 | Home > Puma (Tdci) > Puma 2.4 aircon |
 
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| wmca Member Since: 15 May 2013 Location: Brisbane Posts: 26   
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Hi Craig
Accept your expiation, however I was a mech for 30 years and vehicles that use current R35 etc rarely need attention unless there is concern with poor assembly, personally I have had about 20 vehicles and never experienced a “re-gas”, this answer by no means to denagrate your experience however I have rarely had the need to do this. Before spending hard earned research this more on this and ALURO Au sites first. Air Con is a very easy system to check owing to the fact there are few component to check, example: Pressure reg, pipe “O” ring counts, thermistor (temp control behind dash) and drier and actuation switch on dash. Regards Bill WMcA Brisbane Australia Defender 2.4 Puma 2009 “Airbags! The other vehicle is my crumple zone!" |
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29th Jan 2015 11:41pm |
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| x-isle Member Since: 26 May 2011 Location: Midlands Posts: 1327  
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Some places won't charge you for the gas if there is a leak as they take it back out. Or rather they may charge you but not charge you to fill again after you fix it.
I have to admit with the tight controls over the release of a/c gas I would also find it amazing that regasses are required. Over the years though, I think I've had probably 5 cars (out of probably 15 cars) that have simply run out of gas and a refill hasn't shown up leaks and works fine thereafter. I have always wondered where it has gone. Almost all garages now offer a re-gas service as so many people need it. EDIT: To quote KwikFit; "You may not be aware that over 10% of air-con gas permeates from the air-con system every year, which means that it may not work as well as it should. This is why car manufacturers recommend your Air-Con system is recharged with gas and lubricant every 2 years. This service is not part of routine vehicle servicing, so if your vehicle is more than 2 years old it’s probably due a recharge." KwikFit also have a "Recharge or No Charge" Policy which I think includes a reversal for a leak. Craig Rogers 2007 Puma 110 XS 2011 Evoque Coupe Dynamic Lux www.craigrogers.photography Last edited by x-isle on 30th Jan 2015 12:10am. Edited 1 time in total |
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30th Jan 2015 12:01am |
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| wmca Member Since: 15 May 2013 Location: Brisbane Posts: 26
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Yes,
There is some basic tests: Have someone turn on the ignition and activate the air con switch, and check that air compressor clutch is operating> clicking, if ok that part is ok, if yours is fitted with sight glass on top of receiver drier ensure that is has no bubbles, check all connected pipes for leaking, (air con has oil in system). If all ok the only other alternative is to have a Air con recharge system connected to check pressures 30 quid is a little excessive though check on the net locally first I would think about $15-18 au dollars for that. Do not take it to a dealer cost should inhibit that, small air con joint may be better, as it is very simple to identify a problem in a Defender. As for they last persons reply this comment is correct, however no gas in system and the system will not activate the clutch (insufficient pressure) Regards Bill WMcA Brisbane Australia Defender 2.4 Puma 2009 “Airbags! The other vehicle is my crumple zone!" |
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30th Jan 2015 12:10am |
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| x-isle Member Since: 26 May 2011 Location: Midlands Posts: 1327
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If you don't think the A/C has been serviced, then £30 isn't wasted as it get's gassed and lubricated for that price. In effect, serviced. http://www.kwik-fit.com/about-air-conditioning.asp Of course, I'm using Kwik Fit as an example here, there's plenty of other places that will offer the same service, as Bill says though, not the dealer as there'll be another zero on the end of the price. Craig Rogers 2007 Puma 110 XS 2011 Evoque Coupe Dynamic Lux www.craigrogers.photography |
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30th Jan 2015 12:14am |
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| v8bobber Member Since: 26 Aug 2012 Location: pembrokeshire Posts: 444  
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I agree with you there. ATS say that it's free to check it as in if they plug it in and it's all fine then there's no charge but a regassing will cost £30 which I don't think is bad.
From what I can work out from the previous owners of this vehicle, they didn't even know it had aircon. If I am feeling flush tomorrow I will book it in. Dave |
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30th Jan 2015 12:20am |
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| munch90 Member Since: 26 Oct 2013 Location: guildford Posts: 3558 
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its reckoned most a/c systems lose 10% of gas a year
when its serviced properly the system should be vacuumed for normally 20mins at least to remove moisture (time depends on system size ) small amount of oil removed normally if say 30ml removed a machine will add 40ml back leak test done most machines recycle the gas ( take it out , weigh it , filter it , mixed with new gas then put back in ) if machine doesn't find a leak and a dye added machine don't always find leaks , test may take 2-3 mins but leak may take couple of weeks to leak out that's why you use a dye then a uv light to show dye up (normally you can find a leak without dye as there will be a oily patch around leak ) even if a system has right amount of gas after proper service they work better a lot of gas is non virgin gas now , virgin gas is ment to be a bit better but dearer to buy you cant really test how much gas is in the system without removing it and weighing it , so not sure how anyone can plug it in and tell if its correct you can tell what pressures when running it gives on high side / low side gauges and that tell you the system is working as it should but it could still be a bit low on gas gas pressures should be running high side roughly 150-180psi / low side roughly 25-35psi ( DONT TRY TESTING IT YOURSELF WITHOUT PROPER EQUIPMENT , ITS ILLEGAL AND A FACE FULL OF OILY GAS IS NOT NICE ) a/c service should be done every 2-3 years |
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30th Jan 2015 9:24am |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5684 
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For £30 get it in there, cheaper than any garage is going to charge to check system.
Andy |
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30th Jan 2015 9:48am |
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| zone30 Member Since: 07 Sep 2012 Location: Gent Posts: 669  
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Just a tip:
A few meters before you get home turn off the AC. AC extracts moisture from the air before it reaches the cabin. This means there's moisture, sometimes ice in the air ducts. This is a breading ground for moulds and such, which after a while you will smell. To counter this, turn of the AC some time before you shut down. This will dry the air ducts and stops, or at least slows down, mould grow. Once mould is in there, it's hard to get rid of. |
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30th Jan 2015 10:36am |
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| v8bobber Member Since: 26 Aug 2012 Location: pembrokeshire Posts: 444
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Update.......
Called in to ATS today on the way past and had a chat with the guy that does the aircon stuff. As luck would have it, he was free and he did it straight away. Job took an hour but it was fairly straight forward. He took the remaining gas out which didn't take long as there was next to nothing in it. The machine did a leak test then which took a fair while as it was quite thorough but thankfully showed up no problems. The refilling part didn't take long then and he gave it a proper test. With it fully on it went down to 8 degrees which apparently is good. I was a little worried that there might be something wrong with it but as predicted by many of you the lack of pressure locked the system out. As stated elsewhere the system needs doing every couple of years and I suspect that mine has never been done. All sorted now anyway and at £30 I cant fault the price or the service. I think that because most people associate aircon with the summer, not many people use their services in the winter and ATS are doing this deal to keep the machine busy. On another note, the main man priced up some new tyres for me and said that the price of tyres would be coming because of the lowering oil costs. How much remains to be seen Dave |
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30th Jan 2015 5:49pm |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5684
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Great result
I assume the previous owner did not have a bigger intercooler, and chose to remove it the easy way before selling? 
Andy |
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30th Jan 2015 6:00pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3783 
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In the "Land Of Downunder", A/C is a must.
We have A/C in our 90 (it's standard in Aussie 90s), & it's Ok, but it's not in the same class as the Climate Control systems in many new cars. Anyway, we're happy with it, we'd heard that the A/C, whilst being a great improvement over pre '07 models, was still "just adequate", so all is ok for our 90,...don't know how it'd be in a fully loaded 110 though. Anyway, the point I'd like to make is that A/C systems are fairly complex, & if they are to operate "properly", then then they need to be serviced, & if need be, repaired,...properly. So, my only advice is before you get your A/C looked at, make sure that the person knows what he's doing, & also that he is familiar with the particular system in your car. Pickles. |
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30th Jan 2015 9:04pm |
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| HardCharger Member Since: 03 Mar 2013 Location: Manila Posts: 734 
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My 2011 has been having leak issues. When I got him, only the left side (driver's side in these parts) was the only one cold and the passenger side was just blower. Apparently I needed to add refrigerant then all was well for a while. Went on an overseas trip for about a week and a half, when I got back, the AC was just blower, refrigerant was gone, off to top up again. However, if I use the AC every (which is a must in these parts) it stays cold for both sides and the loss of refrigerant either slows or does not happen at all.
There are some theories, one is that when the previous owner had the turbo serviced, maybe they pull some AC plumbing and maybe, just maybe, a connector is loose somewhere. The other theory is that the cooling coil inside the cab has a hole and it would have to be replaced and the system cleaned. Just for laughs and giggles, I checked to see how much the cooling coil costs, apparently you can only get the heater coil on it's own but would have to buy the whole box when the cooling coil is concerned. Weird and expensive! A friend of mine who works on Land Rovers says that so I can save a few bucks and have handy replacements, he can convert from the original cooling coil to something from a different brand but readily available in this part of the world. What do y'all think? Haven't really pulled down the system for cleaning yet so we don't know what the actual deal is yet. Hope to resolve it soon though once I get enough coin for the service. |
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31st Jan 2015 4:09am |
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| PAT303 Member Since: 25 Feb 2013 Location: Australia Posts: 125 
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The biggest problem with defenders is the heat coming up through the floor,I had my TDCi in the Pilbara for 2 years and when it's 35 degree's C at 6 in the morning and 45+ after noon the gearbox/transfer heat is unbelievable,I could easily cook eggs on the floor and got a nasty burn on my left calf once from the hand brake lever. Pat
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31st Jan 2015 12:01pm |
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| Beery Member Since: 16 Nov 2014 Location: NSW Posts: 36 
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Couldn't agree more about the lack of insulation Pat.
In a hot climate, a good thorough Dynamatting through the vehicle would probably eventually pay for itself through reduced compressor runtime and head pressures resulting in less fuel consumption. |
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31st Jan 2015 9:35pm |
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