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air con

hei731

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Location
Ascot
Car
Honda Accord
Try to use the air con today .

Needs to wait a bit to blow a bit of cold air.

How long does it take to make the car cool?

I turn the air con on with Lo temp high fan, doesnt really do much.

Then I use Auto with Low temp, then it seems to have more cold air, but not cold enough to make the car cool.

Is it just a regas, or something else ?

Thanks
 
If not cold cold I'd say either needs re has or issue but garage would have to tell you which
I've just had re gas
Was cold but not that cold
Bought car 2.5 yrs ago didn't use air con until 6 months later when summer started and discovered it wasn't cold, told dealer wouldn't sort free so paid for re gas.
Was ok through summer, tried again next summer not cold, told dealer they said sorry we had issue last year with machine so might have left air in it so they said we'll do it free, ok I thought.
Booked it in left it, they phoned said machine broken again so they took it to another of their dealers and said tested it and it was fine.
This year had service and they said again not cold, I told them history and said it got tested? Either they haven't done it correctly or not tested it as it to me would seem to have an issue.
They said they'll gas and test again but I had to pay.
When picked car up they told me we have gased and put dye in and to keep an eye on it next two weeks????
Isn't due only visible with fluorescent torch or something?? No idea but test means they test it in my eyes?
Anyway back to your issue lol
If you get test make sure they do a full inspection there and then and not fob you off like the 3 Honda dealers I've been to
 
the "auto" mode does it for you, Did you put the fan on full speed? when using manual,you have to push the fan button to max, then when you turn blue slow it down.
 
hei731 said:
Try to use the air con today .

Needs to wait a bit to blow a bit of cold air.

How long does it take to make the car cool?

I turn the air con on with Lo temp high fan, doesnt really do much.

Then I use Auto with Low temp, then it seems to have more cold air, but not cold enough to make the car cool.

Is it just a regas, or something else ?

Thanks
either a regas, or condenser is perished and needs replacing
 
em, re gas last week, was freezing cold for couple of days.

Today driving home from work, no cold air blowing out for 40mins. Then it is a bit cooler, what should I do next.

Feel like waste the money on a regas, but TGM said there is no gas in it, what is going wrong? :(

P.S. How long should it take to make the car cold?
 
Your car is the diesel, and the aircon in the diesel cars is more complex than in the petrol cars (because the aircon runs in reverse in winter to act as a heater)

There might be a fault related to the aircon being more complex, but before we ***ume that, check the condition of the condenser.

This what a perished condenser looks like while it's still in the car, note the difference between the area above the black bar and below it, the area below is "perished" (click image to enlarge)
0008.jpg




To make the point, here is the condenser out of the car
IMAG0128.jpg




a perished condenser makes the aircon behave in the same way as if the system is low on gas i.e. poor efficiency

a perished condenser doesn't necessarily leak gas, though it might

have a look at the condition of the condenser in your car, it might be perished
 
where about is the condenser?

why does it perished? is it hit by stone?
 
The condenser is in front of the engine radiator, a condenser in a car is sometimes referred to as an "aircon radiator".

You should look at the condenser by shining a torch through any and all apertures in the front bumper and grill, those apertures allow the air-stream to flow through the condenser and through the engine radiator.

A "perished" condenser is the same as a "perished" engine radiator. If you look at the lower picture in #9 you will see that loads of the small blocks/fins just fell out when I removed the condenser from the car. This meant that as the air flowed through the fins, the heat would not be efficiently drawn off into the air-stream, leaving the liquid still hot inside (the gas is a hot liquid inside the condenser).

There are many reasons why condensers/radiators perish.

It might not be a perished condenser that is causing the issue, the system may have lost some gas again for some reason, but have a good look at the condition of the condenser, it's the easiest thing to do.

edit: when you look at it through the bumper/grill it will look more like the upper picture in #9, which was taken with the bumper removed. Look for any loose or missing "fins" (small square blocks of "foil"), even one missing will indicate that there are many more that are loose.
 
At a dealer it will cost over £500, I did it myself for £150 which included the cost of a non-OEM condenser from Unipart and the gassing properly dealt with at a Halfords Autocentre (different from a Halfords store).

If your condenser does look perished, then go back to TGM and ask them for a second opinion on what is going on. If they confirm that a replacement condenser will cure the problem then obviously ask for a quote. It's an easy job, they would remove the gas, change the condenser, and put the gas back in. The most time-consuming part of the job is removing the bumper, which is more fiddly than difficult.
 
It is something to do with the o-ring, then it cause the leak of gas. it is freezing cold now, lets see what happan later, hope it solves it.

Thanks guys.
 
yes, a week later. only gives out warm air again, what could gone wrong?

puzzles me :(
 
I remember the air con was cold last Friday, I didn't use the car for 2 days and the weather was very hot over the weekend.

Then on Monday afternoon, it has no cold air coming out.

Does it related?
 
no, it's leaking, they need to put UV dye in the gas to find where the leak is
 
hei731 said:
so its either condenser or somewhere leaking?

hei731 said:
probably the hotest week and no air con :wacko:
I wish I lived closer, I could at least take a look, but it's about 130 miles from my house to Ascot LOL

Maybe go back to TGM and ask them to evacuate what is in it now, and compare with what they put in it last time. If there's a big difference they could then refill it with UV dye mixed in, then look for leaks with a UV lamp. If there is a leak, it will almost certainly be in the engine bay area where all the pipes are accessible.
 
Right, word from the garage / trader.

"The A/C isnt leaking in the same place they was previously repaired, he needs to refill the system again with even more UV Dye, and I will have to run the car to see where the leak is.

They took the front bumper off and cant see any issue damage with the compressor or condenser.

they said the leak is so minor, so they cant find it."

My question is will that be the case? or are they just wasting each end time?
 
I see from earlier posts that your car is a 2011 2.2 Diesel, which you bought right at the beginning of April (just over 2 months ago).

How many miles has the car done ?

Did you get the car from a Honda dealer ?
 
Yes

It had 110 000 when I bought it , I put less than 1000miles since.

I got it from a car trader. He provides a 3months warrenty.

Why?
 
When you say "car trader", in this country that usually implies someone who buys cars, sells them on. and does little else (if you know what I mean). The warranties that they provide are usually bought by them online and provide very little cover.

Hypothetically, regardless of the warranty, the car was sold to you in working condition, but (and I could be wrong), there isn't much point taking it back to the car trader, because I doubt if you will get anywhere with them, you will just get all sorts of stories and excuses.

The other question is, who exactly are "TGM", what is their expertise ?
 
I bought the car from a car trader in April, it comes with three month warrenty that include gearbox/engine/electrician issues.

When I found out that in the middle of May, the air con was not working, I informed him and he said it may need a regas, so I asked TGM to do a regas for me. one week later , the air con is not cold, so I took the car back to him.. and it was fixed and after another week, the air con is not cold again, and the car is with him now.

That was the long story.

The question I was asking was " is it that difficult to find a leak, or is he wasting our time? "

Should I just take it to an air con expert?

Thanks
 
hei731 said:
The question I was asking was " ....... is he wasting our time? "

the answer is in the definition of "car trader"



hei731 said:
Should I just take it to an air con expert?

I thought you had taken it ti an aircon expert called "TGM" ?
 
OK, i see what you meant, I gusses I will never buy a car from a trader again.

Thanks a lot.
 
Right, I found a mobile air con guy to diagnose the air con today, due to my lack of knowledge, I am not sure I understand him fully. He said the pressure is fine. But he can't find any leak from the pipes as there is no bubble found. then he said there maybe a part is needed, and that part is expensive, but I am not sure what part he is talking about, if it is needed, I need to get it from Honda. he said the condenser looks fine.

The issue was the air con is running fine, until it parked up for 2 days, and there is no more cold air coming out.

He regassed it and asked me to run it for a week and he will come back on Monday afternoon.

P.S. I dont have time to go to TGM sport so I found a mobile air con.
 
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