Hey - I have a Ford Fiesta MK8 that has just come out of warranty and the AC gas leaks. It got refilled back early last year (£150...) and they couldn't find a leak then. I'm back to square one where I can hear very loud swirling sounds when the AC is on... 

 

What the best way I should go around this and should I go dealer or independent? Also how much would this likely cost for me to do?

 

Thanks

1 hour ago, captaincadet said:

What the best way I should go around this and should I go dealer or independent?

Book into an independent A/.C guy. They'll fill the system with a UV dye which will help highlight where the leak is. Once that is determined, then you can go from there on how much a repair will cost. Good time of year to get it done rather than some hot day in July!

By the way, £150 for a recharge is expensive, I wouldn't be going back there... KwikFit is much cheaper for a simple recharge.

Thinking about it the last time it was serviced it included a leak reset and no leak was found

 

the car hasn’t been used much (maybe less than 50 miles a week on average) as I have been working from home - could that be effect it?

52 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

By the way, £150 for a recharge is expensive,

KwikFit are cheaper £129.95 for the recharge on a Fiesta Mk8 but perhaps not as cheap as you would pay for your car. The OP's car uses the new type gas 1234YF, it saves the dolphins 🤣

9 hours ago, unofix said:

KwikFit are cheaper £129.95 for the recharge on a Fiesta Mk8 but perhaps not as cheap as you would pay for your car. 🤣

Indeed as mine would be £65, another advantage of owning a 'classic' car! Being 'green' is always more expensive 😁 
 

see if you can find a voucher, groupon or the like

 

It’s more that it was only regassed 6 months ago. I know I haven’t done huge mileage on it but yes I’m verty sceptical about it and pretty confident there’s a leak.

 

tested AC earlier and  my car air con temperature output was 17c…

8 hours ago, captaincadet said:

tested AC earlier and  my car air con temperature output was 17c…

Output should be 3c - 6c. Mums 23 year old Toyota Yaris A/C hasn't been touched since it was made, and it's still ice cold. But it is Japanese!

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

still ice cold. But it is Japanese!

That's just the way they are 🤣

11 hours ago, captaincadet said:

It’s more that it was only regassed 6 months ago. I know I haven’t done huge mileage on it but yes I’m verty sceptical about it and pretty confident there’s a leak.

 

tested AC earlier and  my car air con temperature output was 17c…

It's more than likely the seals have dried due to it not being used much.  Do you keep it on all year which is the best thing to do then the seals will not dry out. The cost in fuel consumption between only using it during summer as opposed to all year is minimal in modern A/C systems. 

Yes it’s used all year but recently I haven’t used the car much - she’s still done at least a few short drives a week taking over a hour of use but yea I’m bummed it’s already gone. I just wonder if the condenser been damaged?

 

 

6 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

. I just wonder if the condenser been damaged?

If you are able to visually inspect, a small brown staining is usually a giveaway of a leak. OR, take it to a guy who'll full it with UV dye and get a positive diagnosis. Guessing is just futile...

Yes there’s a garage that say they have the kit and can do it for £40 so probably will take it up to there sometime. Even if it’s dry seals I rather check before spending money on a refill only to find it empties again in less than a year 

3 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

Yes there’s a garage that say they have the kit and can do it for £40 so probably will take it up to there sometime. Even if it’s dry seals I rather check before spending money on a refill only to find it empties again in less than a year 

All garages that carryout a recharge are legally obliged to do a leak test before filling with gas. This is to prevent a very dangerous gas escaping back in to the atmosphere. The issue is that many don't have sensitive enough equipment to determine a very small leak, and even if they did, would have little idea where it is.

Sound plan of action to get it professionally checked out.

Yes I know my last garage did test it but to lose it in 6 months seems like there’s a small hole somewhere or something wrong.

 

rather not spend the money as if it’s the condenser it’s going to be pretty expensive but cheaper than regassing twice a year…

 

anyone got any idea this whole thing could cost?

20 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

anyone got any idea this whole thing could cost?

Have a look on Ebay, plenty of sub £100 new condensers, and you can ask your A/C guy how much to fit & charge if it is that. Like I keep saying, totally pointless in guessing till you know what's leaking!

True I’m just worried they’ll be unable to work out what’s leaking

Super Seal Air Con Leak Sealant - For Gas R1234YF  ---- £29.99

An Aircon specialist should be able to use a sealant in with the gas if you are talking about pin hole leaks.

Perfect - so if it’s a pinhole leak (ie they can’t find it) they will just use stuff with sealant in it? Sounds ideal and hopefully less expensive 

Spoken to a garage and they told me that stuff is junk and often clots up and would “contaminate the system” and if it leaks again in the future it would need a new system.

Is there any truth to that?

3 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

Is there any truth to that?

It's all an 'opinion'! They said the same thing about RadWeld, yet it's been sold for decades. The manufacture of the stuff would say no, there are many that have used it without incident/ May I repeat my advice.

Take it to an A/C company who will diagnose the fault and advise on a repair. Honestly, you are not the 1st person in the world to have a fault with their A/C system...

Yes I know - I’m just a bit worried as this is the second time I’ve had it go and I want to make sure we fix it this time without throwing money out of the window.

 

think a lot of it is that the last garage (which I do trust) did pressure test it for 2 hours and no fault was found. And I know it hasn’t been used much but I don’t believe lack of use could have emptied it in 8 or so months 

its a car they all break, the more bells and whistles the more to go wrong, nothing is built to last these days. All anyone can do is test, repair or replace if needed and warrnty the bit they've done

Yea I know and apologies if I come over negative 

 

I want to get it fixed and am prepared to pay for it to be fixed. I just don’t want to cause more problems in the future. 

As it took 6 months to leak, the garage would never find such a small leak on a 2 hour vac test.

Personally I don't recommend 'leak stop' anywhere as it can end up in the wrong places and cause more damage.  Radweld is a prime example unfortunately.  If the system isn't bled properly it solidifies in the cooling system which is not ideal.  Can be useful to get another few weeks out of an old banger, but I'd never use it on a car i eas expecting to keep.

So there's another opinion for you.

 

The proper test in this case is to hook up a Nitrogen canister and pressurise the system with that.  You should hear the Nitrogen escaping from the hole but obviously ned to be in a quiet environment.