regassing the air con?

[jon103a]

the cans have a very clear pressure gauge on them- and yes there is always a case for using a proffesional. that said the cans work fine if you use the instructions and you are compitent. if it does not work then get help.as you know the cans are now illegal in the uk so when current stocks run out you wont be able to buy them unless you have a valid liecence like us. but i am all for not paying someone to do a job you can do yourself and will always help someone where i can because i know one day i might be on here asking for help myself. qwick fit are about a compitent as my mum on the whole, i had a case where a fitter told a customer the alternator was broken because the wire inside was twisted- yep that would be the stator windings then. as for the warranty anyone can fiddle the settings to gain 10 deg. you just - connect can, twist top till gauge shows green, disconnect can.  if you are local and willing to help - good on you and all the better for brundish - go for it. otherwise brundish24 go for it. i dont want to get in a ....ing contest with anyone- its just my opinion, jon.

[brundish24]

my consern is what type of gas i had in mine to start with i dont want to buy a can and then find out that its the wrong one/dont fit.

[jon103a]

if you find the ports and can post a pic we can tell you for sure , if festa is genuinly willing to look for a few beers and you are unsure all the better, hopefully here is an r134 style port picture- if it doesent look like that you are on r12 and cant do it

[Ian65]

Forget kwikfit for a regas, they\'re useless.
My Jaguar XJ had ice cold aircon when I bought it  but each year it got warmer until the compressor stopped due to low gas pressure.
I had the Kwikfit promise... " our new machine checks the system for leaks and if there are any, it won\'t regas the system and we won\'t charge you the £45 regas charge.
So, an hour later, I pick the car up and sure enough, its cold. I pay my £45 ( the last I ever saw of it) and 5 mins later, there is refrigerant leaking out of the front of the car.
I take it straight back to be told,
" Its your condensing radiator"
"I thought you checked it for leaks first before you regassed it"
" We did"
" You couldn\'t have done, look, it\'s p***ing out"
" Our machine checks for leaks via vacuum not by pressuring the system, so it might not detect all leaks "

The eventual upshot of this dubious converstation was that I was told to get a new condenser fitted and then they would regas it for free.

A new condenser and dryer were bought at a cost of £200 and then after fitting them it was back to Kwikfit.

After waiting all day for the promised phone call which never came, I went to find out what was going on.

"Its all done" they triumphantly exclaimed.
I switch it on and guess what, warm air, no air con.
Flick the bonnet and no compressor running.
After more moaning they agree to put it back on the machine.
"it\'s empty, theres no gas in it, it must have all escaped" they say.
" did you check it for leaks with a wand after you gassed it?"
"er, no, our machine checked it and it was fine"
" so , wheres all the refridgerant then?"
" it\'s escaped"

By now, in an effort to thwart my desire to knock out the kwikfit manager ,
I decided to put it down to experience and take it to an aircon specialist, or at least someone with a basis understanding of vehicle aircon, which is more than the cretins at Kwikfit, Cannock have.

So, in short.....
anywhere other than Kwikfit for your re-gas. ( you might as well wind your windows down and throw £45 out as you drive along, it\'s the same result)




.

[jon103a]

Big A Men....

[marcusd666]

the connectors for re-gassing the air con are found under the abs system under the bonnet right side looking from the front of the car. Mine needs doing and its a 92 R1 type-r but which gas do you use ?

[jon103a]

a 91 will have r12 - the screw on type connectors (my 92 had r12) almost certain, if you look at the pic above thats an r134a connector for  the later type gas thats still sold. r12 was banned and those systems have to be converted to r134a. jon

[trotter]

my FD has a sticker under the bonnet telling me it\'s R134a if that helps? \'93 Type-R

[Lil-Steve]

Ian, I\'ve had almost the same run-around with Kwik-Fit (or Kwik-**** as I now know it), appently I had a leak on my Jags air-con when they pressure tested it. Considering they had my car for 4 hours and my phone number you\'d think they might mention it.
 
I took it down to my local trusted garage and got them to have a look to see what was up and what needed replacing, they turned round and told me if there was a leak then it must be minascule because they pressure tested it twice and couldn\'t find the leak. That was two months ago my air-con since is still ice-cold.
 
I went round to the Kwik-fit garage afterward to have a word with them he just shrugged and said his aircon guy wasn\'t in that day...
 
I responded with something along the lines of "Why didn\'t they tell me when I dropped the damn car off then you :Grrr idiot!"
 
It makes my .... boil, it really does....

[brundish24]

my FD has a sticker under the bonnet telling me it\'s R134a if that helps? \'93 Type-R

ive got three stickers under the bonnet but not that one where was maybe i missed it, was it on the bonnet or in the engine bay.

[TRIND-FD]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R12-R134A-CAR-AIR-CONDITIONING-CONVERSION-KIT-/310054233691?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4830ac265b
 
 
If youhave r12 fittings, and dont want to do it yourself, Buy some r12 to r134a adapters and have a pro fit them and regas.
 
Keith.

[Ian65]

Ian, I\'ve had almost the same run-around with Kwik-Fit (or Kwik-**** as I now know it)

They are the absolute pits!
It\'ll be a cold day in hell before they get anywhere near one of my cars again.
To make matters worse, they passed my mobile number to their call centre who then plagued me with cold calls for weeks  trying to sell me more of their crap services!

[Lil-Steve]

They are the absolute pits!
It\'ll be a cold day in hell before they get anywhere near one of my cars again.
To make matters worse, they passed my mobile number to their call centre who then plagued me with cold calls for weeks trying to sell me more of their crap services!

Thats really unlucky mate, makes you wonder about the worksmanship the last time you had tyres fitted there though doesn\'t it; experiences like that.
 
Think I\'ll be standing behind them with the torque wrench if I ever get my tyres done there again