Had a look with me hawkeye and all it tells you is the air con is on etc. It doesnt give system pressures.
After seeing a similar fault described on an audi forum I took ma hippo back to the tyre fitter garage to ask for advise. Told them the air con works for 5 minutes then stops providing cool air. It had actually worked for 10 minutes whilst driving there but it was a cooler day than the previous tests. Pump clutch is engaged and still running. As the system was low before the previous recharge this indicates there shouldnt be a leak as the machine was able to measure some pressure in the system. So they offered to put ma hippo back on the machine again. He went through the same empty/clean/re-gas process. This time he was able to start producing cold air within seconds of the air con being switched on. Before it took 30 seconds. So its now fixed.
Were not sure what happened. Its doubtful the system was low as the machine controls the flow. The second time round the machine reported the right amount. It could be related to the air con not being recharged for something like 6 years. It may have needed more cleaning than normal. The garage charges on the basis that of they drop the air temp produced by the air con by 10 degrees then they charge £49. If it leaks during the process then they abort and dont charge. The refund is at the managers discretion if they dont drop the air temp by 10 degrease but its still working. As Id only had the air con recharged earlier this month they were happy to put it through another cycle. On a technical basis they had actually made ma hippo produce cold air. Theres several sensors on the system which could have caused the problem. The easy solution for them is to re-run the process and see what happens. So they did. They did exactly the same process and this time hes better at producing cold air.
I took him for a 30 minutes drive at varying speeds afterward. He managed to produce cold air with the controls on the lowest cold setting and fan speed on 4. He produced cold air constantly. Enough to create loads of condensation in the pollen filter case. This sloshed about whilst going round corners. When it hits the fan it spits out the dash at you. So all is solved and ma hippos air con now works. And no charge for the return visit to re-run the process again.
As mentioned above theres a number of sensors on the system. Also the electrical drive to the magnet on the air con compressor clutch which engages the air con compressor clutch to stop/start the auxiliary drive belt from turning the air con compressor or not. Someone having similar problems could either get theres re-charged for a second time or look at the sensor voltages with a volt meter to see if they report incorrect values which causes the system to switch off. My air con fans stayed running even though the system didn't create cold air.
