Hi all,

I've got a Ford Focus Estate 64 plate 1.5 ecoboost. 

The air con is completely non existent in my car at the moment and im toying with the idea of buying a re-gas canister from Halfords or the like. So my questions is are they worth it? Good value for money? Or do i splash the cash and get ripped off at the likes of kwik fit?

Thanks in advance

 

 

I would look out for Groupon deals at ATS euromaster, they often have air con recharge at a good price.

The down side of Halfords cans is it won't detect a leak and you may be wasting money with it leaking out and then add to the global warming . 

 

Those kits are not worth the money, check out the th big fastfit chains they often  have offers on, even if they dont its about  £45-£50 ATS gve a discont to AA members gets it to £35 if I remember correctly.

just checked groupon and ats doing it for £34.99

3 hours ago, davecantshoot said:

The air con is completely non existent in my car at the moment and im toying with the idea of buying a re-gas canister from Halfords or the like.

On an older car, which has a very slow leak due to normal wear on the compressor seal, or especially if the family has two or more such cars, then the DIY canister is worth it. A slow leak would be a small top-up (a fraction of a canister) every 2 to 4 years.

But a 2014 car with no a/c for some time really needs to be checked over and, if there are no serious leaks, be re-filled properly. If the pressure has completely gone, then some water vapour will have got in, and this will destroy the compressor unless the leak is fixed, the system is fully evacuated & re-filled with the correct oil to gas ratio. Not cheap, but a lot cheaper than a new compressor.

I've had 2 of the Halfords cans, tried on various cars...honestly not worth the bother even at trade price.  Doesn't work if the system is very low/empty.  The only car it did 'work' on was one with a fully working system, that just wasn't very cold (10 years old, likely never had a regas).  It failed on 6 other cars.

Groupon had a deal on a Protyre regas for £25 earlier in the year, cheaper than the can!

However, be careful where you do go, I've not had much luck with the 'pressure tests' prior to a regas so far. 😒

Thanks one and all. Booked it with ATS using a Groupon voucher. £34.99