Air con not working. Any advice?

ChristineL

When I switch on the air con in my car the air it blows out isn't really cool. It might be a few degrees below ambient temperature but definitely not as cool as it used to be. The car is a 6 year old Toyota Auris.

Can anyone advise me is this something my normal annual servicing at the Toyota dealership should have picked up. (The car has recently been serviced and MOT'd.)

Is the dealership the best place to take it to get it diagnosed or is there somewhere else recommended?

As does anyone have a clue how much this might cost to fix? I do appreciate this is a "how long is a piece of string" question that can't really be answered but I'd like some clues.

Thanks.

Quentin

If it's never been regassed then that is your first step.

Should be £40/50. No need for the main dealer

flashg67

possible cause is gradual loss of the gas in the system. it might just need a regas. I hesitate to recommend them, but Kwik-fit offer a money back guarantee if their re-gassing service doesn't work. Many other garages offer this service at around £50- £80. If a component gas failed then you're into £100s \I'm afraid depending on what has gone. A system check & regas would be my first thing to try though.

daveyjp

You say when you switch it on, how often is this? I have a simple rule with aircon. Turn it on and never touch the button again, using it keeps it in good condition.

photome

daveyjp wrote: »

You say when you switch it on, how often is this? I have a simple rule with aircon. Turn it on and never touch the button again, using it keeps it in good condition.

Like you, my air con is on ALL the time.

Makes sense to me

harveybobbles

My climate is set to AUTO 20 degrees all year round.

marlot

A/C recharge is not a normal service item.

There are sometimes offers around on 'no improvement/no fee' - try kwikfit.

My toyota dealer didn't charge for the testing, though when they found a corroded pipe, they charged me for replacing that instead! Still, as its the first repair I've needed on my toyota, that's not too bad (7 years old).

Iceweasel

The problem is that many folks think AC means 'Air Cooling' rather than 'Air Conditioning'.

If it is used intermittently or not used from October to may then it's highly likely that the gas will leak away past the seals.

My AC (actually Climate Control) has never been switched off since the day I bought the car.

Set it to 'auto' press the 'snow-flake' button then forget about it.

I alter the settings a bit with the temperature control, but never switch the system off - ever.

OP - check National Tyres as well as Kwik-Knit.

As said - a check and re-gas should cost around £50 maximum.

ChristineL

Thanks all. Will take it to QuickFit next week.

Nodding_Donkey

Why is anyone recommending !!!! fit? They are useless.

facade

Not for an air-con regas.

They have the same machine as everybody else, and it comes with full instructions, anyone who can read can do it correctly, in fact I doubt if the machine would even allow them to do it wrongly!

There are cheap places that do a regas for £15-£25 + 5p a gram for the gas, but I notice my car takes 450g of gas, and kwikfit don't charge if it doesn't improve.