Air Con / Heating

[Von Croy]

Is my dealer trying to pull a fast one?

I've taken my (1998) 3.0 RXE back to the dealer as the air con wasn't working (ie air not getting any colder), after leaving it for a day, I was assured that the system had been re-gassed. 48 hours later I can olnly detect a slight drop in air temperature, it feels cool but not cold. Is there a likely explanation, befor I take the car back.

Another observation is when the ventilation system is on 'hot' the centre vents, below the digital dash, blow cold air, not warm. All other vents blow warm air as expected.

My local Renault dealer is offering an air con health check for £25, but I'm annoyed at the prospect of having to pay out money when the car is still under warranty!

Any ideas?

[Anders Dinsen]

I don't know if your dealer is trying get away cheap, but it is likely that there is a leak. I'd go to the Renault dealer and pay the money, then you will know if there is.

The centre vents only blows cold air by design - it's very cold when the air con is on, but useful to cool down a very hot car in the summer

[Lennart Sorth]

it is likely that there is a leak.

Agreed. You can have them add a tracing gas to the circuit, which pretty soon should tell you (=them) where the  leak is, by the use of UV light.

I replaced a number of hoses in my J63 aircon, and felt lucky that the condenser (the extra radiator in front of the engine coolant radiator) was in good shape - as they are expensive as spareparts, and expensive to get fitted.

/Lennart

[Will Falconer]

Surely if it rains the Audi will win. All the other cars will slide off the circuit because the taxi (sorry I mean Audi) has laid a  trail of diesel across the tarmac. 

No I'm not a fan of diesels. If the manufacturers of production cars developed petrol engines the way they have diesels I suspect they might be just as economical, but I don't really like having a rev limiter set at 4000rpm!