine). If the system is not used at least a couple of times a week, the oil in the system will not be circulated. The system depends on the oil to maintain a gas tight seal. No oil circulated means the gas will leak out pretty quickly.
Apparently most cars lose 33% of their gas charge over 2 years, even used regularly, so if the air con in your car has been used for a while the gas will just leak out....
Get an expert to look at it first. They can do a vacuum test, thus saving wasting any gas. Doesnt sound like its been looked at previously. If you're lucky it may just be empty, but i wouldnt waste your money filling it with gas first.

[Jerry Shaw]

Well, just to update, thanks to the suggestion I have established that the system kicks in when switched on so its off to kwik fit at the weekend for a gas up. That pressure switch trick is nice and easy and has results

[Davezj]

be carefull as you don't know if there is a leak.
as paul said above you could spend £50 on a fill up and have it all piss out in first 5 min of driving.
i would get it vaccum/pressure tested. it cost about £70 and there are lost of mobile sevices aroung. they will do the vac out of any remaining gas and check for leaks and refill with all the correct oils gas and leak detector put in.
leak detector is usually a die in the gas which can be seen under UV light or just bright yellow die that can be seen.

[Nick Mann]

The place I took mine to recently for gassing was oing to charge £60 to fill the system up. I knew the system was empty - the a/c radiator came out of the car last year!

When they filled the system the checked it and found a hairline fracture in one of the hard pipes near the condenser. They therefore removed the gas and charged me £30 for a system check. But when I get it sorted and go back for the refill, they will take the £30 off the next bill! Bonus!

Hope you get it sorted.

[Jerry Shaw]

The place I took mine to recently for gassing was oing to charge £60 to fill the system up. I knew the system was empty - the a/c radiator came out of the car last year!

When they filled the system the checked it and found a hairline fracture in one of the hard pipes near the condenser. They therefore removed the gas and charged me £30 for a system check. But when I get it sorted and go back for the refill, they will take the £30 off the next bill! Bonus!

Hope you get it sorted.

Excellent. I'll do a bit of phoning first then. I dont want to be spending loads on it though as its skinted me buying it, lol.

I would like everything to be just right though.

PS: Sorry for being a complete and utter NOOOB, lol

[Paul Beazer]

Excellent. I'll do a bit of phoning first then. I dont want to be spending loads on it though as its skinted me buying it, lol.

I would like everything to be just right though.

PS: Sorry for being a complete and uter NOOOB, lol

Dont be silly, everyone has to learn. Better to look dumb by asking questions than remove all doubt by screwing it up!!

Best bet now would be to get it pressure / vacuum tested and take it from there.

[ANTHONY]

even Paul was a NOOOB once

[Paul Beazer]

At least you can make me look clever now eh Ant!

Im no expert and i wasnt trying to be flippant to Jerry, honest! I'd much rather people asked more questions than jump in with both feet and come back with tales of woe. The last thing i want is someone to knacker up something expensive for fear of asking. You stop asking, you stop learning!

[Jerry Shaw]

I appreciate what you all are saying. Its the silly little things that you would find in the owners handbook that stump me. There's one on ebay for £19. Is that reasonable for a brand new one?

I am assuming that its about the only place I will get one from.

[Johnny_Cashed]

For £20 you could get membership here though

[Paul Beazer]

And you would get the CORRECT answer from us lot!!!

[Jerry Shaw]

Very true

[Mark 4]

Slightly off topic but does anyone have an a/c radiator or does anyone know where I can get mine fixed. Like the complete muppet that I am I managedto puncture the fins on mine - made me move a bit quick - knew that it was probably not a good idea to inhale refrigerant gas but I din't know it wasquite as dangerous as Kieran has pointed out.

[Nutter_John]

You not get your current one re-sealed ?

Other than that would suggest ebay for Sir Mo of Zedy1

[Mark 4]

John, How can you re-seal ? - Solder, brazing, What ?
Sorry, this is somethin totally new to me so i don't have a clue.