Hi all,

my aircon is very weak it does blow cooled air but not as cold as it should be.
Anyone know if the re-charge kits you can get are any use?
I like to do things for myself i think the air cons still has gas in it but needs a top up.

the only other thing to note is the center dial for the fan control when both the "Auto" lights were on used to light up to show the fan speed. It no longer seems to do that though the fan speed does set itself!!

Any ideas would be good please 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone

Take it to slow fit or something and get them too recharge it. If it don't do yhe job they don't charge you

The correct way to refill the system is to evacuate all the gas, vacuum the system to check for leaks and then refill with the correct amount of gas and oil.

The kits you can buy rely on pressure in the system to determine if it has enough gas, this is very hit and miss and if you have too much it can damage the system, not enough and it doesn't get cold...

I do all I can on my cars as well but I'd leave an aircon recharge to someone with the right gear.... then watch them like a hawk...  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

thanks folks this was my thinking too  2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone

Very good advice 'Haylands'

No offence meant peoples, but as I have to work at sea on hotel sized air con systems, and fridge systems to keep big walk in freezer rooms at minus 23 degrees, take it from me, fridge / A/C work is not an easy subject to master for the uninitiated.

I am not a professional fridge engineer, it is just part of my job, and we have no back up from the professionals, when we are in the middle of nowhere. See the professionals when needed, and if they do not want to carry out a leak test prior to re-gassing when you have been losing gas - WALK AWAY and find someone else to do the job.

My local Fiat dealer does all our family cars air con service. Their equipment won't allow it to try and refill the system if it detects a leak. I've used all the self fill kit from Halfords and it really aint worth the effort and cost involved to try and do it yourself.

Interesting comment about the Halfords self fill kits- I have not seen these. About 18 months back a professional fridge engineer told me the Government were planning to implement new regulations to licence fridge / A/C work, to stop home re-fills etc, due to the loss of ozone damaging fridge gasses along with mandatory fridge gas recovery from scrap fridges / freezers etc.

Maybe those plans were binned when brexit happened ?

I had a Smart for 2 that would lose efficacy over about 6 months, so it was clearly a very small leak. It was kept in Greece so needed good air con. I bought a Halford kit and when the car was sold, 6 years later,, the air was 100%.
A positive vote from me for the Halford kit. 2017 5.0 Autobiography Supercharged
2005 Merc SL350
2005 Disco HSE 2.7 oil burner

I'd have to agree with all the above, do not try and regas it using a kit, get it properly vac'd down, dried and regassed as it should be.
Incidentally, the gas (In this case R134), acts as a lubricant for the compressor and there's a pressure sensor in the system which won't allow the compressor to engage if the pressure drops below a critical threshold which is why you tend to go from the A/C working to not working with no gradual deterioration.
Another thing to remember is if you don't use the a/c for a long time, a month or more, all the little rubber 'O' rings in the system can shrink and cause leakage. As counter intuitive as this sounds, leave the a/c on all year 'round and just turn the temperature up in the winter. You'll maintain the integrity of the system and you'll keep your windscreen clear as air conditioned air has been through a drier. Just try switching the a/c off on a rainy day with two or three people on the car and you'll see what I mean. This is why when you turn max demist on the a/c will switch on if it was previously off.