Hello, 

My issue is the air con no longer produces cold air! 

First time it happened I had a "man in a van" top up my gas in the system as I thought maybe it's just lost pressure over time, it never felt like it got as cold as it use too. That lasted a short time maybe a month! So then I booked it into a halfords garage as that's the only place near me that deals with the stupidly high priced gas, they put it on their machine and said there is no leaks as if there was, their machine would identify a leak and not top up the gas, I thought great, again I don't feel it was as cold as it use to be but over the space of Bout 2-3 months I was without any air con again! I don't know what to try next! 

Could the pollen filter require a change? Could it be the reason? Could it be I need a new air con pump/motor? Or is it most likelies a leak that just needs to be found? 

thanks 👍🏻

I'm not sure if an old clogged up pollen filter could impact A/C performance, but it certainly will have nothing to do with complete loss of A/C.

Loss of A/C will either be because enough refrigerant has leaked out that the system is refusing to turn on to try to protect itself, or otherwise the pump ain't pumping for some other reason, like being seized, or having a broken clutch mechanism, or having a belt problem (if belt driven, or blown fuse perhaps if electric).

Perception of A/C performance is naturally unreliable. A/C thermometers are cheap.

I'd take it back to Halfords and politely complain that you paid them to fix the A/C and yet it's stopped working again after such a short time, which it obviously shouldn't have if nothing were wrong with it. There's some leak or fault somewhere and they've missed it.

If a leak is suspected then they could throw a little leak detection dye into the system to relatively easily find any leak(s). After letting the A/C run for a little while they can look over the system with a UV light to see where the dye and thus refrigerant is leaking out.

4 hours ago, rd457 said:

I'm not sure if an old clogged up pollen filter could impact A/C performance, but it certainly will have nothing to do with complete loss of A/C.

Loss of A/C will either be because enough refrigerant has leaked out that the system is refusing to turn on to try to protect itself, or otherwise the pump ain't pumping for some other reason, like being seized, or having a broken clutch mechanism, or having a belt problem (if belt driven, or blown fuse perhaps if electric).

Perception of A/C performance is naturally unreliable. A/C thermometers are cheap.

I'd take it back to Halfords and politely complain that you paid them to fix the A/C and yet it's stopped working again after such a short time, which it obviously shouldn't have if nothing were wrong with it. There's some leak or fault somewhere and they've missed it.

If a leak is suspected then they could throw a little leak detection dye into the system to relatively easily find any leak(s). After letting the A/C run for a little while they can look over the system with a UV light to see where the dye and thus refrigerant is leaking out.

Thanks mate! 👍🏻

Possibly the condenser?🤔

11 hours ago, G4rfr81 said:

So then I booked it into a halfords garage as that's the only place near me that deals with the stupidly high priced gas, they put it on their machine and said there is no leaks as if there was, their machine would identify a leak and not top up the gas, I thought great, again I don't feel it was as cold as it use to be but over the space of Bout 2-3 months I was without any air con again! I don't know what to try next!

It will be leaking.  The machine only does a very short leak test to detect if you've got any major leaks, as it's illegal for anyone to refill a known leaking system.  It won't show up minor leaks in such a small amount of time.

I'd second the condenser here. It's the most common A/C fault on these cars (according to the guy who fixed mine).

There are YouTube tutorials on how to recognize the issue and how to do a DIY replacement.

I'd say: get in front of the front bumper with a torch and check how the condenser looks like. If there are dark spots looking greasy or dirty then it is surely the leak. Very high chance of discovering something like this if you're leaking refrigerant quickly.

Sometimes it can look OK and still leak there. One way to check is to use an old plastic dispenser like one for glass and surface cleaner. Mix some detergent with water so that it will make bubbles. Spray that though the grille and onto the condenser until it's wet. If it starts to bubble there when the A/C is running, then that's the fault.

Replacing the condenser on a Mk3 Focus can be costly with a garage as it requires bumper removal to reach it. On the other hand, if you have time, tools and patience it is time consuming and tedious but fairly straightforward and easy replacement at the same time. Since you don't have any refrigerant in the system you can do it yourself and get the refrigerant topped up afterwards at KwikFit or wherever.

NB: It IS possible and easy to remove the condenser without removing the radiator. If you are looking for a tutorial, look for one which uses this method. It is not needed to remove the radiator as well. That would mean bleeding the coolant out and then refiling it. This way your DIY might get far more costly if you don't do that well and leave air in that system somehow.

Good luck and let us know what it was!

 

 

 

 

 

13 hours ago, Takuan said:

I'd second the condenser here. It's the most common A/C fault on these cars (according to the guy who fixed mine).

There are YouTube tutorials on how to recognize the issue and how to do a DIY replacement.

I'd say: get in front of the front bumper with a torch and check how the condenser looks like. If there are dark spots looking greasy or dirty then it is surely the leak. Very high chance of discovering something like this if you're leaking refrigerant quickly.

Sometimes it can look OK and still leak there. One way to check is to use an old plastic dispenser like one for glass and surface cleaner. Mix some detergent with water so that it will make bubbles. Spray that though the grille and onto the condenser until it's wet. If it starts to bubble there when the A/C is running, then that's the fault.

Replacing the condenser on a Mk3 Focus can be costly with a garage as it requires bumper removal to reach it. On the other hand, if you have time, tools and patience it is time consuming and tedious but fairly straightforward and easy replacement at the same time. Since you don't have any refrigerant in the system you can do it yourself and get the refrigerant topped up afterwards at KwikFit or wherever.

NB: It IS possible and easy to remove the condenser without removing the radiator. If you are looking for a tutorial, look for one which uses this method. It is not needed to remove the radiator as well. That would mean bleeding the coolant out and then refiling it. This way your DIY might get far more costly if you don't do that well and leave air in that system somehow.

Good luck and let us know what it was!

 

 

 

 

 

Great first post! Concur with all. When I got my car I had to install a brand new condenser, and a replacement (Ebay) compressor, in addition to a couple of initial recharges where leak first discovered. A/C is a closed system, so if you do need a recharge, the gas has leaked out somewhere! However, I got  proper, 'man' to do all the work... LOL I haven't touched it now in 4 years and it's still ice cold. (well, 2c!)