Air Conditioning
Most modern cars have air conditioning or climate control and it’s as important to maintain as it is to maintain any other part of your vehicle.
There are 7 main parts that make up the system:
- Condenser
- Receiver
- Dryer
- Compresor
- Expansion Valve
- Evaporator
- Air Conditioning Lines
Air conditioning repairs can be incredibly costly and are largely caused by a lack of gas in the system meaning that the components are forced to work much harder than they were designed to do to keep the system running.
The compressor is the heart of an air conditioning system. It takes refrigerant as a low pressure gas, pumps it up to a high pressure gas, and circulates it into the discharge hose. Compressors are much like little engines. Most of them have pistons, piston rings, a crank shaft, and bearings, just like a car engine. They need to have oil circulated through them to lubricate all the moving parts. This oil is mixed into and carried with the refrigerant. That is why running an air conditioner without any refrigerant is like running your cars engine without any oil.
Your system can lose up to 15% a year meaning a 3 year old car could have lost almost half of its gas resulting in a serious deterioration in its performance.
We strongly advise having your system re-gassed every 2 years rather than waiting for a breakdown to occur. Although most people tend to address issues at the beginning of the summer months, it’s especially detrimental to leave your system low on gas over the winter months when there is more moisture in there air to enter the system.
We offer re-gassing, servicing, specialist nitrogen leak detection, sanitisation and repairs for all vehicles using R134a refrigerant (approx 1993 onwards).
Re-gas – £50.00 + VAT
- Initial system test
- Recharge A/C system with refrigerant to vehicle specific levels
Service – £80.00 + VAT
- Initial system test
- Check easily accessible system components (such as hoses, belts, condenser, compressor, fans and electrics)
- Check internal system controls (flaps, heating etc)
- Recover any existing refrigerant from the system
- Vacuum A/C system
- Recharge A/C system with refrigerant to vehicle specific levels
- Add A/C oil and leak detection dye
