air con

[mikep]

I have had my Citroen Xantia 1996 auto for 13 years and never found the need to have the air con re-gassed.
it has always worked fine, even in Spanish temps.
Yet it is now letting me down, is it worth to spending £49 to have it re-gassed--i.e will it work on an old
car like mine ?

[gadgetgricey]

Not normally a fan of Kwik Fit, and you'll have to check with them seem to recall they dont charge if the aircon re-charge fails.

It has to drop/improve to a certain level, or its free?????

Just checked the website, and does not mention but if they still do this could be the best way for you.

Cheers

- Dave -
0

[Xaccers]

I normally get a refill in the winter as they charge 1/2 price
Used them several times without problem
Run your aircon for a while before you go in so they have a lower starting temperature to try and beat
I've got to take Jenny to them soon and after they've removed the gas, I'll swap her dryer before they refill her.
The machine they use does it all for them, they just need to read the instructions and press next.
Hardest part for them is finding the refill valves which are up under the front, would be worth giving them a bit of a clean incase they get some dirt trapped when they fit their hoses.

[Jaf]

I should think it's worth a go. My air con leaks from the compressor, I'm going to try some sealant which I'm not normally a fan of ( 600euros for a new compressor). The only thing I would say is good look finding a garage that knows what they're doing! I tried a air con "specialist", citroen themselves and another garage before the 4th place could even find the leak. Grrr.

[Richard_C]

My Synergie lasted a remarkable 12 years without attention to aircon, then it stopped blowing cold. A quick recharge fixed it, used a local mobile man. After about a year, it went again, same mobile man came and regassed with added flourescent dye, came back and had a look a week or so later and decided nothing obvious but it might be the heat exchanger which lives in front of the radiator. The part would have been £70, but its an awkward job so maybe £250 all in, and not certain what the fault was. Decided an annual recharge was worth the money instead.

Meanwhile came across a recharge kit in Halfords for £30 something. Works a treat if you follow the instructions exactly. Used half a can last year, so half left for this which strikes me as reasonably economic.

First check would be to see if it does everything it should apart from blowing cold - i.e it blows but at ambient. That suggests the control side is doing what it should, so a regas is an inexpensive next step. Pay for someone to do it this time as they will evacuate and regas the right amount. If it has a slow leak, maybe try a kit next time.

[Lighty]

Xantia,s are normally pretty resistant to leaks, most cars need a regard after 3 yrs, so it is a good bet that a regard may cure yours.

[mikep]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'll let you know the outcome.

[sprout]

Just gone through this.

I had little confidence in Kwik-fit when I called in.

Someone was moaning in reception about a failed attempt to re-gas.
Obviously had a leak, not Kwik-fits fault, however he seemed unhappy with the way they went about it.
His biggest moan was trying to arrange his refund of the failure to re-charge guarantee.
He could only book online not direct and they told him he had to do the reclaim of the money using the online system.

I went a Halfords Autocentre and I felt comfortable with them.

It was done yesterday.
First re-gas on a late 1999 Xantia HDi, so it had done well (it was still working but not as cold as it should be)

Now ice-cold and has a dye put in that can be seen under UV if it does leak.

Cheers.

[Gibbo2286]

Here you are if anyone feels brave or ambitious

http://www.amsauctions.co.uk/viewlot.cgi?lot=98334" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[steelcityuk]

I bought this off eBay. Good job I did too with the amount of work it took to get the XMs A/C working. Worth every penny in the current weather.



Steve.