tried a regas?

See if the fans (on the rad) are working with the aircon on if not then you’ve a problem and a re-gas won’t help.

Sometimes it can just the bolt holding the pulley that has come loose so worth a checking that but it is also a known issue for the compressor to fail which unfortunately is quite a bit job needing the front end, bumper, crash bar etc off the car for it to be replaced.

Eh?

The tax disc sticker on my car fell off, that was the end of that car

A few questions would need to be asked before advice.
Has it been getting less cold over a long period? If yes and on that age of car a re-gas may/could help.
Has it been getting less cold over a short period? If yes, if may still be the gas but could also be a small leak. Will be checked by a reputable garage before re-gas.
If it’s suddenly stopped producing cold air, unlikely to be just gas but a number of thing that would all need checking – most mentioned above but should include a failure (leak) in the pipe system/evaporator/condenser, a failure of the pump/compressor (clutch/belt) or a failure in the control system (electrical). All would probably need an expert of some sort.

It was the last scenario that affected mine earlier in the year – corroded wiring.

Kwik Fit used to do a £50 regas that they only charged for if successful. If you are gas-less, you will be gassed-up but if it’s another problem, you won’t be out of pocket

The pump went in my Octavia of the same age. Right before a week away on the hottest week of the year.

Still, can’t be any worse than being on the motorbike in 37ºC like I have been this week. (Considers inventing actively cooled motorbike gear…)

Rachel

My old 900 failed on the aircon many years before the rest followed suit.
TBH it wasn’t worth investigating and getting fixed – that was my approach anyway.,

Yes there were days when it would have been handy – great even – but not hundreds of pounds worth of handy & great.

no but if they fill it without checking for a leak the gas will escape into the atmosphere which is bad. If they do a leak test first then go ahead, if not go somewhere that does a proper leak test and will do other checks.

Aircon parts do seem to be overly expensive. It’s basically the same as a fridge so shop around and it should be more reasonable.

Common faults are corroded radiators, corroded pipework (often aluminium pipes are run along the bottom of the front panel attached with rubber/steel P clips which leads to corrosion) and the pumps themselves. I would look at corrosion or mechanical damage to the exposed parts first though and they can lead to failure of other parts (another reason to get a proper test done).

The automatic machines that most places use vacuum the system and will tell you if there is a leak (as it won’t hold the vacuum).

I was thinking this as well. I’ve never had a car where the air-con hasn’t eventually broken. I believe it’s even broken on my ex-wife’s extremely reliable Honda Jazz.
Amazingly, all the cars I’ve had where the air-con broke still allowed me to get to my destination and also had the backup of windows which opened. These amazing devices allow one to get many more years out of the car.

I had my 15 year old Golf re-gassed recently. It had been getting warmer? less cold? for some time. There was some gas still there, but the fault was a pressure sensor.

The test and re-gas was a one off fee, if it required further work, which it did, I didn’t have to pay for the second re-gas.

Now blows icy cold. It’s a big difference to winding the window down, especially on the motorway.

Mrs B car had poor A/C took it to halfords they hooked it upto the machine 1 hr later I was on my way. System re-gassed and nice n cool. Total cost £49

You’re just making it worse for yourself by admitting to buying a Qashqai now….

If you live near a rural area have a look for somewhere that does the aircon servicing for farm machinery, they can be substantially cheaper the usual car places and do a pretty good job.

Those big glass cabs in combines need some hefty aircon systems.

lovewookie – had the aircon go in our 06 Focus and it was going to cost lots to repair. PX’d it for a newer car which we’d been considering anyway – it was certainly getting to the point of starting to increasingly become unreliable. FWIW, they don’t check the aircon when PXing…

air con compressor bearing is knackered

Edd China would just knock the bearing out and fit a new one.

Any chance of you getting all Wheeler Dealers with it?

When the AC compresseor died on my Ibiza, I was told by a dealer that a re-con unit was £800 for parts alone, so I was looking at well over £1k to repair.

The garage I get all my servicing through luckily does a/c as well. They fitted a new compressor for £500 including labour.

So, it probably pays to ask around, rather than assume that it’ll be prohibitively expensive.
You can also get re-con units online for quite a reasonable price.

“tried a regas?”

worst advice ever.

Get it pressure tested with UV dye. determine where the issue is and take it from there.

blindly sticking more gas in a failed system is just stupid.

I know this is an old post, but… Some places offer a “success or refund” guarantee which makes it either a success, or a free diagnostic.

And also, sometimes the only useful result is “regas fixed it”- if an older car needs more, you might not bother to do the job so exact diagnostics aren’t more useful. I regassed mine on this basis, that was exactly the amount I was willing to spend, if it didn’t work I was just going to not have air con.

It’s like that bit in House MD where the hot one goes “But it could be 4 different things” and the grumpy one goes “Well treat him for thing X” and the one with the nose goes “but what if it’s Y” and the grumpy one goes “If it’s Y then he’ll die anyway”.

I can do without aircon. however from what I’ve gleaned, as the aircon works off the timer belt, if the bearing is stuffed it can be quite catastrophic.

I would definitely get that checked out. To me, it would seems strange to run anything off the timing belt that could fail & cause irreparable engine damage.

I think mine runs of the aux belt for the alternator etc.

This any good?:

http://automotivecompressor.co.uk/epages/eshop931745.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop931745/Products/1364

didn’t really make sense to me either, but allegedly these are single belt.
I’ll have a closer look when I get home with a torch.