What's next to check after re-gassing?

[Sparticus]

Air con was not supplying cool air, so I've just had it re-gassed by a mobile re-gassing man.
Air is now coming out cool (Colder than surrounding or outside air) but not cold, so it seems to be working, only not working very effectively.

The man said the pressure was now good and there were no leaks.
Compressor is cutting in - you can hear difference in engine revs.
All fuses are OK

Man suggested my flaps weren't opening properly. Could he be right, or was he just making that up as he didn't know the answer?

Has anyone a suggestion of what I should try next?

It's a year 2000 petrol V6
It has a digital heating control at the front with a.c. button, heating controls in the rear with just a temperature slider, direction and fan buttons, but no a.c. buttons in the back

[helen&tony]

Hi
I don't have a digital version, but under the bonnet I guess they're the same. I found that removing the heater fan and cleaning the matrix helped a lot... I brushed it out gently with a newish toothbrush, then blasted it with an air-line. There was a post from Jaylee a while back where he sealed all the gaps in the jointing faces of the under-bonnet fan assembly, and found it improved....So....if you try both of those fixes, and see if you get an improvement, the next step is to adjust the opening/ closing mechanism, then check out the sensors. The one by the little slit-vent to the right of the glovebox can sometimes be clogged with fluff, so take a peek there as well.
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Air con was not supplying cool air, so I've just had it re-gassed by a mobile re-gassing man.
Air is now coming out cool (Colder than surrounding or outside air) but not cold, so it seems to be working, only not working very effectively.

The man said the pressure was now good and there were no leaks.
Compressor is cutting in - you can hear difference in engine revs.
All fuses are OK

Man suggested my flaps weren't opening properly. Could he be right, or was he just making that up as he didn't know the answer?

Has anyone a suggestion of what I should try next?

It's a year 2000 petrol V6
It has a digital heating control at the front with a.c. button, heating controls in the rear with just a temperature slider, direction and fan buttons, but no a.c. buttons in the back

Mine has always been a bit like this. It definitely works but does no better than make a hot day a bit cooler especially through the front vents where the ducting seems to get hotter (though it cools once aircon cooled air has cooled the structure). The rear unit pushes out slightly cooler air so I have that on too for best effect, plus set air to recycle so I'm re-cooling cooled air I think. Also put electric blinds down on sunward side to reduce greenhouse effect. But you have a digital system, unlike my basic one, so there could be something extra involved.

Could I ask others - how effective do you find your Bongo aircon when it's really hot?

[helen&tony]

Hi
Mike...
As I've mentioned, it gets warmish here...yesterday was 36 C., and in July / August it gets hotter.
Well...in answer to the question...yes, it does cool nicely, but it does take a while to cool down, because of all the ducting getting warm under the bonnet and in the dash. When on a run, it gets nice and cool
The reason the back is cooler is because :
1/. The rear heater ducts are not subject to the heat of the underbonnet and the dash-top...only the roof
2/. The rear matrix doesn't get clogged with dead flies and road muck
If you have a fair degree of imbalance between the cooling in front, and cooling in the rear, it strongly suggests that the front matrix needs cleaning again...plus Jaylee's tip about sealing all the joints will help the airflow!.
I cleaned the front on mine a couple of times to get an improvement.
As for effectiveness....well, it's said that a car aircon system loses about 14% of its gas per year, so that gives 4 years maximum before a re-gas is needed, as I seem to remember reading that below 30% full, the aircon barely works. I guess it's best to re-gas every 2-3 years!
Comparing the aircon on the Bongo with other cars...yes, it works well, but the speed isn't as fast on full fan as other similarly equipped cars!
Cheers
Helen

[Sparticus]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I have no problem with taking things apart, often, I can even put them together again
But with cars my main problem is knowing where to start, I know about as much as John Snow! (Game of Thrones fans only)

Is the heater fan in the big plastic box between the drivers foot well and passengers foot well?

If so, do I use my standard technique of just removing screws and bolts, until something falls off, or is there some need-to-know secrets?

[helen&tony]

Hi
There's a fact-sheet in the members area...believe me, it's an extra-ordinarily easy task....If it looks at all daunting, (it isn't), then please ask!!!
Cheers
Helen

[teenmal]

Air con was not supplying cool air, so I've just had it re-gassed by a mobile re-gassing man.
Air is now coming out cool (Colder than surrounding or outside air) but not cold, so it seems to be working, only not working very effectively.

The man said the pressure was now good and there were no leaks.
Compressor is cutting in - you can hear difference in engine revs.
All fuses are OK

Man suggested my flaps weren't opening properly. Could he be right, or was he just making that up as he didn't know the answer?

Has anyone a suggestion of what I should try next?

It's a year 2000 petrol V6
It has a digital heating control at the front with a.c. button, heating controls in the rear with just a temperature slider, direction and fan buttons, but no a.c. buttons in the back

I would say that your man could very well be right, this system uses Mixer Flaps (air diversion)if the balance is wrong the system will not be efficient.

[Sparticus]

Right, tell me I'm not going mad please.

Starting under the bonnet, I started taking bits off, until I got the fan off and could see what looked like a radiator/heat exchanger.
Not many bugs, but it seemed to have a fine coating of dust over the tiny fins. I tried vacuuming, to no effect, I tried a toothbrush, not much happened, but after scrubbing a while, the dust rolled up in one place and I pulled it off, it came off like a sheet of paper. Eventually I set to, very carefully with fine tweezers, and peeled this coating off in strips and patches.

Now I'm not mad am I? The fins are to exchange heat and need airflow across them so they shouldn't have a filter sheet across them would they? I'm sure it's just dust, but I have a nagging doubt that it was some type of filter material and that it was supposed to be there.

It's gone now, but I would just like some assurance please

[Northern Bongolow]

ive done few myself and have never seen any filter material, but these were the older models.
most of the screens and filters appear to be on the inlet side (at the mouth of the inlet before the fan).

doesnt show anything on here.
http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... mgno=.html

[Sparticus]

All back together, not sure if there's an improvement or not. - bit disappointed, thought that was it.

On the passenger side there is a servo motor with a bar linkage, what does this do? Played with the controls, couldn't see it moving

[winchman]

Sounds like the flap that diverts the air in and out of the heater matrix is not moving correctly

[Sparticus]

Is that in the passenger foot well?

All the flaps visible from the drivers foot well seem to be moving fine.
The recirc flap is OK

Can't get off the cover on the passenger side tonight, but will have a look tomorrow.

Are there flaps anywhere else?

[teenmal]

I would say that your man could very well be right, this system uses Mixer Flaps (air diversion)if the balance is wrong the system will not be efficient.

[Sparticus]

Here's a picture of the heat exchanger; notice the strip hanging down in the middle, this is a strip of dust I've half pulled off with tweezers.



Another thing, I've realised, there was no gasket between this and the fan housing. Can you just buy sheets of stick-on foam gasket that you can cut to fit?

[Simon Jones]

This was from my last Bongo. Lots of dead things in the matrix but no thick layer of dust. Could it be someone has tried to make a pollen filter out of a pair of tights and it's all gone horribly wrong?