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[Viral_Jim]

So, now that summer seems to be upon us and the miggy is soon to be my only car, it's time to sort the AC.

I get absolutely no cooling from it, in fact it warms the air a tiny but  . I suspect due to the previous owner never using it. Now, thus is one of the few areas of a car I know comparatively little about.

I understand if they go unused the seals can dry out, is there any way I can test this (I'm not a fan of paying for maintenance I can do myself) and any other likely trouble spots to start with before I hand it over to a "professional".

[RobG]

First thing is to book it in with a professional A/C technician who will have the necessary experience & tools to do a proper leakdown & Vac test of the system

[Viral_Jim]

That's definitely on the list rob. What I was getting at more was, are ther half a dozen o-rings I should replace before someone charges me  £100 to "diagnose" them  .

[Andy B]

Condenser is a favourite failure due to being right at the front where it catches all the road salt ..... and ally isn't good at being attacked by salt 

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Condenser is a favourite failure due to being right at the front where it catches all the road salt ..... and ally isn't good at being attacked by salt 

+1 changed my condenser recently and it looked like the original (so it would have been roughly 13 years old now) ...There's a good website to buy the condenser from which is well priced at around £80 delivered

[Mr.OmegaMan]

http://www.autoairconparts.co.uk/car-air-conditioning-condenser-aircon-radiator-vauxhall-omega-b-2-2-16v-petrol-manual-automatic-sep-1999-to-2013-part-16-6554.html

£84 delivered 

[Viral_Jim]

Thanks chaps,I'll take a look at the condenser and renew if it looks less than 100%.

Does this come with a fitting kit or are additional o-rings required? Reason I ask is I'm working away these next couple of weeks so any potential work is likely to take place in a Portsmouth hotel car park.

We're also renovating our house so away jobs are basically the only time I get to spend on the car these days

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Thanks chaps,I'll take a look at the condenser and renew if it looks less than 100%.

Does this come with a fitting kit or are additional o-rings required? Reason I ask is I'm working away these next couple of weeks so any potential work is likely to take place in a Portsmouth hotel car park.

We're also renovating our house so away jobs are basically the only time I get to spend on the car these days

Get it checked first to make sure before making work an spending on something that's possibly fine

Unfortunately it doesn't come with O-Rings, I ended up using some silicone on my old ones after VX gave me the wrong O-Rings and its been roughly 4/5 weeks since i did mine where it used to last around 2-3 weeks before it stopped working on the old condenser.

It does require removing the air box, bagpipes, radiator and gearbox oil cooler to get access to the condenser though.

Here's a guide (couldn't find one for the 2.2 though)
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90559.0

[omega2018]

if you find a good ac specialist who is not a rip off merchant (sometimes the two go together unfortunately) you may find it just needs a re-gas.

my ac didnt work i went to a small place they measured the system it had only 50g in it, they put in 980g and it has worked ever since over 3 years now touch wood.

actually that place wasn't an ac specialist they were just a good tyre and exhaust garage who had the ac kit and knew what they were doing.  i recall the whole thing took about an hour while they left it on leak test.  very cheap though.

on the other hand dont go to national they were crap, clueless and just put enough in to make it work a day or so. diff car mind so maybe it had a leak - still they should have found it.

[Dave DND]

if you find a good ac specialist who is not a rip off merchant (sometimes the two go together unfortunately) you may find it just needs a re-gas.

my ac didnt work i went to a small place they measured the system it had only 50g in it, they put in 980g and it has worked ever since over 3 years now touch wood.

actually that place wasn't an ac specialist they were just a good tyre and exhaust garage who had the ac kit and knew what they were doing.  i recall the whole thing took about an hour while they left it on leak test.  very cheap though.

I`ll agree with that one - took an old Porsche to Qwick Fit when they were doing a £25 regas summer special - worked perfectly ever since 

[DrAndyB]

Worth fitting new HP Valve and new LP Valve core to the system to eliminate the obvious.

I also had new condenser and drier fitted to mine as old one was disintergrating and reason why A/C lost pressure !!! (when A/C pump not on it idles slightly lower and not as silky sounding - on V6's anyhow !!! )

Managed to get hands on nice new GM Delphi one    Much easier and straight swap out and refit without fudging, bending, swearing or bending bits which should not bend !!!  Cooling Rad is tight to remove on the V6, so best fit decent condenser else get the swear box ready as you try to get the Rad back in past the condenser !! - You have been warned 

As others have mentioned MAKE SURE ALL VAC DOWN FIRST.

And when they re-fill make sure its the R134a and 950gms from memory ?  Says on the Radiator cover on sticker !

Mine is Ice Cold now

[Viral_Jim]

Thanks Andy, I'm working away in Portsmouth for the next few weeks and I've found a mobile guy who only deals with AC. Seems like a better bet than a regular garage. I'll get a leak test done and see what components need changing if any.

Dave, I took a car to Kwik Fit once when that deal was on. Had a terrible experience, they re-gassed it and I could hear the gas hissing out when I went to collect the car from the car park  . Needless to say words were had and a refund obtained!

[Kevin Wood]

Dave, I took a car to Kwik Fit once when that deal was on. Had a terrible experience, they re-gassed it and I could hear the gas hissing out when I went to collect the car from the car park  . Needless to say words were had and a refund obtained!

Yep, me too. The deal with me was that, if it didn't improve the vent temperature, then they wouldn't charge. Muppet at KF put it on the machine, pressed a button and left it to do it's thing. Once finished, he disconnected it, stripped the thread putting one of the valve caps back on, presented it to me and charged me £50.

I asked to see the before and after temperatures and guess what? Couldn't be @rsed to measure them. You could just about detect some cooling effect afterwards but it was clearly not working properly, and no better than it was before.

Talked to their complaints department and got a very swift refund.. almost as if that happens frequently!

Went to someone who knows what he's doing and it was greatly improved simply by charging with the correct quantity of refrigerant.

The problem with KF, in my opinion, is that a significant proportion of their work force just aren't interested in doing a proper job. You might be lucky and get decent service, but that doesn't mean the next bloke in the queue isn't going to get the branch idiot.

[DrAndyB]

I took mine, after I had all the work done (by Daz  ) to ATS and found them to be pretty fair and they showed a genuine interest to help out, but it will of course vary.

They agreed, when I asked, to Vac it down for me and put a little pressure on system to make sure all coolant was removed (as I explained I was getting new Condenser fitted).  I then got the new GM Condenser and Drier fitted that morning and later that PM returned to ATS and they re-filled (with correct amount) and pressure tested.  She is now ICE cold. (interestingly, I was in a new Astra's today and the AC was luke warm compared to my sub zero !!!   

I did have it gassed a few weeks before at the same place where it then lost pressure hence then the investigative work and I diagnosed condenser (as posted http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=130021.msg1665040#msg1665040 and new shiney one fitted.  The did me a deal on the vac down and refill as I went a few weeks before !!

Good luck