Car air conditioning service

We service, repair and regas car air conditioning. Most systems don’t fail all at once. They fade a bit each summer, and you don’t notice until the first hot week. We’ll check it, tell you what we found, and quote it before anything happens.

Signs your car air conditioning needs looking at

• It never gets really cold any more.
• It takes far longer to get cold than it used to.
• It works on some drives and not others.
• Airflow has dropped, even on the highest fan setting.
• There’s a musty smell for the first minute after you turn it on.
• The windscreen takes longer to demist on a wet morning.

What an air conditioning service involves

An air conditioning system is a sealed loop. A compressor, a condenser at the front of the car, an evaporator behind the dash, and refrigerant carrying heat from one to the other. Every system loses a little refrigerant over time through seals and joints, which is why a system that has done ten summers is rarely as cold as it was new.

A service means checking how the system performs, looking for leaks, checking the drive belt and the compressor, and inspecting the cabin filter. A regas puts the refrigerant back to the level the manufacturer specifies for that car.

There’s no point regassing a system that’s leaking. If it’s low, something let it out, and finding that is part of the job. We will never sell you something you don’t need, so we’d rather find the leak than fill it twice.

A musty smell usually comes from the evaporator and a cabin filter that’s due. Cabin and air filter replacement is a small job, and it often clears up the smell and the airflow together.

Air conditioning and your logbook service

Cabin filters are on the manufacturer’s schedule for most cars, so the air conditioning is worth mentioning when you book a logbook service. If the rego is due at the same time, the eSafety check can be scheduled into the same visit, which saves a separate trip for a pink slip.

What to tell us when you book

Say what changed and when you first noticed. Whether it takes longer to get cold than it used to, whether it works on some drives and not others, and whether the airflow itself feels different. If it’s making a noise, tell us whether the noise comes and goes with the button. If the car is in for other repairs, mention it then.

Questions about car air conditioning

How often should car air conditioning be serviced?

There’s no single rule for every car. A system used all year loses a little refrigerant over time and gets slowly less cold. If it isn’t as cold as it was last summer, that’s the sign to have it checked.

Why is it cold on the motorway but warm in traffic?

That pattern often points to airflow through the condenser at the front of the car, which depends on the fans once you’ve stopped. It can also be a system that’s low on refrigerant. The two have different fixes, so it’s worth checking which one it is.

Can you just do a regas?

We can regas a system once we know it’s holding. A system that’s low has lost refrigerant somewhere, and putting more in without finding out where means doing the job twice.

Does the air conditioning use more fuel?

Running the compressor puts load on the engine, so it does use a little more. A system in good condition reaches temperature faster and runs the compressor less.