L322 Aircon

hi guys had my aircon regassed around mid - end june as it stopped blowing cold air and has been working fine, until this morning. it's now not getting cold again, the centre vent is definitely blowing ambient air whilst it is slightly cold from side vents. checking the pipework under the bonnet, the pipe which is usually cold is only slightly cold. compressor is kicking in and i'm getting an occasional whoosh sound as gas is circulating. i'm guessing i have a slow leak somewhere. so without throwing loads of money at it, where do i start? i see the condenser is quite common and is something i've not replaced in the 3 years i've had the car.

Seems you may have a leak are u running the AC in the air recirculation mode? or trying to cool a very warm outside temperature.

Anyway where you start is by getting a Professional auto AC firm to check fo leaks and regas or advise on any replacements if or as required, for around £45 in my part of the world.

i'm running the AC in auto recirculation mode, but is on all the time it's been cooling absolutely fine, until today. this happened sometime over winter as well but no leaks were detected, well no major leaks, but there is still some gas in the system.

Okay, if not a refrigerant issue does your AC system have a owner onboard diagnostic feature, if not then it needs to be plugged-in to find no doubt something relatively simple such as a faulty temp sensor or air blender servo.
Test and don't guess.

yes i have all comms i have plugged it in and tested the hevac system which is all i can access heating/cooling wise and it's showing no faults, i don't know if there is any other test procedure on the l322 but i don't want to spend cash getting it refilled to have it fail again in a few weeks. but i would of thought system would completely empty if it was a leak, but it may still be leaking

Leaks can be pressure dependant

think i may get it booked in somewhere again and get it checked. i have a feeling it could be the condenser as it's not been changed certainly since i've owned the car, although it does look like it has been changed at some point in the past.

I've never had issues with AC, but to be prepared I found this site and whom are not afraid to give out info on this subject. They are not in your area but just fo info.
http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/
http://www.autoacspecialist.com/

Mine was condenser and had to be diagnosed by a specialist and then i changed it myself. if you change yours, use the slam panel removal method as very easy to just slide the condenser up and out.

You could try quik**** first ? Don't they have a "free if if leaks" policy or similar ? No need to get them to do the work, just get a UV lamp, and take it with you to use in their car park.

discool said:

I've never had issues with AC, but to be prepared I found this site and whom are not afraid to give out info on this subject. They are not in your area but just fo info.
http://www.ac4cars.co.uk/
http://www.autoacspecialist.com/

Click to expand...

great info here, well done..!

I'd get a uv torch off ebay, get the system running and have a look, you sgoul dbe able to see the dye from the leak.