Air con not working - re-gas required?

EdGasket

Iceweasel wrote: »

Every car I've had for the last 30 odd years has had air-con.

I leave it turned on all the time - Summer and Winter - never needed a re-gas and never had a problem.

Unfortunately many people still think that air-conditioning is for cooling only - forgetting that it dries the air and keeps condensation down - I run mine along with the heating to get the best effect.

Use it or lose it, as they say.

You've probably spent the price of a few re-gasses on the extra petrol to drive the air-conditioning. It's not free you know. When I switch in the air-con I can feel a real drag on the engine and performance takes a hit too.

BeenThroughItAll

EdGasket wrote: »

You've probably spent the price of a few re-gasses on the extra petrol to drive the air-conditioning. It's not free you know. When I switch in the air-con I can feel a real drag on the engine and performance takes a hit too.

You must have very little power in the car then. Only car I've ever been able to notice a difference on was my MIL's Daewoo Matiz.


I'd rather use the extra teaspoon of fuel per journey than open the windows and increase drag that way, personally. And I never have to worry about condensation and misting.


I've just spent nearly £300 making the AC work on my 12 year old, £2K Jeep. I can't abide non-working AC. Does my box in.

[Deleted User]

Changing the pollen filter helped with reducing the misting too.

BeenThroughItAll

Deleted_User wrote: »

Changing the pollen filter helped with reducing the misting too.

Won't help if there's a lot of moisture in the car already though, for example if you're driving with heaters on and wet people/clothes/shoes in the car.


I find it unbelievable sometimes how many virtually new cars, which I know for a fact have air conditioning, I see being driven at speed on wet days with all the windows misted up. Why people in the UK have such a congenital inability to use AC is beyond me.


Any minuscule effect on fuel consumption is more than offset by my increased ability to see out of the windows.

Iceweasel

EdGasket wrote: »

You've probably spent the price of a few re-gasses on the extra petrol to drive the air-conditioning. It's not free you know. When I switch in the air-con I can feel a real drag on the engine and performance takes a hit too.

On a 2litre diesel it makes little or no difference and it is undetectable when it cuts in an out automatically.

When I had a little 323 Mazda petrol that was a different matter - it was almost a case of switching off the AC to get a bit more acceleration. LOL

=rizla=

Iceweasel wrote: »

When I had a little 323 Mazda petrol that was a different matter - it was almost a case of switching off the AC to get a bit more acceleration. LOL

Overtake button!!! like it.

Marktheshark

You can buy the fluid for about £15 and do the job yourself, just locate the low pressure filling point and follow the instructions on the can.

BeenThroughItAll

Marktheshark wrote: »

You can buy the fluid for about £15 and do the job yourself, just locate the low pressure filling point and follow the instructions on the can.

Which is fine assuming you can guarantee there's no leaks and therefore won't just be blowing refrigerant into the atmosphere (I'm not some sack-wearing veggie tree-hugger BTW), and as long as you can be sure not to overfill the system and blow seals. You also can't vacuum moisture from the system using a can, nor recover any existing refrigerant and oil.


Those cans are all-or-nothing and AC systems aren't all charged with the same amount of refrigerant and lubricant, nor are the lubricant/refrigerant proportions always the same.


Best left to the pros IMO.

[Deleted User]

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Won't help if there's a lot of moisture in the car already though, for example if you're driving with heaters on and wet people/clothes/shoes in the car.


I find it unbelievable sometimes how many virtually new cars, which I know for a fact have air conditioning, I see being driven at speed on wet days with all the windows misted up. Why people in the UK have such a congenital inability to use AC is beyond me.


Any minuscule effect on fuel consumption is more than offset by my increased ability to see out of the windows.

Err I didn't say change the pollen filter instead of using the AC.

On my current car it would take ages to demist either with AC or just the blowers. Checked the pollen filter and it was jet black with muck, obviously had never been changed. Once I put a new one in the car would demist in a matter of seconds with the AC switching on.

AdrianC

So changing a sodden, blocked, long-neglected pollen filter will improve ventilation... Well, that's hardly news, is it? If it'd been the air filter, you'd have gained 10mpg, by the sound of it.