Hi guys,

Tried the A/C last week and all it does is blow warm air out irrespective of what temperature I ask it to produce. :thumbdwn:

Now I have to confess I havent run it as often as I should (probably not used for three months straight in fact) and upon phoning the dealer he advised that it will probably require a re gas at £85 but they will of course check for faults in the system. I have no issue with their approach and appreciate then being up front with me, however...

Is it reasonable for the gas to have depleted in 19 months?! The car has done around 12,000 miles on the click. Ive heard that its advised its regassed every two years but I assumed that was a bit of a cashcow scheme

Previous cars A/C havent required attention at all. The Focus was still producing very cold air 4 and a bit years later when I sold it for instance!

Its going in on Monday but I was after some opinions beforehand,

Thanks,

Lee

Having exactly the same problem. Get them to check the compressor when they look at it. Mine needs looking at but I'm waiting for the service which is due in about 1000 miles time, rather than sending it in for a special trip.

Personally I don't think a 2 year old car, still in warranty, should require a re-gas - it's only losing that amount of gas if there's a leak or a fault on a component, either of which should be dealt with under warranty.

I had my AC compressor just dump all the gas, it got re gassed as the cause was unknown, then the garage changed the compressor when the same happened less than 5 miles down the road.

That was a warranty job.

I got similar problems with the climatronic of my previous car (VW Golf III), it turned out that the airco pump got stuck and it actually increased the strain on the transmission belt. The AA forbid me to drive any further since the drive belt could snap.

I brought an used octy II and the dealer changed the compressor upon delivery. Now 8 months later the compressor needs to be changed again (omg). Maybe we can gamble about, who will waste most compressors

Its sulking because you thought about replacing it.

I've got the same car, similar age.

Turned down the climate yesterday (first time it's been needed in a looong time) and I didn't think it was very cold. Not warm but not chilly.

The outside temp wasn't that high either so it was hard to tell if the AC was doing anything or just allowing the cold air in.

Need to phone the stealers by the looks of it

If you are not sure if the A/C is working or not (because the ambient temp is cool) then pop the bonnet open and feel the top of the A/C condenser (the front most 'radiator'). If the A/C is working then it will be warm.

If you are not sure if the A/C is working or not (because the ambient temp is cool) then pop the bonnet open and feel the top of the A/C condenser (the front most 'radiator'). If the A/C is working then it will be warm.

Top tip, cheers

Its sulking because you thought about replacing it.

I thought the same!

Cars do have feelings you know!

Anyway, an update for you guys....

Firstly a MAJOR thank you to Palmers Skoda in Watford. What a wonderful group of guys!

I decided to take it back to where I bought the car from and I have to say the level of sales service I recieved two years ago was matched by the after sales / service department.

Long story short; I arrived 30 minutes early but they took the car straight into the workshop. I also mentioned to them that my interior boot lights had never actually worked on the car - they said they'd also take a look at that whilst it was there. 40 minutes later, Carl (the head tech) called me in to see what they were doing to the car. He confirmed that the A/C was not working and that the system had zero gas/pressure in it!

He explained what they had done so far in diagnosing it and even talked me over how the A/C machine worked - he was regassing it with a luminesent yellow dye so we could see if and where it was leaking from. After a minute of the machine running (firstly creating a vacuum in the system and then putting the gas in) it appeared to be coming out as quick as it was going in (a loud hissing was also apparent) so he stopped it immediately.

He looked around the system in the engine bay and identified that a valve in the A/C was faulty (it sits just behind the rad/intercooler and it was where the hissing was coming from) - he spent a few more minutes confirming this and then sent a message through to the reception desk to order the appropriate part for a revisit.

At the same time another tech had been stripping the boot seals and hatch switch trying to identify why the interior lights had never worked. He followed the loom back until he got an electrical signal and discovered that the loom had been 'crushed' between two internal metal panels (he stated it could only have happened when being assembled at the factory.

All relevant parts for this are also on order too, all covered under warranty with no cost to myself.

Im going back in two weeks time to have the job completed (earliest I can make it) but so far the experience has left me 100% satisfied with the quality of service received; they treated the car with care, they had two techs looking at two issues at the same time and put everything back exactly as I took it into them, communications were excellent and I was treated like a genuinely valued customer.

Lee

Or if you touch some of the metal pipes around the back of the headlight and where the black pipe loops up they will be ice cold.

Focus Ztec - thanks for the update - gives me a few ideas of what to look for on mine. Hopefully I will get similar service from my local dealers...

Fingers crossed, but glad yours turned out ok in the end.