re- gassing air conditioning

[tridentlee]

hi folks, any info on re gassing the air con would be wonderfull, the reason for asking is that a few years ago i took a pajero to be done and was told it had the old type gas in the system, this had to be drained then a modification was done before filling with a more eco friendly gas, will this be the same senario with the bongo, its a n reg 2.5 diesel, digital display, many thanks in advance, lee

[missfixit70]

Nowt complicated on the bongo - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 43&t=28727

[dp bradford]

The Bongo uses R134a refrigerant (950 grammes) and 14 ml of PAG 46 oil - that is if you have the dual air con system. If you only have the front system I think it's 700 grammes of R134a.

To be honest, I've seen lots of different figures quoted, but when I had mine recharged at Kwik Fit that's what I told them and it's now working fine. I ended up isolating the rear section as the heat exchanger had sprung a leak - the second recharge took less gas - I'm led to believe it took 700g to fill it.

Older air con systems used a far nastier refrigerant (R12 ???). There's a metal cylinder mounted just to the right of the front radiator, just behind the front grill (passenger side) on mine there's a yellow sticker stating the type of refrigerant used.

Sorry not very technical - but hope this helps!

Dave

[Alison01326]

I had a fairly good read of all that, Kirsty (and thank you for making it all easy to find) BUT unless it is written in a language I do not understand, or I missed a bit ..... where the bit about the location of the nozzle or hole or whatever that the garage matey (or amateur mechanic) puts the stuff in (or indeed where he gets the old stuff out)?

Oil and its ilk I can cope with, but air conditioning seems to be beyond my comprehension. I shall not be tackling (ever) it and am maybe asking on behalf as others who may be as daft as myself when it comes to gleaning information. I am getting someone proper to do it for me when he does my service (although I forgot to mention the a/c at the time of booking ).

[dp bradford]

... ..... where the bit about the location of the nozzle or hole or whatever that the garage matey (or amateur mechanic) puts the stuff in (or indeed where he gets the old stuff out)?..... ...

The high pressure port is located centrally just in front of the radiator behind the front grill - mine has a cap with an 'H' marked on it.

The low pressure port (used if you have a D-I-Y kit) is accessed by removing the air intake (big flat-ish ducting mounted just on top but behind the radiator) - the low pressure port is then just about visible behind the radiator.

Probably not very good descriptions, to be honest I struggled to follow everyone else's posts at first when I was dealing with this problem - if you need photos let me know Don't get me started on bleeding the coolant - although it's easier than you would imagine actually!

Dave

[Alison01326]

Thank you - they are lovely descriptions. Understood by me, anyway!!

Unlikely that I shall ever do anything more technical than checking levels, topping things up and putting air in the tyres though.

I will only let one person work on my Bongo, and that's Allan in Plymouth (I won't even let my husband touch it which is not very fair at all to him, as I am sure he would be more than capable).

[tridentlee]

cheers folks, off down to my local kwik fit to see if any of the numptys that work there have ever heard of a mazda bongo let alone tried to re gass the air con on one, will let you know the outcome.,..,.,

[mikeonb4c]

cheers folks, off down to my local kwik fit to see if any of the numptys that work there have ever heard of a mazda bongo let alone tried to re gass the air con on one, will let you know the outcome.,..,.,

Good luck. In fairness, my local numpty was actually very nice. He tested it and reckoned the air was coming out cool enough and probably wouldn't benefit from a refill, so no charge. And he said they don't charge unless they get a result for you

[Scott]

Had mine done yesterday, what a difference!

According to my Aircon friend after I told him all the info I got from here he told me, that the 750g +/- 50g figure that Missfixit got from the label on Cabte's dual system, is probably the correct official figure and then with a 'pipework' allowance 950g is the correct amount to put into the system.

Charged me £35 for a vac, leak test, uv dye and refill

now the van not only looks cool, it feels cool too

[Scott]

Older air con systems used a far nastier refrigerant (R12 ???).

Nothing nasty about R12, its just not environmentally friendly, if you want nasty then some unscrupulous B's recharge aircon systems with propane, it will work just fine but god help you if you were to have a front end crash

[apole]

Hi Scott,

Nearly had a heart attack when I read your post at 750g, I had mine recharged a few weeks ago and got the figure wrong at 1150 so went back and had it redone (luckily the guy is very good and only charged me a very small fee 2nd time around). Had visions of needing to go back a third time and looking a right fool !!!!

Mike, mine was working very well before I took it in, but it only had 550g of R134 and only 1ml of the PAG oil. I'm no expert but I think the oil is important to keep the seals lubricated and stop them failing. Anyone know more on this?

My local KF isn't up to much, last year had my smart regassed there as they had a good offer on. Very cocky about done loads before etc, so I said okay then if you need to know anything let me know. 20 mins later they come back into the office to ask where the fill points are, theyd been looking in the back inside the engine bay !!

Made them agree that I took the necessary panel off and watch them start the machine, glad I did as there was more than one model of my car. So in summary my experience there wasn't good, but it all depends on the staff, some are better than others.

[tridentlee]

had the system re gassed, now a bit colder but the guy said that the fan dosent seem to be going fast enough when on top speed, cant remember how fast the fan was on my bongo which was stolen , any ideas ?

[missfixit70]

had the system re gassed, now a bit colder but the guy said that the fan dosent seem to be going fast enough when on top speed, cant remember how fast the fan was on my bongo which was stolen , any ideas ?

If you mean the actual heater/ac fan, then this Faq should point you at the answer - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 43&t=28727 Could be the fan's got a bit wet, resistor packs a bit iffy, or it could be a matter of the evap matrix has got a bit blocked/gunged up with crud blowing through, easy enough to take off the fan ducting & clean it out, Look at the factsheet on fan repair to help with the removal.

[ste]

just a point. if your(or your mechanic) is in any doubt weather r12 is in the system or not then you will have to have the system evacuated at a specialist outfit before refilling with r134. this is because most (if not all) a/c machines dont actually put new refrigerant in. it empties your system and refills to the correct weight,so the gas is always recycled.
most modern machines automatically mix the pag oil when recharging anyway so theres not a worry about that.. and yes as previous post mention pag oil is in there to stop the seals and 'o' rings becoming hard and brittle.

a point to mention aswell is you should use you a/c 12 months a year even in cold weather,at least once a week (yes you can use it on HOT aswell.. it will work nicely to clear condensation on cold days). if you dont then the oil lays at the lowest point in the pipes and the seals will harden..hence leak slightly when you next use it resulting in more frequant re-gasses.

one last thing,most main dealers (i know toyota do) are fighting for a/c servicing cus its nearly all profit. toyota dealers are doing a regas and an evapo fresh (a bacteria killing treatment that gets right into all the vents and condensor) for about £60,so it would be a better option than the likes of kwic fit ect..