Hi All,

The air con on my Fabia VRS is out of charge (I assume) so I was considering the Interdynamics Air Conditioning Measure and Charge product available from Halfords etc.

Has anyone tried this product? What do you think of it, and is it easy enough to get to the Air Con port on the Fabia (2005).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

There are alot of places doing air-con re-gassing. There is a reason why your system is out of gas so i'd take it to a specialist as they will 'leak test' the system first. Some places also add a UV die into the system so should you have any leaks they can find them with a UV light.

It will cost you more but I think that using the DIY kit to re-gas your system will be a waste as quite possibly you'll need to go down the specialist route after.

They work and my experiance is they work well but as said professional regassing is not as expensive as it used to be and it might be more effective to just get it done

£39 to diy, Or £45 from kwikfit and the like (If your happy to let them at your car)

Or talk nicely to your local dealer, I had mine recharged last year for £45 by my dealer.

I'd suggest getting it done before it gets any warmer, And demand increases

Hi All,

The air con on my Fabia VRS is out of charge (I assume) so I was considering the Interdynamics Air Conditioning Measure and Charge product available from Halfords etc.

Has anyone tried this product? What do you think of it, and is it easy enough to get to the Air Con port on the Fabia (2005).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'd reckon that if the R134 charge is so low that you think that its all gone, adding in one small can that stuff from Halfords will not completely get you going again, so it would need two or three - now its getting a bit expensive, the alternative is that all that happens is that you find where the leak is (flourescent dye everywhere = everything including you leaks!). I confess to buying one of these cans, but they only work if you have lost only a few grams - like 10 or 50 due to "normal leakage" - ie they are for "topping up" - not a word that the F-Gas regs recognises. BTW I was advised by a fridge guy that the best thing for me to do was to "lose" that can, I've bought a secondhand manifold set now to check before and while charging.

your system may have lost gas which the low pressure sensor has detected and could have turned the system off. Those cans may work but their not ideal. When done properly the machine will suck out the old gas recycle it, put a vacuum on the system do a leak test which will give an indication that there is a problem i.e. condensor or pipe leak, if it's ok put the right amount of gas back in and should top up with some PAG oil which is the oil in the system to keep the pump lubricated (something the can won't do). This should be done with the machine plugged into the High and low pressure ports, the can will only plug into one.

I bought one of these aerosol cans, and it worked for about 2 weeks at max. Then the system stopped getting cold.

Better to have it done right imo!

I spoke to an automotive air con man at a road accident a few months ago and HE told me that if the system is empty, or has air in it, then the entire system has to be vacuumed out to remove all the air before you can put the refrigerant back in, or the air will get compressed too, and cause the compressor to overheat and burn out.

So unless you have a manifold vacuum pump, the cans are pretty useless.

D'oh! (I have several at home in my garage...)

your system may have lost gas which the low pressure sensor has detected and could have turned the system off. Those cans may work but their not ideal. When done properly the machine will suck out the old gas recycle it, put a vacuum on the system do a leak test which will give an indication that there is a problem i.e. condensor or pipe leak, if it's ok put the right amount of gas back in and should top up with some PAG oil which is the oil in the system to keep the pump lubricated (something the can won't do). This should be done with the machine plugged into the High and low pressure ports, the can will only plug into one.

I think that these cans from Halfords do contain some oil as well, but that only means that there is even less R134 in the can than you thought you had bought, and I would not think that the PAG oil in the can would not necessarily be the type advised by the compressor manufacturer - but maybe better than none at all. I'd think that these can now being available and maybe used by "us" would mean that any good fridge guy would try to flush out all the old oil before vac'ng the system down. That way you would know that you were getting a clean system and charge (and new filter/reciever or filter/accumulator if the system had been open for a long time are suspected to have been messed with by a DIYer previously.

I tried this as a fix on a previous car, all i can say is that for the extra £10-£20 id rather have someone with the right gear do it.

The system stopped blowing cold after a couple of weeks.

Thanks guys.

I've got no reason to think theres any significant leak, the air con has just gradually got less effective over about 12 months so I'd assume that's normal. Also, as someone mentioned the can does contain some oil.

However, sounds to me like it's well worth the extra few quid to get it done properly, I can certainly see the benefit of clearing out the current system.

I did it the DIY way with mine, and so far it's been successful (done a month or so ago, and pressure holding so far.) I can see the pros and cons, though. Mine had a pinhole leak, which the stuff in the can was able to seal, but only after having most of the contents of the first can leak out of it, which meant I needed ANOTHER can to fill the system up! Not the most environmentally friendly solution, I suppose, but as any kind of workshop repair would have required much of the front of the car to be dismantled, it would have been VERY expensive to have it done professionally. Time will tell if the repair lasts... :ne_nau:

Well I got VW to change a seal and all they did was remove and recharge the R134 - and it cost more than a "special deal A/C service" - they said no leak, but that pipe connection that I asked to be opened, new seal fit, closed etc - is still leaking - I should have gone to a proper A/C place as dealers just seem to be learning bit by bit about A/C.

Just to round the thread off nicely I eventually took the car to a Chemix garage near me. They serviced and topped up the Air Con for £39.95 and now it's like driving an ice block.

Bring on the sun!

Bring on the sun!

Eh, you must have blinked - that was summer, ah well there is always next year!