My air con recently stopped working and I had it checked - the verdict was
that the pressure was low but not totally depleted. I decided to put off
topping it up until the summer. With the low pressure nothing runs if I
press the button.

I acquired another car and decided to sell this one (Honda Civic) and took
it in to have the air con topped up. (Thursday) Today I was out in it and
ran it for a while (not sure if it was running or not as I couldn't hear it
at speed and it was a cold day.

I got home and gave it a try- it didn't cut in. I pressed the button a few
times and all of a sudden it ran - but only for a few seconds. I am
wondering what may be going on. The car is a 02.

Punter coming on Sunday - garage closed until Monday.

John wrote:
My air con recently stopped working and I had it checked - the
verdict was that the pressure was low but not totally depleted. I
decided to put off topping it up until the summer. With the low
pressure nothing runs if I press the button.

I acquired another car and decided to sell this one (Honda Civic) and
took it in to have the air con topped up. (Thursday) Today I was out
in it and ran it for a while (not sure if it was running or not as I
couldn't hear it at speed and it was a cold day.

I got home and gave it a try- it didn't cut in. I pressed the button
a few times and all of a sudden it ran - but only for a few seconds.
I am wondering what may be going on. The car is a 02.

Punter coming on Sunday - garage closed until Monday.

it has a leak, which is why it needed topping up, the trick is to get the
leak repaired and then get it filled, it is not rocket science, any
competent air con place can do it.

John wrote:
My air con recently stopped working and I had it checked - the verdict was
that the pressure was low but not totally depleted. I decided to put off
topping it up until the summer. With the low pressure nothing runs if I
press the button.

I acquired another car and decided to sell this one (Honda Civic) and took
it in to have the air con topped up. (Thursday) Today I was out in it and
ran it for a while (not sure if it was running or not as I couldn't hear it
at speed and it was a cold day.

I got home and gave it a try- it didn't cut in. I pressed the button a few
times and all of a sudden it ran - but only for a few seconds. I am
wondering what may be going on. The car is a 02.

Punter coming on Sunday - garage closed until Monday.

Was the weather cold when you tried the A/C?


--
Pete M - OMF#9

'78 Escort 1300 Sport
'99 BMW 318is Coupé


"It's an Alfa, it will go wrong, it will **** you off, why should your
Alfa experience be different from everyone else's.
Now get back out there and swear at it before something else breaks."

wrote in message
...
Thus spake John ) unto the assembled multitudes:
My air con recently stopped working and I had it checked - the verdict
was
that the pressure was low but not totally depleted. I decided to put off
topping it up until the summer. With the low pressure nothing runs if I
press the button.

I acquired another car and decided to sell this one (Honda Civic) and
took
it in to have the air con topped up. (Thursday) Today I was out in it and
ran it for a while (not sure if it was running or not as I couldn't hear
it
at speed and it was a cold day.

I got home and gave it a try- it didn't cut in. I pressed the button a
few
times and all of a sudden it ran - but only for a few seconds. I am
wondering what may be going on. The car is a 02.

It sounds like your problem is very similar to that with my '00 Astra,
where
the a/c compressor runs for about 10 seconds and then stops. I've had to
have it regassed at considerable expense at my local Vauxhall franchise
three
times in as many years, ever since I had the a/c "serviced" after it had
been
working perfectly for the previous 5 years, and each time even though they
said they can't find any evidence of a leak (eh?). This time I shall take
it
to an a/c specialist.

I was advised that I should run the a/c for at least 10 mins at least once
a
week so as to (their words) "prevent the seals drying out". I've done
this
to no apparent avail. And yet, before I first had the a/c serviced in
2006,
I would maybe run it once a month unless actually required, and it was
perfectly OK all the five years since I bought it.

Weird, weird, weird.




--
Andy Clews
University of Sussex
*** Remove DENTURES if replying by email ***


It was cold when I tried it.

I believe the latest fill included a dye that will fluoresce under U/V
light.

Hoping to sell the car on Sunday - I may have to own up and drop the price.

On 06/03/2010 08:06, wrote:

I was advised that I should run the a/c for at least 10 mins at least once a
week so as to (their words) "prevent the seals drying out". I've done this
to no apparent avail. And yet, before I first had the a/c serviced in 2006,
I would maybe run it once a month unless actually required, and it was
perfectly OK all the five years since I bought it.

I owned a Renault Laguna from new for about 10 years, and hardly used
the air conditioning anytime else but for the extremes in summer. Never
serviced the AC, but it was working perfectly when I was preparing it to
be sold. Everything else was near to packing up though, power steering
especially.

Are there different types of AC, some with better reliability than others?

--
Adrian C

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
On 06/03/2010 08:06, wrote:

I was advised that I should run the a/c for at least 10 mins at least
once a
week so as to (their words) "prevent the seals drying out". I've done
this
to no apparent avail. And yet, before I first had the a/c serviced in
2006,
I would maybe run it once a month unless actually required, and it was
perfectly OK all the five years since I bought it.

I owned a Renault Laguna from new for about 10 years, and hardly used the
air conditioning anytime else but for the extremes in summer. Never
serviced the AC, but it was working perfectly when I was preparing it to
be sold. Everything else was near to packing up though, power steering
especially.

Are there different types of AC, some with better reliability than others?

--
Adrian C

Back to my Honda - the first time I had it re-charged was when I noticed a
fall off in its performance - but the compressor and fan used to operate -
it just wasn't as good as it used to be - and I didn't get the slushing /
gurgling noises behind the glove box.

On this latest occasion - it seems that maybe the low pressure has shut down
the mechanism (for protection) as the compressor clutch and the fan doesn't
cut in.

John wrote:
"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
On 06/03/2010 08:06, wrote:

I was advised that I should run the a/c for at least 10 mins at
least once a
week so as to (their words) "prevent the seals drying out". I've
done this
to no apparent avail. And yet, before I first had the a/c serviced
in 2006,
I would maybe run it once a month unless actually required, and it
was perfectly OK all the five years since I bought it.

I owned a Renault Laguna from new for about 10 years, and hardly
used the air conditioning anytime else but for the extremes in
summer. Never serviced the AC, but it was working perfectly when I
was preparing it to be sold. Everything else was near to packing up
though, power steering especially.

Are there different types of AC, some with better reliability than
others? --
Adrian C

Back to my Honda - the first time I had it re-charged was when I
noticed a fall off in its performance - but the compressor and fan
used to operate - it just wasn't as good as it used to be - and I
didn't get the slushing / gurgling noises behind the glove box.

On this latest occasion - it seems that maybe the low pressure has
shut down the mechanism (for protection) as the compressor clutch and
the fan doesn't cut in.

As I see it one of the best reasons for regassing car air con is because it
will always slowly lose pressure, that is an insecapable fact due to the
nature of the rubber hoses and compressor design. If the pressure gets low
enough and the system is run and a vacuum is created on the low side of the
pump then damp air can get drawn in. Dampness is a real killer for air con
systems. So an air con service where all the gas is removed, deep vacuum
applied (which pulls out moisture from the system) and then a regas with uv
dye, is the best thing to have done every couple of years on a modern
vehicle (modern vehicles use 'thinner' gas and much less of it than the
older systems, particularly R12 systems. A quick top up alone for an ailing
system is rarely a good idea.

Back to my Honda - the first time I had it re-charged was when I
noticed a fall off in its performance - but the compressor and fan
used to operate - it just wasn't as good as it used to be - and I
didn't get the slushing / gurgling noises behind the glove box.

On this latest occasion - it seems that maybe the low pressure has
shut down the mechanism (for protection) as the compressor clutch and
the fan doesn't cut in.

As I see it one of the best reasons for regassing car air con is because
it will always slowly lose pressure, that is an insecapable fact due to
the nature of the rubber hoses and compressor design. If the pressure
gets low enough and the system is run and a vacuum is created on the low
side of the pump then damp air can get drawn in. Dampness is a real
killer for air con systems. So an air con service where all the gas is
removed, deep vacuum applied (which pulls out moisture from the system)
and then a regas with uv dye, is the best thing to have done every couple
of years on a modern vehicle (modern vehicles use 'thinner' gas and much
less of it than the older systems, particularly R12 systems. A quick top
up alone for an ailing system is rarely a good idea.


Checked again today - it will run for about 5 seconds every 2 minutes. Is
this a symptom of low gas?

On Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:59:29 -0000, John wrote:




Back to my Honda - the first time I had it re-charged was when I
noticed a fall off in its performance - but the compressor and fan
used to operate - it just wasn't as good as it used to be - and I
didn't get the slushing / gurgling noises behind the glove box.

On this latest occasion - it seems that maybe the low pressure has
shut down the mechanism (for protection) as the compressor clutch and
the fan doesn't cut in.

As I see it one of the best reasons for regassing car air con is because
it will always slowly lose pressure, that is an insecapable fact due to
the nature of the rubber hoses and compressor design. If the pressure
gets low enough and the system is run and a vacuum is created on the low
side of the pump then damp air can get drawn in. Dampness is a real
killer for air con systems. So an air con service where all the gas is
removed, deep vacuum applied (which pulls out moisture from the system)
and then a regas with uv dye, is the best thing to have done every
couple
of years on a modern vehicle (modern vehicles use 'thinner' gas and much
less of it than the older systems, particularly R12 systems. A quick
top
up alone for an ailing system is rarely a good idea.


Checked again today - it will run for about 5 seconds every 2 minutes. Is
this a symptom of low gas?



Sounds about right, about the only thing kwik fit are good for if you
don't have a convenient real aircon specialist is their vacuum & regas
machine.