London air con specialists? (possible leak)

[JonF_S550]

Hello, can anyone recommend a good air con specialist please? Pretty certain I’ve got the dreaded vaporator leak issue. Long story short:

*2016 - car bought from new (low mileage since I’ve owned it, currently 12,000 on the clock)
*2018 - a/c completely fails (after my first significant drive on a hot day), blowing hot air throughout. Ford re gasses.
*2019 - a/c completely fails again. Ford charge me £250 for another re gas and say they couldn’t identify any leaks
*2020 - another complete a/c failure, again after my first significant long drive of the year. Took it to Ford for ‘A/C summer refresh’, lo and behold £69 later they tell me it needs re gassing yet again.This time I refuse,

This can’t be right? To be honest, even if it is the dreaded vaporator fail, and Ford offer to help with my costs (as it first failed under warranty), I don’t think I’d trust a Ford dealer to take out the dash, may just leave it and keep re gassing! But would love an air con specialist to do a proper check and let me know what might be wrong. Never been to one before, any recommendations in London area hugely appreciated . Thank you.

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[Entai]

May seem a dumb question, but do you only ever use it when you need cold air, I.E. on a significantly hot day ?


I ask because AC should and really needs, to be used all year round as constantly as possible.

Even in the winter when you set the temp to hot (23/24/25 + degrees, keep the A/C button on and the system running, it will dry out the air in the cabin (condition the air) and this will help drastically reduce the time to clear the windscreen and keep any chance of condensation from forming within the vehicle.

This is because if A/C is not used very regularly the seals in the various connections will dry out and the gas will escape.

If used regularly the oil in the system will keep all the seals lubricated so they do not dry out, and no leakage.

 

[JonF_S550]

Thank you, Chris. I do leave my A/C on year round (I keep it very low in winter). Thing is, when Ford re-gassed it last year (for the second time) they also did a leakage test and said they couldn't find anything wrong. Which makes me think it can only be the dreaded vaporator issue, because I know how hard it is to identify the problem there.

Really not sure what to do - just can't believe it's normal for the car to need a re-gas every summer, and only after I've had to use the A/C properly for a few days until it starts blowing hot air...

Appreciate the thought though, thank you.

 

[GR11M]

If they didn't fix the leak the first time under warranty I'd argue it's still the same issue and demand they fix it properly under warranty.

Ford dealers are terrible when it comes to warranty as they have a specific amount of time they can claim back from Ford for the work, so they're only concerned with getting you in and out in their time limit.

 

[Kristian87]

Really not sure what to do - just can't believe it's normal for the car to need a re-gas every summer, and only after I've had to use the A/C properly for a few days until it starts blowing hot air...

As someone who's been through a troublesome warranty issue, my advice would be to try another dealership. After an attempt to fix my interior leak issue at the FordStore in Guildford, the issue reappeared the following year. They didn't fill me with confidence at the time, so I got straight on to Ford HQ to escalate and insisted a different dealership looked at it. I'm fortunate that a small independent dealership - Peter Striland Ford in Hungerford, are close to where I live, they have an excellent service team and very knowledgeable technician. Much better experience all round and my issue was dealt with the way it should have been the first time.

 

[Entai]

Thank you, Chris. I do leave my A/C on year round (I keep it very low in winter). Thing is, when Ford re-gassed it last year (for the second time) they also did a leakage test and said they couldn't find anything wrong. Which makes me think it can only be the dreaded vaporator issue, because I know how hard it is to identify the problem there.

Really not sure what to do - just can't believe it's normal for the car to need a re-gas every summer, and only after I've had to use the A/C properly for a few days until it starts blowing hot air...

Appreciate the thought though, thank you.

Definitely not normal for it to need re-gassing every year.

As has been said I would be very surprised if, given the time limits, and cost limits placed on dealers for warranty work, they would even have leak checked it properly.

Ideally a proper nitrogen leak check. especially with a system known to have had previous issues, should take in the region of 24 to 48 hours.

Use a combination of 95% nitrogen and 5% hydrogen and the tech should easily find any areas of concern, and very quickly narrow it down to either under the bonnet or within the interior of the car.

If it's interior it can only be the evaporator, which is like a small radiator in design and lives within the HVAC unit buried deep underneath the dashboard and cross car beam.

Only other issue with older cars is that the R134a refrigerant used is very well known to diffuse out of rubber pipes and connections over time, as such connections and pipework are pourous to an extent, which is why it is always recommended to re gas automotive systems every two to three years anyway, as the gas will disperse no matter what you do

 

[WD Pro]

As a point of reference, my sportage (which is coming up on 9 years old) is on 134a and has never had any work done on the aircon - it still blows icy cold.

I never turn it off, the aircon is on all the time, I’ve never used it on recirculating mode (although I think it does that automatically when you hit the screen defrost button), it never smells but it does dump out loads of water onto the road in summer - much more than BMW’s I’ve had previously.

I’m hoping my mustang aircon will be as reliable ...

WD

 

[JonF_S550]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I'll call Gates Ford St Albans tomorrow to check what kind of test they did on it last year - I went back a few weeks after they did it and they said they couldn't find any leaks, and that the A'/C should be fine after their re-gas. But something's obviously wrong. Then on to Ford HQ (again - I spoke to them about it last year, and they kept in touch, but assumed problem was solved after I'd paid for it to be re-gassed!). Wish me luck! And thank you all again...

 

[Gregs24]

The best thing you can do in the Mustang (or any car with climate) is to press the 'auto' button the day you buy it and set the temperature.

Never need to touch it ever again!

I have had 10 or so Ford's with full climate control and all have been on auto from day 1

 

[GR11M]

Complain. Complain. Complain. If you make a big enough fuss they'll give in. I had to do this to get a courtesy car and for them to sufficiently clean the oil from the underside of my car after the oil cooler went. They then decided to send me a customer survey, which I filled in honestly and never heard anything back lol.

 

[Pistonbroke]

I know this is my first post here, but I've been lurking for months having bought my mustang a while ago. Having read this thread I thought I'd let you in on my recent ac issue that I found on mine.

During a road trip at the end of summer, I popped the bonnet on arrival for a quick visual check on things. I noticed wetness and moisture around my low pressure ac valve. I unscrewed the cap and could see the gas bubbling out of the valve. The ac had been running for around 3 hours during one of our hottest days.

So check the valve and the area around it. The valve cost me less than a tenner, and the re gas 70. Ford wanted 100 just to diagnose, and wouldn't guarantee paying for the repair after that, despite me being 2 weeks out of warranty.

The low pressure schrader valve is located on the drivers side, just above the chassis leg,the valve faces towards the front of the car.

 

[andyturbo2000]

You need to complain that they didn’t fix the original fault. Saying that, if you’re getting a year between re-gasses, I would just live with it. Mine lost its gas within a month, diagnosis evap core. Still waiting for one to arrive because they’re on back order and nearly everyone needs one by the sounds of things. It’s a 2.5k job pretty much for a new unit and labour at Ford...

 

[JonF_S550]

Thanks both very much. Dealing with Ford head office has been like banging my head against a wall. Basically, they won't help - only once it's been properly diagnosed, and even then no promises of what they might do. I keep telling them that all the Ford dealers I've asked can't diagnose! And I've called pretty much all the main dealers in London. They just want me to pay £250 for a re gas each time and a dye check, which I've already done.
I did call Peter Stirland in Hungerford - kindly mentioned earlier in this thread - and they sounded fantastic. I reckon they'd do a proper diagnosis but they said car would need to be with them a few days, which makes sense. It's a 2-hour+ drive each way from where I am, so I'd need hire car and then the cost just to get a diagnosis would be considerable.. Again, I asked Ford HQ, but not willing to help with any of those costs.
Only options seem to be to speak to legal advice via car insurance, or as you say, just live with it and get a cheaper non-Ford re-gas every year or so. I'll also check that a/c valve.
Again though, thanks everyone for advice.

 

[GR11M]

If Ford can't fix it you're within your rights to pay a third party to repair it and charge it back to Ford because this should have been covered under Ford's warranty, which they're failing to honor .

 

[andyturbo2000]

I don’t think he has any warranty. Ford Gold Protect covers this job completely including dye.

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