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[pauln]

Since i  bought my Omega last year the aircon has taken a while to kick in (10 miles or so). Now theres no cold air at all (even on the warmer days). I take it the refrigerant has leaked to too low a pressure. So two questions have I risked damaging the aircon system by running with low refrigerant and are these £70 recharges from a local quickfit worth it. I'm tempted to get it pumped up just to see if it has taken the 8 years the car has been around to lose the gas as the car has only had minimal maintenance in its life til now. Thanks in advance for replies.

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

 Mine seemed to not demist at all the other night - I'd been in it for a while, and all the windows were fairly heavily steamed up, but even after 5 minutes or so the effect were negligible - would a regas cure this, or is there likelt to be a deeper problem?

[TheBoy]

The A/C won't come on below 4C regardless...

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

The A/C won't come on below 4C regardless...

 Ah, it was somewhere between 0-1C... that would explain it. Just need to swap the thermostat then.

[pauln]

My checks were carried out at above 4C. I thought the aircon acted as a drier as well as a cooler (it does on my works transit at any temp, in fact you need it on to remove the condensation). I have plenty of heat (flushed cooling system and replaced stat a few months ago). The climate can't be as clever as I thought it was, I assumed it was a combination of heat,cooling and dehumidifying to keep the interior at the selected temp and mist free. There are no leaks into the car so no excess moisture.

[TheBoy]

My checks were carried out at above 4C. I thought the aircon acted as a drier as well as a cooler (it does on my works transit at any temp, in fact you need it on to remove the condensation). I have plenty of heat (flushed cooling system and replaced stat a few months ago). The climate can't be as clever as I thought it was, I assumed it was a combination of heat,cooling and dehumidifying to keep the interior at the selected temp and mist free. There are no leaks into the car so no excess moisture.

Sounds like the a/c isn't working. Is the compressor clutch engaging?

[Paul M]

The VX climate sucks in my opinion, it's the only system I've used where you can only tell it not to use A/C, whereas every other system you tell it when you *do* want A/C. Clearly the climate control can't detect when the windows are steaming up (particularly the rear sides which have no demisters, except some early models) so it can't make the judgement I would to switch on A/C even though I don't want cold air.

BTW I find A/C is much more useful in winter than it is in summer, I'd rather just open the windows and sunroof when it's hot and enjoy the breeze, unless it's Las Vegas hot but that doesn't really happen in the UK!

[TheBoy]

The VX climate sucks in my opinion, it's the only system I've used where you can only tell it not to use A/C, whereas every other system you tell it when you *do* want A/C. Clearly the climate control can't detect when the windows are steaming up (particularly the rear sides which have no demisters, except some early models) so it can't make the judgement I would to switch on A/C even though I don't want cold air.

BTW I find A/C is much more useful in winter than it is in summer, I'd rather just open the windows and sunroof when it's hot and enjoy the breeze, unless it's Las Vegas hot but that doesn't really happen in the UK!

All ECC systems are designed to be run with the A/C enabled.

But you're right, the prefacelift climate, whilst ok in its time, is a bit basic by modern standards.

[Andy B]

The VX climate sucks in my opinion, it's the only system I've used where you can only tell it not to use A/C, whereas every other system you tell it when you *do* want A/C. Clearly the climate control can't detect when the windows are steaming up (particularly the rear sides which have no demisters, except some early models) so it can't make the judgement I would to switch on A/C even though I don't want cold air.

BTW I find A/C is much more useful in winter than it is in summer, I'd rather just open the windows and sunroof when it's hot and enjoy the breeze, unless it's Las Vegas hot but that doesn't really happen in the UK!

I didn't think you liked auto systems and wanted to opperate things manually, yourself with no intervention!        

[Kevin Wood]

I didn't think you liked auto systems and wanted to opperate things manually, yourself with no intervention!

Whilst I don't have a problem with "the other" type of automatic car thing, in its' place (not wanting to re-open that debate). I'd much rather have a couple of manual dials to adjust the climate control. I wouldn't be fighting the damned thing all the time. And as for headlights that come on every time you drive under a tree and wipers that come on when it rains....  

Additional complexity for zero benefit, IMHO. If you're not able to figure out that you need to turn your lights on when it's dark then public transport is your best option, IMHO.

Kevin

[garbage456]

I didn't think you liked auto systems and wanted to opperate things manually, yourself with no intervention!

Whilst I don't have a problem with "the other" type of automatic car thing, in its' place (not wanting to re-open that debate). I'd much rather have a couple of manual dials to adjust the climate control. I wouldn't be fighting the damned thing all the time. And as for headlights that come on every time you drive under a tree and wipers that come on when it rains....  

Additional complexity for zero benefit, IMHO. If you're not able to figure out that you need to turn your lights on when it's dark then public transport is your best option, IMHO.

Kevin

lmao

[pauln]

My checks were carried out at above 4C. I thought the aircon acted as a drier as well as a cooler (it does on my works transit at any temp, in fact you need it on to remove the condensation). I have plenty of heat (flushed cooling system and replaced stat a few months ago). The climate can't be as clever as I thought it was, I assumed it was a combination of heat,cooling and dehumidifying to keep the interior at the selected temp and mist free. There are no leaks into the car so no excess moisture.

Sounds like the a/c isn't working. Is the compressor clutch engaging?

How do I check this, is it as simple as turning the temp control to low (above 4C of course) and listening for a drop in revs. I think I had better get it pumped up just to make sure it's not the simple (cheaper problem) of a gradual loss of pressure over 8 years. So back to my earlier question would a quickfit style pump up be ok?

[Kevin Wood]

would a quickfit style pump up be ok?

You pays your money and takes your chance. Some members have had excellent service. I went in the summer and got appauling service, but got a refund. Depends on the depot and if the guy you get is interested in air con or would rather be fitting tyres.

My local kwik fit is now advertising it for £25!

But... You want a vacuum out, leak test and refill with the specified quantity of refigerant and lubricant. Anything less is not worth bothering with - like the Halfrauds "chuck a can of gas in" service. If it doesn't take around an hour, they've done half a job.

Kevin

[pauln]

But... You want a vacuum out, leak test and refill with the specified quantity of refigerant and lubricant. Anything less is not worth bothering with - like the Halfrauds "chuck a can of gas in" service. If it doesn't take around an hour, they've done half a job.

Ah I see (this is my first car with aircon). I'll get it checked over properly, I like this car and it's cost me nothing in repairs so far, i will get it sorted and have a nice chilled summer 2008  

[colalowe]

I had my aircon re gassed and it worked fine after, they also checked for leaks aswell.

If you switch your aircon on your revs should go up slightly, press ECO and they should drop back down, that'll tell you the pump is kicking in, have you also tried reseting the servo's aswell?

Its recomended that the Aircon should be run on cold at least once a week for 5-10 mins just to stop the gas settling in the system, I would go for the re gas and chance it.

 

[Entwood]

I believe that it is now "illegal" to just replenish an air-con system .. it has to have a pressure check for leaks first .. environmental pollution and all that .....

I had mine done for £40 last spring at a tyre place in Swindon ... Imperial Tyres ... very impressed.

They took temperature readings before and after, pressure tested then drained and refilled.  

Been working a dream ever since

[Andy B]

I believe that it is now "illegal" to just replenish an air-con system .. it has to have a pressure check for leaks first .. environmental pollution and all that .....

 .......

We'd better take all those cans of R134a from the shelves of Halfords if that was the case. IMHO it's illegal to knowingly fill a leaky system with refrigerant.

[Entwood]

I believe that it is now "illegal" to just replenish an air-con system .. it has to have a pressure check for leaks first .. environmental pollution and all that .....

 .......

We'd better take all those cans of R134a from the shelves of Halfords if that was the case. IMHO it's illegal to knowingly fill a leaky system with refrigerant.

 Are they legal anyway ??  

http://www.allpartsautomotive.co.uk/allparts/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=16197

(OK .. I know they probably are ... but with halfrauds .. who knows ??   )

[Kevin Wood]

They're a waste of time anyway, IME. Only experience i've had of one the canister didn't appear to have enough pressure to transfer gas into the system. Press the trigger and nothing happened. In any case, it's essential that the system contains the correct quantity of refrigerant and that can only be achieved by vacuuming it out and adding a measured quantity.

Kevin

[Andy B]

They're a waste of time anyway, IME. Only experience i've had of one the canister didn't appear to have enough pressure to transfer gas into the system. Press the trigger and nothing happened. In any case, it's essential that the system contains the correct quantity of refrigerant and that can only be achieved by vacuuming it out and adding a measured quantity.

Kevin

Whilst I agree completely with you that the A/C sysytem is supposed to have its meaured kilo-ish(?) of refrigerant, I realised earlier this year that mine wasn't getting anything like as cold as it should be. I had a couple of cans of R134a that I'd bought in Wall Mart a couple of years back, so, as I already had them I'd nothing to lose so put a can into the sytem. So far, so good! The A/C runs nice & cold when required.

[x25xe]

I believe that it is now "illegal" to just replenish an air-con system .. it has to have a pressure check for leaks first .. environmental pollution and all that .....

 .......

We'd better take all those cans of R134a from the shelves of Halfords if that was the case. IMHO it's illegal to knowingly fill a leaky system with refrigerant.

It is illegal to knowingly refill a leaking system.

As I have said in the past, and many have said in this thread, a proper vac and regas is the only real way forward.

Incidentally, the A/C should be serviced every couple of years by doing this and replacing the receiver / dryer.