Anyone ever topped up thier own aircon

[kewe]

As an example .. mine is an 04 car, last week was its first regas ... it had lost just under half the pressure in the refrigerant, it was still blowing coldish.


I would take that as needing a regas every 4 years or so

UncleFester, mines also blows coldish 8.3 deg C. I don't know if it has ever had a regas and it's 8 years old . Kwik Fit state you lose about 10% every year so that sounds about right for yours.

Did you find a big difference after the regas?

I think the Kwik Fit scenario is that they will reduce the aircon temp by 10% or no charge.
Now by my reckoning they could regas and get mines down to 7.5 deg C and I pay the £45, but would I feel any difference as it is still outwith the specs stated earlier of 3-6 deg C.

Also if it is low on gas, I wondered what sort of detrimental effect may it have on other parts like the compressor etc?

Might just have to bite the bullet and get it checked tomorrow.

 

[b1nuzz]

Had my LCR re-gassed at Kwik Fit a few days ago.

Its an 04 that has never been gassed before... and the difference was amazing. its like a fridge now!

 

[UncleFester]

As above, it's a lot colder than it was - but as with anything that gets slowly worse over time, you don't realise how bad it has got.

 

[chris2r]

Had mine done the other day at kwik fit. They tested it first and it was 10c. Then after regas they tested it again and it was 5c. thats on 03plate.

 

[kewe]

Had mine done the other day at kwik fit. They tested it first and it was 10c. Then after regas they tested it again and it was 5c. thats on 03plate.

Takes KF about 1 hour to do?

 

[chris2r]

Takes KF about 1 hour to do?

Yeah about an hour if they put your car straight on the machine. There was a bit of a queue by the time they had done mine!

 

[kewe]

First Kwik-Fit I went to, their aircon machine had blown up, at least that's what the 12 year old manager told me.

Tried another Kwik Fit and got a regas:-

Start 9.1 deg C
Finish 7.4 deg C.
Recovered 0.665 kg
Recovered Oil 0013 ml
Vacuum Time 20 mins
Leak test - No Leak Detected
Charged 0.775 kg
Oil Charged 0023 ml

Not sure if all these figures add up but the guy seemed to suggest it wasn't too low in the first place. Feels a little colder now but still not as much as I'd hoped for.

 

[Markyboyt]

First Kwik-Fit I went to, their aircon machine had blown up, at least that's what the 12 year old manager told me.

Tried another Kwik Fit and got a regas:-

Start 9.1 deg C
Finish 7.4 deg C.
Recovered 0.665 kg
Recovered Oil 0013 ml
Vacuum Time 20 mins
Leak test - No Leak Detected
Charged 0.775 kg
Oil Charged 0023 ml

Not sure if all these figures add up but the guy seemed to suggest it wasn't too low in the first place. Feels a little colder now but still not as much as I'd hoped for.

yes they add up, I should get the temp guage in mine really, I regassed it the other day. I recovered about 0.56kg out of mine and put 0.75kg back in, didnt really make much difference lol.

As you can see from the weight of the gas recovered, your system was close to the correct amount which was put back in hence it not making that much difference. I think its maybe a case of other factors affecting the performance too, theres a few components that make up the air con system.

For comparrison I regassed a 57 plate X5 the other day, it was reading 9.9 degreesC before, and 2.5 degreesC afterwards, thats cold lol

 

[LEE69]

Ideal for your beer!!

 

[kewe]

lol yeah that's what I'd like

I think it's fine for most days, just the odd really hot one we get once a year up here it might struggle a bit especially getting to the kids in the back.

 

[dholdi]

Checked mine yesterday at work. After 5 mins I got 5 deg c but I was just sat there with it idling (I was going from memory of this post so forgot about the 2k rpm ) The outside temp was 29 ( is this really sunny blackpool ) so I guess it is about right. Might try it again whilst driving aroud with a gauge that remembers the readings so i dont have to keep my eye on it.

 

[RobDon]

I just topped mine up using one of the 'EZ Chill' measure and charge cans, got it from ebay for £16.99 - worked a treat. Plugged it into the front service port, the gauge showed it was low, so filled it up until it was showing a good charge, and the A/C is now very cold, alot colder than before - took 10 minutes!!!

 

[tomek113]

Hi Mate,

Where is the charge port located? Can not find it. Would be great if you posted the picture.

Cheers

T

 

[RobDon]

Right at the front of the engine bay, just to the left a bit.

 

[aBoijj]

I saw a thread on another forum the other day suggesting that Kwik Fit garages don't all look after their equipment properly and garages have been found with faulty hoses that don't hold a vacuum... sometimes they need a retest anyway, nature of the beast apparently (so said someone that claimed his dad did it for a living).

 

[tomek113]

Hi,

Found it and did it thanks!. The result: the whole bottle of EZ CHILL went in and the dial did not even move to green AC is around 8-9 degrees and has improved a lot as it was blowing just outside temp. Seems like I have a leak somewhere. This EZ thing says it seals the leaks so shall I buy another one and try to top it up again or just go to specialist and pay £100??? any one any ideas? Thanks in advance!

T

 

[aBoijj]

100 quid seems a bit steep. A quick search on yell.com showed me there's a place near me that does it for as low as 40.

 

[tomek113]

I think it is for regass only and I need AC sercice now as there is a leak somwhere. Will do research and let u know about price uless anyone knows any decent maby mobile serviece to reach south east London. Do not want to go to stealer

 

[curryholic]

Afternoon all,

I've just got back from Kwik Fit after spending about 1.5hrs waiting for the machine to become free and then doing the bits and pieces!

The long and the short of it was that after the time on the machine he came over to me scratching his head and basically said that he'd regassed it but there was something else that was wrong with it and it wasn't getting colder. True to their word I didn't have to pay for it, but basically he said that and I was left to my own devices to get the car off the ramp/out of the garage! He didn't give me the print out either so can't check whether it was holding the vacuum.

Just a quick question, if you're idling and press the ice button on the climate control the revs drop as the compressor (should) kick in... by how much? 50-100rpm or more?

I'm going to have a chat with one of the little garages near work who say they service aircons! So hopefully I'll be cold by the time summer's over!!!

 

[b1nuzz]

It does drop a little. 50 to 100 rpm is about right i would say. Not the greater drop.