Just had my air con serviced and regassed but no cold air???

Hi all,

I bought my 54 plate Landrover Freelander from a dealer last October. I never thought to test out the Air con until recently when I don't get any cold air so today I took her to Kwik Fit to have her regassed and air con service. When I got back in the car, the air con was NOT turned on but the cold air that came through the air vents was lovely and cold, exactly what I thought Air con would be like so I assumed that maybe the gas is in the system and just coming out with the cool air.

After a few miles I pulled over did some shopping and an hour later got back in my car, turned the air con on and NO cold air. I have tried it where I have the air just pointing at the driver and passenger and also got the air recirculation on as well as the air con but I just don't feel any real change in the air temperature, it is at best luke warm.

Is this normal air con for a freelander or do I have a problem somewhere? Surely if there was a problem Kwik Fit would have picked it up? Although saying that he did say don't worry if my car fills with smoke (whilst he was filling it) as that is norm, and that on my drive home I might have to have my windows open with the air con on until it blows out. There was no smoke and I certainly didn't need the windows open.

Has anyone got any ideas and advice for me please?


Thanks

Sounds like your air con isnt working I would take it back to kwik fit if I were you and ask them to sort it.

Do they not have an offer at the mo like colder air con or get it free?

Your first mistake was going to kwikfit, when you turn the A/C on can you hear the pump start, you may nead to get some one to switch it on while you are under bonnet listening. If you have a leak it may have run out of gas again, i know some of these type of places only do a quick vac and refill with gas and send you on your way without checking for leaks under vac or preasure. Don't know if you will get any joy if you take it back to them, if they then tell you it must have a leak i'd want to know why they didn't find it the first time?

Hi guys,

Nobody at Kwik Fit mentioned anything to me about colder air or money back.

She is having a valet at the minute so I shall have to put my head under the bonnet when the nice man who gives her a lovely massage as he gets her all shiny again has finished. Will I be able to hear the pump quite loud? If the pump kicks in then does that signiofy it is more likely to be a leak?

I thought because of time scale that it could possibly be leaking as when I fist got in the car without the air con on (as I stated above) and just ordinary air blowing through the vents it was so lovely and cold, so I thought that that air was the last of the air con coming thru and that once I turned my air con on it would be that cold a temperature. Gosh was I disappointed I'm going on holiday in her on Saturday so really wanted her doing before then (fingers crossed that we have hot weather) as the dogs have a 6-7 hour journey in her to get to our destination.

I shall pop her back to Kwik Fit in the morning and see what they say.

Thanks guys

Im pretty sure before refilling air con it is supposed to be checked for leaks and if found to repair or not refill.

Found the offer here (at the bottom of the page) Other Products :: Air Conditioning

basically " If we cannot improve the coolest vent temperature from your car by more than 10% when measured in degrees Celsius - then you pay nothing at all.*"

If they tell you its leaking then I would be asking why they still filled it without speaking to you first.

Had much the same problem on my Discovery but no doubt this will also apply to the Freelander

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/disco2-aircon-105321.html

I remember measuring the air temp before and after repair

cold air blower = 8 - 9 degrees

after repair with air con = 4 - 5 degrees

Hope this helps

bobbler said:

Im pretty sure before refilling air con it is supposed to be checked for leaks and if found to repair or not refill.

Found the offer here (at the bottom of the page) Other Products :: Air Conditioning

basically " If we cannot improve the coolest vent temperature from your car by more than 10% when measured in degrees Celsius - then you pay nothing at all.*"

If they tell you its leaking then I would be asking why they still filled it without speaking to you first.

Click to expand...

these cheapy places cant check for leaks - Kwik-tit, Halfrauds etc do not have any means of checking or removing any current refrigerant. All they can do is check pressure and try topping it up - if you have a leak, its tough.
Unless you know how they can check for leaks?

No idea MHM. have never really bothered with air con in a 4x4 if it gets hot i open the window (theyre big enough )

Was talking to a guy locally who does air con refills and was just going off what he told me, he wasnt trying for business off me but told me if it had a leak he wasnt supposed to refill them. Probably due to harmful gasses or some crap like that.

Reading the ops first post it doesnt sound like they even checked it after for her as she admits herself the air felt cooler even though the air con wasnt switched on. That could very easily just have been because it had been in the workshop and out of the sun so the air passing through felt cooler anyway.

prob I have is.... if a customer wants a top-up and the pressure test says its empty - do ya recharge (coz thats what they are there for) or send em away for a leak check and loose the business?
It could be a leak - could be it just has no refrigerant...
I agree with yu about it might just be cooler. The answer is to take it back and get it checked again..... but then does the OP know how to turn the AC on? remember all those rangie owners with the AC light on?

Totally agree MHM especially the rr bit (maybe they could have their butlers do it). It would not be good business sense to turn them away as you say could just be no refrigerant.

The point I was trying to get across to the op was the kwik fit guarantee. If they have sent her away without showing an improvement (pretty hard without switching the air con on in the first place) then she should hopefully be entitled to her money back.

Couple of quotes from their site
"Our trained technicians will show you the difference in your Air-Con system before and after recharge. Air-Con systems not fully recharged will be less effective and have to work harder putting more strain on the engine and using more fuel. If your Air-Con system has not been recharged in 2 years it will dramatically reduce efficiency. "

although have just noticed this :doh:

"* Please note if the ambient temperature around the car is less than 9 degrees Celsius it may affect the results of the AirCon recharge test results. In these circumstances, it is at the managers discretion whether to offer a refund with results less than 10%."

possible get out clause there

wouldnt let kwik fit touch my motor.get it back to em get it sorted. Also "smoke is normal" would send me into a wild blind panic.

But smoke is normal


















white smoke from a k series anyhoo

The Mad Hat Man said:

these cheapy places cant check for leaks - Kwik-tit, Halfrauds etc do not have any means of checking or removing any current refrigerant. All they can do is check pressure and try topping it up - if you have a leak, its tough.
Unless you know how they can check for leaks?

Click to expand...

Anyone doing A/C work by law must have the equipment to vac a system, and recicle the gas that is recovered. A leak check is then done (with my equipment its done automaticly) once the system is under vacumn. Soon the system will have to be checked under preasure using nitrogen, if there is a leak then it should be fixed before the system is regassed. Its also very important to put the correct amount of gas in as damaged can be caused if the system is over gassed, so you can't just TOP UP with gas. My system aslo puts a dye in which can be seen with a U/V light if it leaks out. You shouldn't get any SMOKE out of the vents.

Gosh, of course I know how to turn my air con on. I read my manual

Well when the Kwik Fit manager explained that the smoke is normal when doing the service as it is blowing everything through the vents I just assumed being a garage that he knew what he was talking about, however there wasn't any smoke so who knows.

I will pop it in tomorrow morning and see if he can shed any light on it and at the least get my money back as surely they should have had a read out prior to the regassing of what the temp is and they can check what the temp is now.

If they can't fix it and anyone on here wants to earn themselves a few bob then PM me please. I live in the County Durham area but am going on Holiday in the Surrey area on Sat so if you are in those areas help would be greatly appreciated. I do feel rather a tit going back to Kwik Fit tomorrow as I am sure I will just be fobbed off with that is as cold as it gets.

Oldskool you really sound like you know your stuff so thanks for the input, and sounds like you do this for a living so if you are a mobile unit maybe we could meet somewhere between yours and Surrey next week. I'm not after a freebie though so don't worry.

Anyway we shall see

kirsten2010 said:

Gosh, of course I know how to turn my air con on. I read my manual

Well when the Kwik Fit manager explained that the smoke is normal when doing the service as it is blowing everything through the vents I just assumed being a garage that he knew what he was talking about, however there wasn't any smoke so who knows.

I will pop it in tomorrow morning and see if he can shed any light on it and at the least get my money back as surely they should have had a read out prior to the regassing of what the temp is and they can check what the temp is now.

If they can't fix it and anyone on here wants to earn themselves a few bob then PM me please. I live in the County Durham area but am going on Holiday in the Surrey area on Sat so if you are in those areas help would be greatly appreciated. I do feel rather a tit going back to Kwik Fit tomorrow as I am sure I will just be fobbed off with that is as cold as it gets.

Oldskool you really sound like you know your stuff so thanks for the input, and sounds like you do this for a living so if you are a mobile unit maybe we could meet somewhere between yours and Surrey next week. I'm not after a freebie though so don't worry.

Anyway we shall see

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kwik fit aint a garage they are tire fitters. hope you get it sorted

Hi kirsten yes i suppose i know my stuff ive been in motor trade for 30 years but to be honnest if the equipment is used properly it will tell you if there is a leak, the likes of kwikfoook just want your money, they probably done a quick vac shoved some gas in and it worked job done givus your money, i would take it back to them but i dont think you will get any joy, they will probably say something like:- oh you must have a leak it will ned to go to a specialist (or a garage that knows what there doing) as im sure they dont get involved in those types of jobs. Brakes, batteries, bulbs, and tyres ect all quick turn around stuff anything that needs a bit of time and thought forget it. As for the smoke ask them where that would come from? the fan pulls are in through a vent outside of car (inside if you have reserc. on) blows it through a radiator and into the car.
The other problem you will have is it worked when you left them so the garrenty they give 10% lower temp is good, the fact it stopped working later that day isn't in there garrenty. I wish you luck but i don't think you will get any joy out of them, im afraid im not mobile anymore and my work shop is in wickford essex so not to close to you im afraid. Have a look in your yellow pages/yell.com there are mobile A/C specialists around there may be one near you. Let me know how you get on if you need any info/help please feel free to contact me, best of luck

oldskool said:

Anyone doing A/C work by law must have the equipment to vac a system, and recicle the gas that is recovered. A leak check is then done (with my equipment its done automaticly) once the system is under vacumn. Soon the system will have to be checked under preasure using nitrogen, if there is a leak then it should be fixed before the system is regassed. Its also very important to put the correct amount of gas in as damaged can be caused if the system is over gassed, so you can't just TOP UP with gas. My system aslo puts a dye in which can be seen with a U/V light if it leaks out. You shouldn't get any SMOKE out of the vents.

Click to expand...

Bollix!
If that was the case then you couldnt buy recharge cans. Which is all Halfrauds & Quicktit use. They do not vac the system - they only do a pressure test. These cans also put a leak detector dye and lubricant into the system.
I think we are being fed a red herring - i think that (with respect to the OP) the "smoke" mentioned is not smoke, but water vapour caused by cold air. Maybe they thought it was easier to describe it as "smoke" as to the uneducated (in aircon) it might look like smoke. Maybe they have had complaints of "smoke" in the past - bear in mind the technical understanding of the usual Kwiktit customer. I think you have to realise that Kwiktit & in particular, Halfrauds are not mechanics and do not purport to be. They offer a "fitting" service. Basically they offer to do a job which the owner could do, but for whatever reason does not want to.

Having said all that - the obvious first thing the OP should do is take it back and complain that its no better.

Oldskool I think she may have a chance because their policy states you will be shown the difference before and after. If the OP was allowed to drive away without the aircon on and without showing her the difference then they have gone against their own company policy and should be entitled to a full refund (hopefully).

The only difficulty is proving it but again if they take a before and after you would think the readings would be recorded somewhere. Fingers crossed for you kirsten2010

I took her to Kwik Fit to have her regassed and air con service

Ok mister mad man read the original post properly.. kwiktits do use proper equipment or at least my local one does, before i got my own equipment i used them, and never payed a penny. If i wanted a regas done remember they advertise if we can't lower the temp of air by 10% there will be no charge, so you pull the fuse for the pump they check the temp regas (not service cos they dont do that) recheck temp after oh no change no charge, take car away refit fuse all good.
As for your BOLLIX comment to what i posted earlier i have to be able to prove how much gas i have removed from a car and how much gas i have put back in make model and reg no.'s all inputted on to my machine and down loaded to spread sheet on my lap top, so when/if the enviromental peeps come in i have proof of all gas recicled and used, i am also having to go on a course to get a certificate so i can buy the gas. As for top up cans any one can use them cos your only putting gas in not taking it out, and yes your A/C may work after but how much gas is in the system?? how much oil is in the system?? you wont know. To much oil=not enough gas and as the oil is the first thing to go in using these bottles you could end up filling whole system with oil. A proper a/c/ recharge system measures how much oil comes out and replaces the same amount with new oil. The leak detection fluid is usless without a U/V light. rant over.