Aircon service - heads up

[johnatg]

We don't seem to talk much about aircon here (especially routine service) - maybe it just works and we forget about it?

Anyway, you are supposed to have it checked every two years, but I don't think mine has ever been done (in 11 years). It still works OK though.

Now ATS Euromaster (tyre place primarily) have a discount offer - 40% off, so they do a pressure check and regas for £28.79. Seems like a good deal, so I've booked in for Tuesday.

They also offer a bacterial clean, but that's not discounted but it's easy enough to do yourself with a 'bomb' can you can buy from Halfords - I have done that occasionally.

The offer is only for April, so you only have a few days if you're interested. Only applies to vehicles with R134A - I think most of ours will have that but later cars may have moved on to something else. There are terms (eg no hybrids) and the offer isn't immediately obvious on the web site - do a Google (or alternative) search for 'ATS aircon discount offer'

[madasahatter]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

We don't seem to talk much about aircon here (especially routine service) - maybe it just works and we forget about it?

Anyway, you are supposed to have it checked every two years, but I don't think mine has ever been done (in 11 years). It still works OK though.

Now ATS Euromaster (tyre place primarily) have a discount offer - 40% off, so they do a pressure check and regas for £28.79. Seems like a good deal, so I've booked in for Tuesday.

They also offer a bacterial clean, but that's not discounted but it's easy enough to do yourself with a 'bomb' can you can buy from Halfords - I have done that occasionally.

The offer is only for April, so you only have a few days if you're interested. Only applies to vehicles with R134A - I think most of ours will have that but later cars may have moved on to something else. There are terms (eg no hybrids) and the offer isn't immediately obvious on the web site - do a Google (or alternative) search for 'ATS aircon discount offer'

Most common course of leakage is rubbers going due to lack of use. Should be used all year round and is brilliant in winter.

As you state that is a very good price, as going rate around york is £40.00 ish. All we need now is the sun.

[Britprius]

Although you say the offer is for vehicles using R134A a warning for those of us that have hybrid versions of the Lexus. The oil used in our system (ND11) is not the same as normal cars that use (PAG) oil. The use of equipment that has been used with PAG oil to re gas the hybrid cars can seriously damage the compressor motor. This causes a ground fault on the motor, and high voltage Battery circuit. This brings the car to a standstill.

ND11 oil has a high voltage insulation quality where as PAG oil is conductive. The refrigerant gas, and oil is used to directly cool the air conditioning electric motor high voltage winding's. The use of the wrong or contaminated oil causes a voltage leak to ground. The high voltage Battery ECU see's this as a shock risk problem, and shuts down the car. Disconnecting the compressor from the inverter clears the fault allowing the car to be driven 

If this happens a new compressor is required along with a complete system flush if your lucky.

John.

[johnatg]

Aha - that will be why the offer says 'no hybrids' (or electric vehicles)

As Keith says, regular usage of aircon is important to keep the seals in good condition, but the gas can leak away over time even with good seals. If the seals have deteriorated the system may fail the pressure test - then they can't regas and you have to get it fixed - expensive.

And it's not just the gas - I guess the lubricant oil (which is carried in the gas) will deteriorate over time.

[Britprius]

It is a change to see that the offer excludes hybrid/electric vehicles. Many Prius owners found in the past at great expense when many of the garage chain operators were offering this service without realising the problems. The wrong or contaminated oil can take up to 3 months for problems to appear. It is then difficult to return, and prove the garage was at fault.

The advantage with the hybrid compressors is that the motor is sealed in the compressor "as in domestic fridges, and freezers" so there is no rotating shaft seal to leak. Also the speed of the compressor can be varied to suit the cooling demand making it more efficient in use.

John.

[Ishaq]

I just booked mine for the weekend but with Mr Clutch Autocentre - They had a deal £30 for Anti Bacterial and Recharge on Groupon plus additional 15% off with Groupon code. Will let you guys know how it goes, but my Aircon is wokring as normal but as John says its good to get it done.

[Cracksta]

Already booked with ATS for friday on the same deal, will get some aircon bacterial cleaner from eurocarparts on the way back.

[Rebecca]

I had a major service on my f-sport several weeks ago at my local toyota dealership in hereford. When I dropped the car off I was offered an aircon service and regas for an extra £29.99 which I thought was rather good so had it all done.

It's nice to know my aircon will be in tip top condition ready for the summer. (If we have one of course ) 😕

[johnatg]

Don't you just know that however good a deal you think you've found, someone finds a better one! Congrats, Ishaq!

Had mine done today by ATS Knutsford - perfectly OK professional job, although to be fair it is a largely automated process - they hook the system up to the machine and it does it all automatically. The guy did say that the 'computer' gave the wrong location for one of the valves when he put the reg number in - showed it at front offside when in fact it is near the nearside back corner of the engine.

Now the strange thing is that my system was well overcharged. I, nor anyone else has touched it since I bought the car five years ago. ATS took out 590g of gas, pressure checked it and replaced the specified 430g (that figure came from 'computer' and is also in my workshop manual). So it had been 160g or so overfilled! Wonder if that was from the factory, or had someone been in there during the first 6 years of the car's life? It took a little over an hour, but I left the premises before the job had been started so who knows.

Before the job, the temperature from the vents with the temp set to 'Lo' was 8 deg C, afterwards it was 6 deg.

So there you go!

[J Henderson]

I just changed my pollen filter and always leave A/C on and I've never had any issues like funny smells or window condensation so I guess it's working fine. It's been a loooong time since I've needed it to actually cool the car though.

[Morkab]

Usually, I do two check-ups per year, before the winter and summer seasons.

[Morkab]

On 10/13/2021 at 2:49 PM, Morkab said:

Usually, I do two check-ups per year, before the winter and summer seasons.

Once every two years is still better than never at all. Thanks for the discount info, definitely something that should be taken into consideration. I mean, I’m not too worried even if my aircon does go on the fritz once in a while - I have marvellous.sg to save my bum in that case. But I still prefer my aircon to be cooling me off in the summer than spending time at the repairs, lol.