Diy Aircon Gassing

[keef]

I've just seen bottles of aircon gas for sale in Halfords.

Is replacing/recharging the gas really a DIY job?

Has anyone done this with success? It would be nice to have a bit more chill in this current weather!

Cheers, Keith

[Bobski]

I have seen these too, was going to ask the same Q :)

The kit is about 30-40 ISTR

Halfords staff are apparently getting trained to do FREE Aircon tests.

[Noel]

There is another active thread with info............... :)

[P38Aaron]

Have seen those too...Had my aircon regassed & lubricated fri just gone, cost me £88 by a non-lexus garage, Took 1 hour.

Im sure that when i see the can in Halfords it was about the same price? around the £80 mark, i thought that was alot for a can but i did just glance at it.

[Noel]

More here..........Click :)

[lutonmatt]

i do not think its one of them jobs you can diy as to it prop. you have to renew the oil and gas but some cars have diff. gas and plus if you leak any into the the air its a big fine

but i had my LS regased today and the garage charges £50 but were i do his mot's a bit was knocked off

but for the money its just not worth doing your self i think

[ale]

:D

The diy gas from Halfords work well for me, And kept me cold....

It was as simple as can be , comes with pressure gauge . Just like pumping up a tyre....

[MickAtHome]

I've just seen bottles of aircon gas for sale in Halfords.

Is replacing/recharging the gas really a DIY job?

Has anyone done this with success? It would be nice to have a bit more chill in this current weather!

Cheers, Keith

I have just re-gassed my LS400 aircon - took about 15 minutes of pressing the button on the top of the Halfords can (currently £39.99) - and I now have a chill breeze from my vents. :) Just the job for this unseasonally warm Easter.

Thanks to the guys on the forum for suggesting this method - and elsewhere for the info about how to access the aircon diagnostic codes.

Mick

[The Transporter]

Interesting thread,

These kits are what the professionals.....Professionals, not greasemonkeys with charging stations, call death kits.

I wandered in to Halfords a few days ago and noticed a large selection of cans filled with stuff for all kinds of air con ailments.

If your car has a leak, then why not repair the leak with "Stuff in a can"? There are two kinds of sealer on the market, one kind causes the flexible seals to decompose and swell, great for a short term fix, but you will be replacing rotten o rings for ever more, the other kind is designed to set on contact with moisture... good idea since in theory ther should be no moisture in there but if the system has been empty for any length of time, then there will be air in ther and hense moisture... once set, this crap is ther forever and you are looking at major component replacement.

I noticed that the vast bulk of the refrigerant with lubricant is lubricant, how much lubricant does your car need? does it need any at all? what kind of lubricant are you putting in? is it compatible with the lubricant in the system and if you shoot this crap in to your car every year, then how many cans do you have to put in before the lubricant "Slugs" the compressor and breaks something expensive?

They even have refrigerant with system cleaners!! so if it cleans the inside of your system, then what does it do with all the crud then? does it float round untill it clogs up your reciever drier? or bung up your expansion valve? Or does it just majically float away to the land of Narnia?

As for the refill kits with those daft gauges, how does the gauge know when you have enough refrigerant in the system? What would the standing pressure be if the system had 30 grams in it? how about 300grams? or even 1000grams... The answer is exactly the same for any given temperature, so what does this gauge tell you? I also notice that there is no mention of applying a vacuum, if air is present in the system, then the system will run at a far higher pressure, not only stressing the compressor unduely, but reducing cooling efficiency and needing more fuel to drive the aircon compressor than is normally needed, the aircon on the IS is pretty inefficient in European weather at the best of times.

By the way does anyone know the weight of refrigerant that should be in the IS200? Well, one of those cans just aint enough, sure it will blow cold, but is it blowing cold enough? are you burning more fuel than you need? and is there enough refrigerant to ensure that your compressor is getting enough lubricant? Oh silly me, of course it is you've half filled the system with junk oil...... :winky:

Just remind us why you bought a Lexus and then explain to us why you are determined to bodge it up rather than repair it?

PS about 50 quid is a fair price for a straight recharge.

[jonosafc]

where is the refill place on an is200 just wonder if i can recharge my aircon by myself

[Rob]

where is the refill place on an is200 just wonder if i can recharge my aircon by myself

have u read the above thoughts??

[ROYT]

When I had my aircon regassed the guy had no end of cylinders, vacuum equipment, measuring stuff and

the like and it took more than an hour.

There are specified amounts of coolant and oil type etc., Best to get it done right.

Cost me £50

[ontheroad1]

I went into our local halford to check the price of the aircon can and it was £19.99 Colby Newham branch

[Pip]

Just remind us why you bought a Lexus and then explain to us why you are determined to bodge it up rather than repair it?

PS about 50 quid is a fair price for a straight recharge.

I agree 100%

Its all the Avensis owners that have now upgraded and bought an is200 since they have come down in price lol! :D

Still want to be cheap b@stards though.

[The Transporter]

I went into our local halford to check the price of the aircon can and it was £19.99 Colby Newham branch

Is that £20 can big enough to charge your car?

Do bear in mind that a new ac compressor from an after market supplier for any Lexus will set you back between £400 and £700 plus VAT, plus new drier, expansion valve, flushing and labour. I cant think of a better way to kill a compressor than to charge your system without applying a vacuum.

But then it is your car and your money.

Don't get me wrong, If someone wants to DIY their own aircon system then that is good but do please make sure that you do it right because Halfords are going to give me a good income this Summer.

Why not check out these guys? their hints and tips section have all the info you need to do a top job if you want to AC Kits forum

[GlynnB]

The only times you would need to vacuum the system would be if you had lost all the gas, was changing the gas for a different type or braking into the system to change a component.

For a top up so long as the gas is the same then a can will be fine.

A far more important question is why do car A/C systems seem to loose gas when domestic fridges run for years with no loss.

[The Transporter]

Most folk only consider their cars aircon system when it stops working which means that it is practically empty and so air could well have entered the system. The DIY kits come with a little hose which when you connect to the car is full of air and so unless it is purged or evacuated, every time you connect this pipe you introduce air.

There are huge differences between your fridge and your cars air conditioning in the way that it is constructed. Your frige uses a sealed hermetic compressor, all of the pipework is brazed copper with no mechanical valves or gasketed joints and so should never leak.

Take a close look at your car. So that it is easy to assemble it is built up in sections, each section is linked to the next and is sealed using a flexible "O" ring. The service ports themselves are nothing more than glorified schraeder valves with plastic caps and the compressor itself is under pressure with a shaft passing through to atmosphere via a small flexible shaft seal, this shaft seal constantly rubs against the shaft as it rotates and so will eventually wear. Even the flexible hoses are the thinnest and cheapest that the manufacturers can get away with and R134a can and does pass through the walls of the hose. Bizarely enough moisture can pass the other way in to the system even with the system under pressure though this is such a small factor that I tend to ignore this.

So we can see that there are plenty of opportunities for refrigerant to escape from a cars air con system and it is very easy to introduce air to the system without you knowing it. Add to this that the car could well be second hand and its history could well be unknown, you just don't know what has been done to your car before you got it.....I know of one guy who serves the less than quality used car dealers who simply blows in a bit of refrigerant, no vacuum, no gauges, no care for a tenner.

Last month I checked my 05 IS200 and my 54 Transporter and both were within manufacturers specifications and so had lost very little or none, so if you are losing pressure every 12 months or so, then this is not natural waste, this is a leak though I do warn you that some leaks are very difficult to find

Have fun, stay cool

[ontheroad1]

the difference between a house fridge and a car aircon is the fact the house fridge is on all the time and even they loose pressure over the years, a cars system is used very little so when the pressure drops the seals loose their ability to stop any leaks and over a time they weep and crack,

aircon should be used periodically winter or summer to keep it in good condition and parts working

[The Transporter]

the difference between a house fridge and a car aircon is the fact the house fridge is on all the time and even they loose pressure over the years, a cars system is used very little so when the pressure drops the seals loose their ability to stop any leaks and over a time they weep and crack,

aircon should be used periodically winter or summer to keep it in good condition and parts working

If your fridge loses pressure, then it is defective... It should be sealed with no leaks, same with domestic air conditioning. even the flair nuts at each end of the system should not leak though can suffer from thermal fractures

On cars it is normally the compressor shaft seals that dries out as it relies on the lubricant to retain the refrigerant. This was less of a problem in the days of R12 as the molecular size of the refrigerant was larger and so tended not to leak at such a high rate

[ontheroad1]

clearly not my area of expertise but mine was working when I got the car and I was considering the cans from Halfords to test it out "even though I probably wont use it" car cost enough to run as it is being a the ls400 so whats the best way to use these cans and that they have leakseal in then including the required oil

Ive been told to connect it to the low pressure side and run the engine with aircon on?

if it doesnt work im considering removing the complete system because the weather here being crap most of the tine it dosnt seem to have any point it being there

[The Transporter]

Its a bit radical to remove the ac system just because it doesn't work.

If your system isn't working, then there will be air in the system and so the system will need to be evacuated with a vacuum pump. The refrigerant can be drawn in via the low side port but as a vapour, not a liquid otherwise you will slug the compressor with liquid refrigerant.

I have already commented on system sealers and universal oil but it is your car and your money.

[ontheroad1]

thanks for the info, there is a little gas in the system but not enough to allow it to turn the ac clutch on so ill guess ill not bother with it since I never use it any way

[The Transporter]

That would be a shame, if there are no leaks in the system then £50 could see it up and running, especially nice if your car had rear aircon too

[ontheroad1]

its got the rear ac but no one ever gets in the rear lol but I understand what your saying so im going to get it re-gassed, £50 isn't bad im retired now so have to watch the pennies

[ironduke]

I've just seen bottles of aircon gas for sale in Halfords.

Is replacing/recharging the gas really a DIY job?

Has anyone done this with success? It would be nice to have a bit more chill in this current weather!

Cheers, Keith

Just topped up my 1997 GS300 mk1 (123,000 miles) with an 18 oz can from Halfords - cost £40.

Easy to do - took me about 5 minutes.

I know it isn't ideal but it seems to have done the job - so far so good.

My compresssor made a loud whining noise above 2,000 rpm - this noise has almost disappeared after just 10 miles of driving.