For the next 3 days only we offer 5% off all BMW car air conditioning parts, including compressors, condensers, driers, valves etc

Use coupon code BMWMay for the discount. Expires 12th May 2012. Visit our shop now www.autoairconparts.co.uk

For this bank holiday weekend we have a special 5% discount off ALL Audi car air conditioning parts, including Audi compressors, condensers, driers, etc via our online store at www.autoairconparts.co.uk.

Just enter the discount code AUDI2012 when paying to get the discount. Offer ends Tuesday 8th May.

On the contact us pages of this website, for each car air conditioning franchise we use an 0845 phone number for them to be contacted. We’re looking at changing that so that each area has their own local phone number, e.g. 0121 for Birmingham, 0161 for Manchester etc.

But we’d like our customers feedback before we implement this. Would you prefer to call a local phone number, a number in your area, or is an 0845 number fine? Or indeed call a mobile number? There are also 033 numbers which cost the same for you, the customer to call as calling your neighbour, so they can be used as part of your mobile call allowance for example.

So, if you have time, perhaps you could complete our simple survey on our Facebook site, here.

Over 300 new air conditioning consumables now in store over at our parts store, here, including aircon oils, UV dye, charging equipment, bacteria spray etc, all at discount prices. Many more coming soon.

After the customary cup of tea was made while Dave connected the hoses, pressure gauges and digital temperature display it was time to start up the cat and see what the system was doing. Immediately the problem was apparent to Dave (took a few minutes to explain to me) that the low pressure side of the system should not be at 25 bar! This ruled out the pressure sensor which I had previously been told about and also kindly mentioned by Martyn on the Jaguar forums. So this left the possibility of a blockage in the system possibly caused by the compressor breaking down, a blocked strainer or a stuck strainer due to lack of oil.

Dave suggested the best course of action would be to de-gas the system fully and then fully vacuum to ensure all the old gas and rubbish is removed and then re-gas with “NEW” gas (explanation to follow) and new oil, if this didn’t work then he would de-gas the system again and strip out and replace the strainer which he had picked up on the way to me just in case. Out of interest and taking into account I had paid a good amount of money for the system to be re-gassed last year, Dave put the old gas can on a set of scales so we could see the amount of gas I had received last year (less 15 to 20% natural annual loss) after a thorough de-gas 205g of gas was removed which apparently was just about enough for the system to work. With a completely empty system Dave then re-gassed the system with new oil and 735g of gas which is the recommended amount for my car and then started the car, switched the AC onto full and watched the gauges.

Instantly the gauges showed the the stuck strainer ha now been released by the new oil and the temperature guage in the air vent started to drop, and it continued right down to just under 4 degrees and then hovered between 3.8 and 4.5 degrees. In the 5 years I have owned the car (and 3 re-gasses) I have never seen it that cold OR stayed that cold for a few seconds. The pump now runs for longer and stops for a shorter time than before which is completely opposite to what it was doing before, its quieter and the engine doesn’t drop its revs so much on tickover with the AC cutting in and out and of course the inside of the car now cools down very quickly. It was fantastic when I took it out for a drive yesterday, even having to add a little bit of heat for the inside to remain comfortable which is something I have never done before with this car.

By the time the job was done Dave had spent just over 2 hours working on my car and the difference now is unbelievable, I’m not sure if it is the fact that the system is quieter, lubricated properly or both but it now seems to drive better as well with the AC on, before I could tell when the compressor cut in as I could feel the loss of power but that has now gone as well. So what did it cost me, the total was £59 inclusive plus I bought a can of Air Conditioning Anti-Bacteria spray for an additional £5 (previously purchased from Halfords for £12!) so the total came to a very pleasing £64. The only drawback I can see now is I am going to have to spend another £100 on jumpers to keep warm

Explanation of “NEW” gas.
I asked a few questions while Dave was here…. ok maybe more than a few! One thing that came to light was “SOME” automatic re-gassing machines that garages (not AC engineers) use are fully automatic and need very little training to use, which is an advantage as two connections can be made to the AC system that even an idiot can work out, press the go button and then the mechanic (or fitter) can get on with other work. This means the garage is profiting by one guy doing two jobs. What REALLY surprised me was the fact that these automatic machines de-gas you system, filter and dry the gas and then put it back into your system with only a small amount of NEW gas to ensure the correct amount is replaced. So in short, you are paying for your own OLD gas to be put back into your car!! (Dave’s disclaimer: not all machines are the same!) My thought: Huge profits!

Many thanks to this from Daniel Slade who also posted this review on www.jaguarforum.co.uk

Our Northampton car air conditioning franchisee is soon launching a new service, ECU Re-mapping.

This service will add more power and more fuel economy to your car. More details coming soon. But, in the meantime, don’t forget he still offers a full car air conditioning service, recharge (regas) and repair.

Dave, in Northampton can be contacted here. More details coming soon.

Make sure your car air conditioning is ready and working for the hot days ahead. Offers now on. We have mobile aircon services, coming to your home or place of work in and around Birmingham, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Manchester, Reading, Liverpool, Northampton and Basildon. Find out more here

Our latest franchisee has now started. Ian Parkinson will be providing full car air conditioning services, including parts fitting, regassing, repair, recharge and fault diagnosis.

He will be based in Formby, and cover Liverpool, St Helens, and much of Merseyside. We’ll add some photos soon but in the meantime he can be contacted on 0845 388 0453 or via his contact page here.

We wish him all the best.

Welcome to Ian Parkinson, our new Cool Car Air Conditioning franchisee covering the Liverpool area from March 2012. Full details can be found here

Ian will be offering full car air conditioning services, including parts fitting, regassing, repair, recharge and fault diagnosis.

We wish him all the best in his new venture.

Welcome to Ian Parkinson, our new Cool Car Air Conditioning franchisee covering the Liverpool area from March 2012. Full details can be found here

Ian will be offering full car air conditioning services, including parts fitting, regassing, repair, recharge and fault diagnosis.

We wish him all the best in his new venture.

There are many reasons why your car air conditioning in your car is not longer cold, and in the majority of cases it’s because your system is low on refrigerant, or r134a as it’s called in the trade. You may see a sticker somewhere inside your engine bay with r134a written on it, so now you know what it means. So if it’s low on gas that can easily be rectified by one of our technicians.

But sometimes it’s more serious than that, and you may have a leak. You lose refrigerant over the years naturally, so expect after 3 years or so to need an aircon regas, but you may also lose gas (refrigerant) through a leak. To test for a leak the technician will add a UV dye to the system as part of a full car air conditioning service.

Of course there are many other reasons your car air conditioning doesn’t work. Check back here again as we add more news.