Air Con - Geen light but no life

[Jimbob1979]

My aircon always had an orange light on the switch and did not work so last year I tool it to a garage and they recharged it and it worked for the summer. Just tried it today and although the light on the switch is still green rather than orange it does not appear to be working.

Does anyone know if this is suggestive of low gas or another issue?

Thanks

[Bongoplod]

My aircon always had an orange light on the switch and did not work so last year I tool it to a garage and they recharged it and it worked for the summer. Just tried it today and although the light on the switch is still green rather than orange it does not appear to be working.

Does anyone know if this is suggestive of low gas or another issue?

Thanks

Must admit,on the 3 Bongos ive had ,I`ve not seen 2 coloured lights on the Air Con

Brian

[Bongolia]

I am not familiar with the AC indicator lights on the Bongo.
However the simplest way forward from the leakage point of view would be to take the vehicle to a garage that has modern AC equipment like Halfords or slimier.
FYI our system works in the following way. After connecting the machine will evacuate all the gasses in your system and measure the weight collected , it will then calculate against the manufacturers specs the amount of refrigerant and lubricant required to refill your system. It then performs a vacuum test where it holds the vacuum for a timed period. If this is successful it will pressure the system using Nitrogen and carry out another timed period to ensure no loss under pressure . If this is OK it will refill the system using the correct weight of gas, we, but not all, garages also add an amount of ultraviolet dye that should you have any leakage in the future it can be detected easily using an ultraviolet lamp.
At the end of the process the operator will carry out a function test by placing a THERMOMETER CONNECTED TO THE MACHINE AND OPERATE YOUR a?c. AFTER COMPLETION YOU SHOULD RECEIVE A PRINT OUT THAT WILL SHOW THE DURATION OF THE VACUUM AND PRESSURE TESTS , THE AMOUNT OF REFRIGERANT ADDED, THE LOADED WEIGHT OF REFRIGERANT AND THE TIME IT TOOK TO LOWER THE TEMPERATURE IN THE VEHICLE RELATIVE TO THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE.
Bl@@dy caps lock key why do they put it there?
You need to be aware that natural seepage through the "rubber" pipes does occur over time and if your pipes are a bit long in the tooth seepage may occur at a faster rate. Normally this kind of seepage will not be detected by the above tests. However if you need to have your system re gassed annually and there are no obvious leakage points this may well be the cause. In which case you should have the flexible hoses and seals changed. If you ask that that an indicator dye be added to the refrigerant then it may help detect these kinds of losses.
Halfords sometimes have a special on re-gasses just make sure that they carry out the above checks and that they will be able to supply you with the print out. Charge for this service is around 60.00 UKP but as stated they do have special offers.
Personally I would not recommend the use the AC`s equivalent of rad weld available on the market but obviously economics will be a factor in that choice
Hope that is of some help.

[Bongolia]

An addendum to the above.
Most, but not all, AC system compressors are dependent on the lubricant in the refrigerant. So put simply no refrigerant normally means no lubricant and the potential for expensive damage to the compressor. It is best if you intend to defer repair or to not repair that the drive belt is removed and a smaller drive belt fitted to exclude that pulley. Thus taking the compressor out of rotation.

[wonkanoby]

diesel the a/c is alone so just belt removal needed

i can recommend wechillanycar.com

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... f7FjtqLOhA

[rita]

An addendum to the above.
Most, but not all, AC system compressors are dependent on the lubricant in the refrigerant. So put simply no refrigerant normally means no lubricant and the potential for expensive damage to the compressor. It is best if you intend to defer repair or to not repair that the drive belt is removed and a smaller drive belt fitted to exclude that pulley. Thus taking the compressor out of rotation.

On these particular vehicles , no refrigerant would mean no pressure, no pressure would mean that the compressor clutch would not engage leaving the pump inoperative , the belt can then be left as is.

Good Luck.

[Jimbob1979]

I would assume that as the light on the switch is showing Green rather than Orange that this would suggest that there is pressure in the system. I'm happy to take it to a garage if it is pressure but don't want to pay £70 to find out it is not the problem. I take it the switch engages the clutch on the compressor but is there a fuse or anything else electrical in the circuit which could be causing the problem?

[Northern Bongolow]

to test if its just pressure thats stopping it working do the following.

switch the unit to on and make sure the fan is on too. turn ignition on then lift the bonnet behind the front grill screwed to the front of the rad is the viewing spy hole on the top of the liquid bottle see link.
on top is a 2 wire plug, pull off the plug and short the plug across with a bit of wire, the compressor should click in and out.

if it doesnt it is a mechanical fault or belt issue etc.

http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... 02.html#22

[Jimbob1979]

Thanks. I will give this a go and see what happens