Air Con

[andymet]

I was in Halfords and saw an aerosol can with a pressure gauge which you connect to the low pressure socket on the aircon and squeeze until the needle is in the green area. Low and behold as if by magic it refills your aircon and cures any leaks all for

[Masked Marauder]

I was in Halfords and saw an aerosol can with a pressure gauge which you connect to the low pressure socket on the aircon and squeeze until the needle is in the green area. Low and behold as if by magic it refills your aircon and cures any leaks all for

[MrT]

The price is not too bad if you consider it includes a pressure gauge, the tin, the hose and there is no P&P if you are near a Halfords. All the little bits add up.

 

I must admit I am reticent about putting a leak sealer into anything in case it blocks up what it shouldn't.

 

A curious thing that an air-con specialist told me and I don't know if it is true, is that car air conditioning systems will actually still operate on a very low level of refrigerant so an air con failure due to low levels almost always means that something more serious is wrong (leak) as a serious amount of refrigerant has been lost and all systems lose a little refrigerant in normal use without noticeably affecting performance.

[Masked Marauder]

 

A curious thing that an air-con specialist told me and I don't know if it is true, is that car air conditioning systems will actually still operate on a very low level of refrigerant so an air con failure due to low levels almost always means that something more serious is wrong (leak) as a serious amount of refrigerant has been lost and all systems lose a little refrigerant in normal use without noticeably affecting performance.

My system was running with the suction side pressure at 8psi. Running, but not well. In hot weather if stuck in traffic it became heat-soaked and started heating the car instead of cooling it.

 

I topped it up to 36psi using two full 340g cans of refrigerant and it has worked fine since, although the pressure will drop over time. But if I only have to top it up once a year with

[Guest thecodfly]

just looked on ebay and the kit is 32.99 without gauge+ p + p so makes this a good buy if anyone has used it can you let me know as i need to do mine but am very tight with my hard earned cash.

[Masked Marauder]

The kit on eBay has twice as much gas and can be reused by buying cans of gas at

[Guest thecodfly]

dont know the answer to that one as have not seen it myself, and not on there web site, maybe some one can shed some more light on the subject

[Guest thecodfly]

just been to halfords combined price is 39.98 this is for the trigger c/w hose and pressure gauge, and then 1 can of refrigerent, i bought this and then took it back as did not 'fit' on the pipe, the one that looks at you when you open the bonnet. have since found out this is the wrong one, can anyone shed any light on where the right valve is as i would like another go

thanks waine

[Velcrohead]

just been to halfords combined price is 39.98 this is for the trigger c/w hose and pressure gauge, and then 1 can of refrigerent, i bought this and then took it back as did not 'fit' on the pipe, the one that looks at you when you open the bonnet. have since found out this is the wrong one, can anyone shed any light on where the right valve is as i would like another go

thanks waine

Sounds like you tried the high side that you can see when you open the bonnet.

You need to remove the drivers side indicator to get at the low side port.

These kits are great, I have used them but the gauges are FAR from accurate.

I over charged mine, I have got all the proper profesional eqiupment to do this now as I have got to like air con systems with all the problems and things that go with them.

[Guest thecodfly]

thanks for that velcrohead, dont suspose you might happen to live in the south east and might be willing to top up air con for others for a fee?

[Velcrohead]

thanks for that velcrohead, dont suspose you might happen to live in the south east and might be willing to top up air con for others for a fee?

I live in Royston, Hertfordshire.

Its sort of the south east ;) ;) :lol:

[MrT]

Velcrohead, what were the symptoms of your over overcharging?

[Velcrohead]

Velcrohead, what were the symptoms of your over overcharging?

The compressor would start up, then stop, start up then stop, as well as making some rather horrible noises.

Luckily I knew what had happened and turned the CC to econ.

I let some pressure out when I got back and all was well but it is still overcharged as it is not cooling as well as it should.

My car is getting the full works at the weekend (wheather permitting).

[Guest MATT]

You need to remove the drivers side indicator to get at the low side port.

Is that on the MKII?

 

as i think mine needs more gas, its slightly cooler with AC on, but no where near as cold as it was when i bought it.

 

MATT

[Masked Marauder]

You need to remove the drivers side indicator to get at the low side port.

Is that on the MKII?

 

as i think mine needs more gas, its slightly cooler with AC on, but no where near as cold as it was when i bought it.

 

MATT

No, it sticks up at the left hand side of the slam panel on a MK2

[Guest MATT]

No, it sticks up at the left hand side of the slam panel on a MK2

Thanks MM, ive had a look, its slightly smaller than the one on the right, and when you start the engine, and turn AC on full blast, the left pipe goes "cold" and the right pipe gets warm, maybe hot if left on long enough. does this sound right?

 

If so, how do i know how much gas should be in, and what pressure should it be?

 

also, is there any easy way to check if there is a leak, other than monitor the pressure in the system?

 

MATT

[Guest MATT]

According to this video, the compressor should cycle on and off, how long should the galaxies compressor stay on for?

 

MATT

[Masked Marauder]

According to this video, the compressor should cycle on and off, how long should the galaxies compressor stay on for?

 

MATT

Mine stays on all the time I think.....

[Velcrohead]

According to this video, the compressor should cycle on and off, how long should the galaxies compressor stay on for?

 

MATT

I dont know if this is in reply to my earlier post but, yes the compressor cycles on and off, But what mine was doing was starting and stopping straight away.

Also the retrofit information they give is very dubious.

It's not 'just' a case of changing the service valves but thats another story.

I'm not trying to say the kits are rubbish, Like I said I used one myself, but overcharged it due to the less than accurate gauge on my kit, but then again, the gauge could be naffed.

Just be careful. Add a little at a time.

[Velcrohead]

According to this video, the compressor should cycle on and off, how long should the galaxies compressor stay on for?

 

MATT

Mine stays on all the time I think.....

In general, so does mine, it all depends on the conditions.

[Guest MATT]

Ok - just been down halfords, taking a look at the kits, and i am slightly impressed by the range available.

 

anyway, it looks like it is going to cost

[Guest vr6galaxy]

Personally I think it's rather risky! your spending

[MrT]

Surely if you overfill the system the high pressure cutout switch will disengage the compressor?

[Guest MATT]

I have decided to take the risk, and will be posting results here.

 

MATT :D :D B)

[ridway]

These kits are OK if you know exactly what you are doing. Take care to follow the instructions very carefully.

 

Over charging can cause the system evaporator not to "evaporate" all the liquid refrigerant entering it, simply because there's too much circulating the system, especially if the regulator (TEV) is not at its best. The evaporator is the last major bit in the system; the component that gets cold in the heater box. A possible consequence of this is liquid getting back to the suction or low pressure side of the compressor. Any liquid entering a compressor can literally break it catastrophically.

 

Another consideration when reapeatedly using these kits is, are you loosing any oil from the system? Continually topping up may replace the refrigerant but not the oil. If the system has a largish leak, low in the system, say at the base of the condenser then your guaranteed to loose oil. You could end up with none left circulating in the system. The consequence is like running a two stroke on just unleaded; sure disaster.

 

In an ideal world air con should not leak. It should last the life of the vehicle with no other attention other than renewing or tightening of the drive belt and changing of the pollen filter. Some do, but a fair proportion have a what the manufactures say is an acceptable leak rate. Ford's is 100 gram per year I think. Some are just not put together very well from the day they were assembled. I always liken the situation to a car tyre, some never leak, some just need a bit of air every year and some you're down the forecourt every time you fill up with fuel.

 

A good judge of whether you air con is working correctly is to CAREFULLY feel the aircon pipes in the engine bay. This has to be done with the engine running at idle, so if you do this be very careful of moving parts and the high voltage ignition wires if its petrol fuelled.

 

Select neutral and start the engine. Switch on the air con and set it to full fan and cold. In the engine bay look at the rear bulk head and look for the two aluminium pipes that go from the engine bay through bulkhead to the cockpit. These are the feed and return pipes to the evaporator. If you look carefully at these one is thicker than the other.

 

The thin one is the feed; this carries liquid at a low velocity at high pressure. Feeling this pipe when the aircon is running, it should be slightly warm, to hot. The gal tends to be quite hot, so BE CAREFUL, other manufactures' vehicles vary.

 

The thick one is the return; this carries gas that has evaporated in the tubes of the evaporator. It travels along the pipe at a lower pressure some forty times faster than the velocity of the liquid in the feed pipe. This pipe should feel cold, almost icing up. On a damp day this return pipe would almost certainly have condensation forming on it; it would be wet to touch just like house windows when cooking Sunday lunch (same effect).

 

The return pipe temperature along with what the compressor clutch is doing can give an idea as to how much gas is in the system.

 

If the return pipe is an ambient temperature and the compressor is not running then it is likely there is no gas or very little gas in the system. This check is not conclusive as there could be other faults that cause this.

 

If the return pipe is cool but not cold, definitley less than ambient, and the compressor is running occasionally but fast cycling, then there could be a shortage of gas in the system. My definition of cool in this context is cooler than the surrounding metal but not colder than a bottle of beer out the fridge. My definition of cold is colder than a bottle of beer out of the fridge.

 

The amount of refrigerant in a system is not directly proportional to its performance. If a fully and correctly serviceable charged system has a slow leak it will work perfectly well until a fixed amount of gas has leaked away. It will then stop working quite quickly as a certain level has been passed.

 

The Mondeo for example takes around 740 grams of gas/liquid refrigerant. The later model about 820 gram. Both these cars' aircon work perfectly well with 560 grams of gas. However with 470 grams they struggle to work.

 

So dont try to get more performance from your already serviceable system by adding more gas in the hope that it will get cooler, it doesn't work like that.

 

So, take care with these kits you need to really know what you're doing. One last point. Don't use these kits to fill a system that is completely empty. The chances with an empty system are that air or some moisture has found its way in. This must be removed with a vacuum pump before introducing any gas.

 

Rich