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[sophos9]

Can anyone recommend a centre to recharge air con? Been readin about the Kwik Fit Service, has anyone had any good experiences?

[Black cxd v6]

Had a vectra that loss air-con pressure. When I asked a friend whos an air-con engineer, he said the system needs pressure testing because there must be a leak for the system to lose pressure

[sophos9]

The aircon blows cold but not proper cold, no idea when it was last recharged and I've had the car coming on to 3 years. Kwik Fit do pressure test but as I see it, dont add UV which is a pain...

The air con works fine and components seem to be in good order, kwik fits prices are well competative

[feeutfo]

Promise me one thing, what ever you do, do not go to quick fit up. Or Halfarce, i have seen several examples on here of people trying to save a penny at these places and end up spending more than several pounds. Go to an ac specialist, and get the job done properly first time out. You should be able to get a service done for £60 odd and find any leak FIRST, before the gas is blindly topped up only for it to leak out a week later and be back to square one, as has happened with these high st places.

[sophos9]

Yea understand what you are saying. I'm pretty sure there are no problems with the climate leaking as its been 3 yrs of me owning the car and I'm not sure when it was last charged. National Auto Centres do a full service for £80 odd which is inspection, vac and charge - if it leaks after you get a full refund....

[feeutfo]

bit confused, air con works fine, but does not get proper cold? If the bottom right pulley with the 4 knobs on is turning with engine running and ac on then the ac is functioning with enough gas to keep the pump turning, if the four knobs not spinning the ac is not working, usually its run out of gas or electrical fault. I had a cdx for 5 years and never touched the gas until one day no ac. It had a leak. If yours has been fine for 3 years and now you have no ac, in my experience you have a leak.

If the ac system and pump are working but your not getting cold air at the vents it may be a vacume problem behind the dash,maybe check the vac pipe on top of the hbv or press and hold off and auto for 10 seconds or so to reset the vents. i have no further experience of that tho. It should be possible to get the temp. down to about 5 or 6c at the vents. Hope helps.

[sophos9]

Works fine as in mechanical function... AC gets colder than outside ambient temperature and easily reaches the 18C however is not as cold as the vectra

No vacuum problems at all, climate control mechanical function is fine, all tested after replacing the heater core a week ago.

With the natural fluon loss that occurs over time in any refrigerant I dont think that min of 3yrs is too bad. Will look for someone that will pressure test and UV just incase

Another job waiting to be ticked off...  

[Banjax]

my only advice is to take it to an AC specialist - system needs to be checked for leaks, vacced and regassed - got mine done a month or so ago - £50

take to it to halfords or kwik-fit and they may damage an expensive component - trust me - halfords are good if you need new wipers or furry dice but i wouldnt trust them for anything else

either way its gonna cost you about £50 if theres no leaks(and if there is a leak you need a specialist in any case) - so its a no-brainer

if you're anywhere near perth - i can recommend a good guy  

[Hog]

I've used this company a few times, they are really good.  If there is a leak in your system he can put in a sealant that worked a treat in my old soarer and it's much cheaper than part replacement.

http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/

I would highly recommend them

He's mobile too, does the full vacuum and recharge, dye also if suspected leaks, I wouldn't touch kwikfit personally

[Kevin Wood]

LOL I went to Halfords for a new battery a few years ago. (It died at a Motorway services so I drove to the nearest halfords). I decided to take advantage of their "fit it free" service as I didn't have any tools with me and needed it in before it would start.

After telling me that my Laguna was coming up as a "challenging" install (How? 2 terminals and a clamp bolt) they supplied a muppit with a tool box to perform this "challenging" task. Suffice it to say I ended up replacing the battery using his tools.

Halfords certainly don't have the equipment to properly service aircon systems. They will chuck a can of refrigerant in and hope for the best. Kwik fit do have the proper servicing machines but not the first clue how to use them so if anything goes wrong they are stuffed. I'd take it to a specialist.

Kevin

[FRE07962128]

Promise me one thing, what ever you do, do not go to quick fit up. Or Halfarce, i have seen several examples on here of people trying to save a penny at these places and end up spending more than several pounds. Go to an ac specialist, and get the job done properly first time out. You should be able to get a service done for £60 odd and find any leak FIRST, before the gas is blindly topped up only for it to leak out a week later and be back to square one, as has happened with these high st places.

I would second the above sentiment 110%!   Do not use Kwik Fittup!!  Go to a specialist.

[dbug]

Don't go to Kwikcrap - they gassed the estate for £44 - by the time i reached home (10miles) it had lost all gas through a leak - got my money back after an argument and at least pinpointed leak.

Got my local mobile guy out after i had replaced condensor who checked whole system for leaks, gassed it, and rechecked all joints etc using a sniffer.  Cost all in £50

[sophos9]

Thanks for your hep, will stay away from them...

Looked back over the service history, air con was last serviced by Vx at 90k, the car is not on 132k and has not had the aircon touched in 42k!!!

I got a thermometer in the car today and measured the air temp coming from the vents, went lower than 10C (cant tell how much lower as thermometer only went to 10C)

Still, time to get it serviced I think!!

[newhouse]

Recommend a company that sorted me out, mobile but has all the latest gear. www.aircondoctor.co.uk. I think it’s a franchise so there may be one in your area. They have a good Q&A section on the website that answers most common aircon questions.

[sophos9]

Thanks for the tip however all these mobiles dont cover my area... (I'm in deliverance country   )