The air is definitely colder on LO and the blower runs slower than it did before I took it in. I've had the car two years and it's never been re-gassed so god only knows when it was last done. 

 

I have used the KwikFit A/C service on a few occasions. Got a full refund after 3 weeks when all the gas ran out of a very small pin hole in my Merc C class - condenser issue. Also on the Focus, again a condenser leak. On both time there was no 'quibble' whatsoever.

On 4/26/2022 at 9:00 AM, fladavid said:

Sorry Tom I'm not up on motors generally. What does that module control? Could it be faulty and cause the problems I'm having?

It's not happening all the time, yesterday it worked perfectly.

Missed this earlier.  HVAC is heating, ventilation and air conditioning.  The module controls pretty much everything to do with that, which is mainly the flaps for temp, direction and recirculation.  They rarely break tbh, though of course anything can break occasionally.  I'd definitely want to exhaust all other options before replacing it though.

Thanks Tom. 

What would you say should be the next steps you'd take before replacing the unit?

4 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Thanks Tom. 

What would you say should be the next steps you'd take before replacing the unit?

First thing would be to make sure the AC is actually colder than before it was regassed.  If not, you should get a refund on that as others have said.  Did they provide any readings for either the vent temperature before & after, or the amount of gas that was removed and the amount refilled?

After that, the next cheapest option would be to plug in Forscan to see if that shows any faults with the HVAC system.  (For example, I've got a dodgy inlet flap on mine, reported via diagnostics, but I have no intention of stripping the dash to repair it!)

There is a small possibility that you could have a loose/weak earth point below the dash, which may explain why plugging your phone in seemed to trigger a change, but that seems unlikely without any other problems noted around the dash area.  I'm not sure where all the earth points are on the Mk3 either, so that would take some investigation.

If no faults are shown on diags, and no loose earth is found, that does leave us with just the 'parts cannon' option.  I'd probably replace the climate fascia panel first if it came to that...

I don't know what the weather is like where you are but if the temperature outside is in the low teens then the HVAC will not be blowing out a lot of cold air. 

Used the car a few times now since Friday, with two long journeys and the re-gas has definitely made it better, on the two long journeys it stayed at a constant temperature throughout. Just a small journey in-between it started blowing out hot air as some as I started the car, I pressed LO and within a few minutes I went back to 17° and all was well. 

Obviously an intermittent problem that has benifited from the re-gas but not totally cured the problem itself.

I have a 2014 model, how do I know what gas to have ?

Just now, aot871 said:

I have a 2014 model, how do I know what gas to have ?

Check the sticker on your slam panel.  Most likely R134a though.

2 minutes ago, aot871 said:

I have a 2014 model, how do I know what gas to have ?

As above, open your bonnet, and look at the label on the slam panel which will clearly tell you what A/C gas your car uses...

EDIT - Tom, you beat me by seconds! LOL

It  might sound stupid, but what do u mean  by slam  panel

13 minutes ago, aot871 said:

It  might sound stupid, but what do u mean  by slam  panel

The panel the bonnet 'slams' down on to...

5 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Thanks for  your help

Does anybody know what these wiring connectors control? Looked at them while cleaning the engine bay yesterday and saw two on the drivers side starting to melt a little and wondered if they have anything to do with the HVAC. They're located in the gap between the bulkhead and the top of the engine, above the exhaust downpipe, and have previously been cable tied out of the way by somebody. 

Went to a Ford garage a recently and he mentioned that the heat shield was missing and that this wiring might get affected by the heat, perhaps this is why I'm getting the intermittent air con fault?

Those are for your lambda sensors.  Nothing to do with HVAC, but you will eventually get running issues, EML and possibly limp mode if they continue to deteriorate.

On 5/5/2022 at 8:21 PM, StephenFord said:

The panel the bonnet 'slams' down on to...

Just checked and the panel is bare nothing on it !

3 minutes ago, aot871 said:

Just checked and the panel is bare nothing on it !

mmm... obviously has had a bit of paint in the past probably due to a bit of frontal damage. Any decent A/C recharge business will know what to put in it... As already said, likely just standard R134a, they'll not put in the wrong stuff. 

20 minutes ago, aot871 said:

Just checked and the panel is bare nothing on it !

Can you see an orange and white sticker anywhere around there that looks like the one in the picture?  

 

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Can you see an orange and white sticker anywhere around there that looks like the one in the picture?  

 

As Tom says, this is what you are looking for..

 

No probs , it's booked into main dealers this week , by the age its 134  , for info it's costing £85 for a regas

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I kinda have a similar problem with the dual zone control, mine is a 2015 Mk3.5, my issue is the drivers side is pumping out warm arm while the passenger side is icy cold, climate control display on the unit and on the screen is set to LO and the A/C is okay for gas, just started doing it today, if I close the passenger vents I eventually get coldish air coming through but not icy cold like the passenger side. I'm going to run a scan with Fordscan and see if it throws up any fault codes.