Which Aircon refrigerant R134A or R1234YF

[JoePeddos]

ATS Euromaster has a groupon voucher for aircon recharge £28.95 but only for vehicles fitted with refrigerant R134A a new EU ruling brought in refrigerant R1234YF on cars built from 2017 but this possibly covers the early MK 3 Fabias does anyone know.

 

I found this http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/r1234yf.html which explains the new system interestingly it says cars built in 2017 should not need regassing till 2020 unless suffering some form of damage. Skoda advises a recharge every 2 yrs which my dealer wanted £75 for but its working OK even in the very hot weather we have just had. They admitted it was only an advisory suggestion so I turned it down will get it checked next March along with an MOT before the warranty runs out. Joe 

[AGFalco]

Hi JoePeddos,

 

The new refrigerant R1234YF is very expensive to refill, but thankfully the Mk III Fabia has the older R134A. Mine was built in 2016.

If it still works then don't bother with the refill is my rule with AC.

But if you want the AC to work well for a long time then using it regularly helps to stop the seals drying out.

On the MK III Fabia it runs at 6% even when set to off.

This is all good if you ask me.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks AG Falco.

 

Edited 22 June, 2017 by AGFalco

[mrgf]

Try "wechillanycar". I don't have their details but a google search should show them. I have heard good things about them and they come to you. They charge around £50 and offer a cleaning of the air-con too, for free. This usually costs around £20-30 . I think they also add the dye that helps detect potential leaks.

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

A rule of thumb is that vehicles in the VW group using R134a have black caps on the A/C service ports and R1234yf has Grey caps. 

[JoePeddos]

Hi AGFalco my last Skoda a 1.9 tdi Fabia estates A/C was checked once in 10 yrs and probably did not even need that doing. I am with you on leaving well alone. I usually run the cars cabin temp on Automatic so as to keep the A/C's seals in good condition. Joe

[JoePeddos]

9 minutes ago, James@Pentagon_Seat said:

A rule of thumb is that vehicles in the VW group using R134a have black caps on the A/C service ports and R1234yf has Grey caps. 

 

9 minutes ago, James@Pentagon_Seat said:

A rule of thumb is that vehicles in the VW group using R134a have black caps on the A/C service ports and R1234yf has Grey caps. 

Hi James thanks for that info Joe

[AGFalco]

Hi JoePeddos,

 

On the last car I had at 13 years old and 131k miles the AC still worked well.

I did get it filled/checked it once. It didn't need doing but it was done free.

I owned it from new so knew all the history.

 

Thanks AG Falco.