air con problem help needed

[kevinivtec]

hi all  can anyone help me?? have been having air con problems, firstly its just not getting cold so took it to my local garage who  checked for leaks did the full clean our  drained the gas and oil and re filled again, the mechanic stated  there were no leaks but the  pressure readings were not good, he stated he had hardly put back anymore gas that was already there he suspected the compressor as the pressure readings were not good and advised the compressor was the problem. I contacted the local honda dealer for a  price on a new compressor well even dick turpin wore a mask!!! purchased a new unit from auto doc £154 2yr warranty free delivery have not been able to get the  car booked in yet now for  three weeks but tonight  when driving home it seemed to get really  ice cold suddenly much more than before when set on low setting?  then seems to be just very slightly cold but nowhere near what it should be  ? any ideas?? could it really be the compressor what do we all think ?? thanks for advice in advance ps 2010 jazz  i shift

[GBH]

It could be a number of problems varying from a blockage to a faulty compressor.

Although I have a set of gauges and can do basic checks I always get a second opinion from an aircon professional rather than a general garage that also happens to have aircon equipment. They may know how to use it but, in my experience, a full-time mobile aircon business will have the experience to correctly diagnose a problem first off and are well worth the cost.

Many garages do not have the expertise to correctly diagnose a problem straight away so use a local mobile guy who will probably be the same person you can contact through Yellow Pages or similar. This is what happens at the specialist garage my son works for - they do what they are good at and leave the tricky stuff that they only occasionally see to the professionals.

[Top Down]

Posted elsewhere here but we had similar problems. Three attempts by three different garages with aircon equipment. All said no leaks. Refills made no difference. Took it to a specialist who used his noggin and didn't just rely on machine readouts. Tracked it down to a faulty Schraeder valve replaced for a few pounds. Been icy cold ever since.

The leak at the valve wouldn't show up because that's where the gear gets plugged in to check the system.

[poolski]

Before you go replacing the compressor (which is a pain in the arse), it's worth checking the electrical and electromechanical components.

My A/C would blow cold for about 2 hours after it was regassed, then would refuse to do anything. Had it regassed twice (2nd time was free because they arranged for a followup) and both times it konked out.

Aircon place said it might be the compressor but to replace it, you're looking at about £400 labour, as it takes an age to pull out.

On a whim, I thought I should check the other related components:
- The fuses (handbook tells you which fuses are for the AC compressor and which for the fan IIRC)
- The relays (left hand side under the bonnet, just behind the headlight there's a black box with a spring-loaded cover). These control the radiator fan, A/C fan and compressor *clutch*.
- The compressor clutch itself - this is the electromechanical part I was talking about. It might be that your compressor is just fine, but the clutch is knackered. Thankfully, it doesn't require an A/C engineer to replace, and takes a LOT less time.

In my case, the clutch relay was buggered, as that particular relay was known for being crap quality and letting water vapour in. Water vapor mixes with the nitrogen inside the relay, forming nitric acid, which corrodes the crap out of the contacts and stops it working.

I replaced the relay for £8 from ebay, no further issues.

Happy to talk more about it, if you need more details