As the title suggest, my A/C is not working. I did have it regassed twice last year by Kwik Fit. But not long after, it stopped working again. I read on one of the post where @TomsFocus was saying that the A/C in the mk3 Focus is a terrible system and all the seals leak.

My question is, before I go and get it regassed again, can I replace the seals. How easy are they to get to? 

It's impossible to get to some of them as they're behind the dash.  I suspect a lot of the Mk3 leaks are behind the dash somewhere as people rarely find the minor leaks and give up after a couple of regasses.

You could replace the seals in the condenser (radiator) and the compressor fairly easily.  I don't suppose you can see any yellow dye anywhere in the system?  Especially around the condenser?  The drier is probably also knackered by now if it's been left open for any length of time.

 

Thanks for your reply @TomsFocus there's nothing obviously leaking, but do I need an ultraviolet light to find the leaks? I might replace the compressor and dryer anyway and then look at the seals I can get to. Are they mostly "o" rings? 

When I had it regassed last year, the air coming out of the vents wasn't that noticeably colder to be honest, and there was a smell inside the car, so it's quite possible the leak is behind the dash. Does the whole dash have to come out to get to the components? 

Also (sorry to bombard you with questions) is there a leak sealant that can added? Not wanting bodge it, but taking the whole dash.....well it's doable, but I've already had the misses tapping her foot with folded arms when I've had the car apart before!!

 

45 minutes ago, Nathan Buffery said:

Thanks for your reply @TomsFocus there's nothing obviously leaking, but do I need an ultraviolet light to find the leaks? I might replace the compressor and dryer anyway and then look at the seals I can get to. Are they mostly "o" rings? 

When I had it regassed last year, the air coming out of the vents wasn't that noticeably colder to be honest, and there was a smell inside the car, so it's quite possible the leak is behind the dash. Does the whole dash have to come out to get to the components? 

Also (sorry to bombard you with questions) is there a leak sealant that can added? Not wanting bodge it, but taking the whole dash.....well it's doable, but I've already had the misses tapping her foot with folded arms when I've had the car apart before!!

 

A UV light helps but it's not essential...  I still have a green stain on a pair of jeans from a drip of UV dye about 4 years ago!  

Do you mean replace condenser and drier?  They're more likely to be damaged than the compressor.  It's just the seals I'd change on the compressor while you're there.  They are all O rings but tolerances are very tight, you really need good quality seals, don't just buy cheap rubbish from ebay as you'll end up with more leaks.  Also make sure to lube the seals that you put in, don't go in dry!  Word of warning though, I replaced the condenser on mine as a chance because I couldn't find the leak but it turned out not to be that at fault.  Think it cost about £50, Nissens branded rather than genuine Ford.

Yes, the entire dash would need to come out to access the HVAC box.  Then you need to open the box to access the evaporator (basically the opposite of the heater matrix) to check that and the pipes to it.  I've never done it on a Mk3 or even seen a Mk3 dash out so can't advise any further with that but it's not going to be a 10 minute job lol!

There is leak sealant you can try but it's a bit like radweld - in that it can seal the wrong thing (blocking/restricting pipes) and completely miss the actual leak(s).  It's worth a try as a last resort but I really wouldn't risk it if you're intending to keep replacing parts until the system works.  There is a small amount of leak sealer in the DIY AC gas cans but I've never found that to be effective at stopping leaks.  Have tried it on my Mk3, my ST150, Dad's Mk3 Mondeo and sisters Swift without it working on any of them...  It regassed fine on the Focus and Swift, but only lasted a few weeks, same as the proper regasses.  I never did find the fault on my Mk3, bought another car in the 2018 heatwave instead lol!

Sadly, Tom is right. When the A/C doesn't work (and I've had issues with almost all my cars on this), it's either a 'leak, the 'condenser', or the 'compressor'. My current Mk2 had a leaking condenser AND a faulty compressor. If you're a guy that can do stuff, well you can probably narrow it down. I can't so took it to my A/C guy who replaced both condenser and compressor (condenser new, compressor a £20 Ebay part used). I have no idea why A/C just can't work, it's not as if it's new technology LOL

I think the MK2 ac is colder than the MK3 or mines might need a regas we are having to put the dial on 3 to get cool enough and on that hot day recently it took a while to cool down. G/f also noticed her fan doesn't push out as much as the rest very weird. 

8 minutes ago, F0CUE said:

I think the MK2 ac is colder than the MK3 ... 

That's disappointing to hear, you'd always assume that 'newer' cars would be better. My Mk2 is functional but unlike my old Celica GT4 (which you could use as a freezer), brass monkeys have nothing to worry about! 😀

3 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

That's disappointing to hear, you'd always assume that 'newer' cars would be better. My Mk2 is functional but unlike my old Celica GT4 (which you could use as a freezer), brass monkeys have nothing to worry about! 😀

Defo agree with you there. I will figure it out though or die trying 😁

A lot of ac problems are caused by not using it, I never switch mine off and I've never had problems on any cat I've had in the last 15 years  3 mondeos,  mk3 focus, Citroen c5 and the current Cmax 

1 minute ago, pragmatix said:

A lot of ac problems are caused by not using it, I never switch mine off and I've never had problems on any cat I've had in the last 15 years mk3 focus included.

I generally agree though, I too have never switched off A/C in any car I've ever had (all within the last 30 years, my earlier ones didn't have it). Unfortunately, it never prevented the issues I've had...

50 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Do you mean replace condenser and drier?

I must admit I thought you were talking about the condenser when you said Drier. Where is the drier located and at risk of asking a stupid question, what does it dry? 

 

7 minutes ago, pragmatix said:

A lot of ac problems are caused by not using it, I never switch mine off and I've never had problems on any cat I've had in the last 15 years mk3 focus included.

I also never switch it off. In my mk1 focus I left it on all the time. I didn't notice any massive increase in fuel consumption and was told it acts as a dehumidifier in the winter.

1 minute ago, Nathan Buffery said:

I also never switch it off. In my mk1 focus I left it on all the time. I didn't notice any massive increase in fuel consumption and was told it acts as a dehumidifier in the winter.

That's exactly the way A/C works, it removes the moisture from the air. Hence your windows don't get misted up. People often misunderstand what A/C is and think it's purely a temperature device. You can get warm A/C as well as cold A/C!

18 minutes ago, pragmatix said:

A lot of ac problems are caused by not using it, I never switch mine off and I've never had problems on any cat I've had in the last 15 years

I think that might be the 'issue' I thought I had with mine the other day,
I was on break at work with my car, I ran the AC (which is almost always off) and it never seemed to get cold,
Although it was coming through the passenger side just fine, when I closed that side down it came through my side ok,
Ran it Max AC for a short while and it started to come through my side with all vents open,
Not really been in the car long enough to test it again, but will run it longer next time I'm out.

1 hour ago, F0CUE said:

I think the MK2 ac is colder than the MK3 or mines might need a regas we are having to put the dial on 3 to get cool enough and on that hot day recently it took a while to cool down. G/f also noticed her fan doesn't push out as much as the rest very weird. 

the AC in the focus mk 2 I drive is incredible, never dropped a gramme inside 13 years and 150k miles and is super cold.... I find it hard to see how the engine actually turns if it makes things this cold !

my car has 1.3kg of gas and is frankly a joke.... I even had a new condenser fitted last year (£900 for the part if u buy from merc and £400 to fit the f**ker) and it seems worse than before !!!

condensers are made of tin foil these days.... go round the front and look through the grill, looking down the edges of the aluminium for dark dusty patches that might look wet... if u see this then it needs a new condensor

35 minutes ago, Botus said:

 

.... I even had a new condenser fitted last year (£900 for the part if u buy from merc and £400 to fit the f**ker) and it seems worse than before !!!

 

My elderly 'C' class Merc last year had a new condenser fitted (only £80 for a new non OEM one, and £100 fitting and regas!). A/C lasted a whole 7 months before going t*ts up again LOL Got rid of the car last year as it developed more faults than I never knew possible on a single car, even the bodywork was made out of tin that Heinz Beans would have rejected!

My first car with air con was a Suzuki liana( remember the top gear track car) it didn't come with Aircon but was available as an accessory. Fitted it and got it gassed up. That Aircon was so cold it used to ice up and stop the airflow if the evap temp sensor fell out. Never had to regass that in the 7 years /110k i had it . 

Both Mazda's after never gassed up and worked ok. Then the MK3 focus, well I gassed that up when I had it 12 months old and had lost its gas every 18 months or so. 

Just checked my Mondeo on Wednesday and only lost 25grams in 12 months. So this one is better. Just a shame the rest of the car isn't as good. 

2 hours ago, Nathan Buffery said:

I must admit I thought you were talking about the condenser when you said Drier. Where is the drier located and at risk of asking a stupid question, what does it dry? 

The drier on the Mk3 is attached to the condenser in fairness, it's that long vertical tube at the end, but they are technically separate parts.  Moisture is the enemy of AC systems so the drier removes any moisture that gets in with the gas.  It's basically like those disposable dehumidifiers from poundland though, once it's absorbed max capacity of moisture, there's no more it can do and it can't be emptied either.  With the system 'open' it lets in way more moisture than the drier can cope with so needs replacing.

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

That's disappointing to hear, you'd always assume that 'newer' cars would be better. My Mk2 is functional but unlike my old Celica GT4 (which you could use as a freezer), brass monkeys have nothing to worry about! 😀

The Mk3 Focus AC is notoriously unreliable, no-one really knows why either as it shares a lot of parts with the Mk2!  The AC in my 100k Golf still works fine despite the bent pipes from a front end crash!   The condenser fins look pretty rotten too so I don't think that was replaced either!  Yet by 5 years old and 42k my Mk3 AC was unfixable.   The car I bought to replace it for the heatwave was actually a 14 year old Audi A3, ice cold AC on that too, though it had had a condenser at some point.  

51 minutes ago, iantt said:

Just checked my Mondeo on Wednesday and only lost 25grams in 12 months. So this one is better. Just a shame the rest of the car isn't as good. 

I can't believe how unlucky you seem to be with the Mondeo, they're not all that bad at 3 years old are they?  Just goes to show that even being a top tech keeping on top of servicing doesn't mean 100% reliability!  

I actually found the AC unpleasantly cold on the max setting in my old MK2 once I had a second hand condenser fitted to replace the broken one. The AC in my MK3 is less cold but more pleasant but it works fine. The gas level in the MK2 did drop slightly by the time I sold it.

21 minutes ago, dtulip8 said:

I actually found the AC unpleasantly cold on the max setting in my old MK2...

Just as well it has a temperature adjustment then LOL 🤣

that's why its adjustable.....   

really cold = more fuel consumption...
about right = safer all year long... without misted windows in the winter or a sweaty back, being irritable, or going deaf and stung by wasps in the summer

So as an update. 

I've had a good look around, but cannot see any leaks from the A/C.

I have ordered the dryer at around £25 with the postage.

I have been looking for a set of seals but I'm a little confused. The 7Zap ford site gives the part number 5181037 which when searched for gives this picture.

However, when I replaced a pipe last year, the seals on the pipe are just the normal O Rings. 

My local ford parts dealer is closed, so I can't ring and check with them.

Any ideas anyone?

23 hours ago, StephenFord said:

That's exactly the way A/C works, it removes the moisture from the air. Hence your windows don't get misted up. People often misunderstand what A/C is and think it's purely a temperature device. You can get warm A/C as well as cold A/C!

That is called climate control, A/C does not necessarily work as a dehumidifier, it works on the principal of a refrigerator.

I don't understand why when the OP took it to be re-gassed that the garage did not test the system for leaks before re-gassing?, fundamental error if they did not.

7 minutes ago, Milkman said:

That is called climate control, A/C does not necessarily work as a dehumidifier, it works on the principal of a refrigerator.

I don't understand why when the OP took it to be re-gassed that the garage did not test the system for leaks before re-gassing?, fundamental error if they did not.

To be fair, a pressure test is not always that successful. When KwikFit regassed my Merc, part of their procedure is to drain the system and pressure test it, their machine failed to pick up a small pin head leak in the condenser, and it took a bit of time to eventually diagnose it. It's likely the garage did pressure test it. Kinda like looking for a very slow puncture in a tyre, sometimes when you dunk the wheel into the 'leak' bath, you see it straight away, other times, it can be a tricky bugger to spot...

8 minutes ago, Milkman said:

I don't understand why when the OP took it to be re-gassed that the garage did not test the system for leaks before re-gassing?, fundamental error if they did not.

I did bring this up with Kwik Fit when I took it back. They said that they vacuum test the system and it did not leak when they did the test. They also said that when it's pressurised (rather than vacuumed) it may leak!!! 

To be honest, I wouldn't have took it there, but they will top it back up for free for a year. 

2 hours ago, Nathan Buffery said:

I did bring this up with Kwik Fit when I took it back. They said that they vacuum test the system and it did not leak when they did the test. They also said that when it's pressurised (rather than vacuumed) it may leak!!! 

To be honest, I wouldn't have took it there, but they will top it back up for free for a year. 

The vac test is never long enough in all honesty, it'll only show major leaks unless you leave the car there all night...neither the garage or the owner want that!  

They can also pressure test it, but again it takes time for the pressure to drop low...as you know, the gas takes a couple of weeks to drop below the LP safety threshold with a small leak.

There's really no way for a garage to test for the small leaks we're looking at.

Regarding the seals, you're right, they should be rubber O rings.  Are the parts dept's closed?  I think it's just the sales side, but even that'll probably re-open soon I reckon.