Car air conditioning Montmorillon or near by.

[Fred]

Does anyone know of a Car air conditioning specialist. (Not an all-round garage, an actual specialist in air con for cars) ?

Always had good service from Norauto in Montmorillon see other thread Puncture repair in Montmorillon but now I've had a bad experience with them.

We decided to get our air conditioning checked and serviced as it's not a diy job, and as Norauto had an offer on we thought that'll do as they have done other work for us and been ok.

Took it in and an hour later drove off with nice fresh cool air, two days later we had to go to Potiers and on the way back the air conditioning although set to 18.5 started blowing out Hot Air. By the time we got home it was warmer inside than outside.

I went back to Norauto, and they asked me to bring it back when the technician would be there. I went back and they did the whole service again and it worked fine ............................. that is till I got home and it was blowing hot again.

Went back again and was asked to take it Saturday morning when the boss mechanic will be there. As I had a couple of days to wait I decided to ask around on the internet and via email with someone I knew in the UK , I was told by a very reliable source that my particular model needed 650 Grms of gas but my invoice from Norauto said they had added 1050 Grms!

On the Saturday I took an email from my reliable source to Norauto and they agreed "They had indeed put in to much gas" They drained it and refilled to the right amount and off I went in my nice cool car.

Gets home and yep you guessed it, it's blowing out hot air. My reliable source told me they may have damaged the air con as it was way over pressure, so I went straigt back this time Not Happy They drained it filled it, gave me back my money and suggested I go to an Air conditioning specialist and get a full report before they can take the matter any further.

I asked them to recommend one and they wouldn't, but it has to be a specialist. Oh and I have to pick up the bill too even though I'm driving around in a car with no air con.

So if anyone does know of a car air con specialist near to Montmorillon please let me know.

*And if you are thinking of having your air con serviced I would give Norauto a miss as they obviously don't know what they are doing where a specialist job is concerned.

[Brian]

Hi Fred,
I have been recommended a company on the other side of Confolens, and I'm taking my car there next week to have its air con sorted (I hope).

Jordan's Auto Services, 06 58 11 49 44
Jautoservices.weebly.com
B

[Fred]

Hi Fred,
I have been recommended a company on the other side of Confolens, and I'm taking my car there next week to have its air con sorted (I hope).

Jordan's Auto Services, 06 58 11 49 44
Jautoservices.weebly.com
B

Thanks Brian, but they did make a point of saying a specialist in air con only, I did mention another garage but they kept saying a specialist.

They are obviously washing there hands of it and making it difficult, but knowing how things go in France with legal paperwork I better get a specialist in air con only. Should it turn out I can prove they caused the problem and have damaged it, they won't have a leg to stand on. But if I use another garage they will say "We told you to go to a specialist"

[Brian]

My mistake - they were recommended to me as a specialist but it looks as if they are more general purpose. Sorry I couldn't help.
Brian

[Fred]

My mistake - they were recommended to me as a specialist but it looks as if they are more general purpose. Sorry I couldn't help.
Brian

Yes it looks like they do a bit of everything, I've had it done before by other garages and it's been fine. So in your case you should be ok, having said that after my latest experience I will be going to a specialist in future. (If I can find one)

[curryman86]

Hi Fred, did you ever get you A/C in your car sorted, I have only just read your post, for it to work then stop working twice sounds like a leak to me, needs dye adding to the system mind you if it stops after such a short time it's sounds like a big leak and should be easy to find, please let me know how you got on with it, hope it was solved.
All the best
Stephen

[Fred]

Hi Fred, did you ever get you A/C in your car sorted, I have only just read your post, for it to work then stop working twice sounds like a leak to me, needs dye adding to the system mind you if it stops after such a short time it's sounds like a big leak and should be easy to find, please let me know how you got on with it, hope it was solved.
All the best
Stephen

Hello Stephen, we have used it couple of times so far and it worked nice for a while then one day it didn't. They did check for leaks and reported there were none, I won't go back there as it was working fine before they charged it.

I do have someone nearby that has said he could have a look if it kept it up, he doesn't have the machine needed to do the job, but mentioned something about me buying the gas and he will see what he can do.

It's still not been hot enough when I've been out in the car, but Mrs Fred the other day said it was not working (She is rubbish with buttons) I took it out for a run fiddled with the buttons and for some reason it started working again by taking it off auto and putting it interior and full fan. Having said that the next day it wasn't working as well, so I put it back on auto and it worked all the way to Poitiers and back. Since then I haven't tried it, but there doesn't seem to be any leaks that should'nt be there or anything out of the ordinary apart from it seems to work sometimes and then not others.

I don't really want to go throwing more money at it by buying gas and letting someone look at it that doesn't have the equipment, it's not that I don't trust him as he has done some excellent work for us before. But the way I understand it you need the equipment to get it right, I was thinking of waiting till I see another garage have an offer and give it to them to see what they can do.

The trouble is although I got my €40 odd back from Norauto it must have cost me that in diesel for return trips, and the damn thing was working when I took it in. You think I should know by now if it aint broke don't fix it, but as she hadn't been done for a long time we thought we would give her a treat. (Wished I hadn't of done now)

[Brian]

I forgot to post the result of taking my car to Jordan's Auto Services.
Paul is a qualified car air con repairer/technician and has all the tools - plus charts covering the specifics of just about every car with air con.

My air con wasn't working before the visit despite having had two regases in recent months. In both cases the aircon worked for about a week.

Paul removed the old gas then added the correct amount of gas for my car. Turned the aircon on, and by measuring the temperature of the coldest air (about 12 degrees) it could produce he deduced that it was still not working properly. He diagnosed that a valve in the system had stuck open. The previous garage had suggested this may be the problem but replacing it was to cost €300 - €400. Paul took the gas out then applied a vacuum to one end of the system, then the other end of this system. Apparently, this frees the valve in 9/10 cases.
He then regased and tested again and this time the cold air was down to 4.5 degrees.

The aircon is still working perfectly (after 8 months) and the total cost was €50 for 3 hours work and a regas. Remarkably good value I think.

I hope you get yours fixed now the good weather may be on its way...
Brian

[Fred]

I forgot to post the result of taking my car to Jordan's Auto Services.
Paul is a qualified car air con repairer/technician and has all the tools - plus charts covering the specifics of just about every car with air con.

My air con wasn't working before the visit despite having had two regases in recent months. In both cases the aircon worked for about a week.

Paul removed the old gas then added the correct amount of gas for my car. Turned the aircon on, and by measuring the temperature of the coldest air (about 12 degrees) it could produce he deduced that it was still not working properly. He diagnosed that a valve in the system had stuck open. The previous garage had suggested this may be the problem but replacing it was to cost €300 - €400. Paul took the gas out then applied a vacuum to one end of the system, then the other end of this system. Apparently, this frees the valve in 9/10 cases.
He then regased and tested again and this time the cold air was down to 4.5 degrees.

The aircon is still working perfectly (after 8 months) and the total cost was €50 for 3 hours work and a regas. Remarkably good value I think.

I hope you get yours fixed now the good weather may be on its way...
Brian

Sounds good enough to me Brian, I think I will be giving him a call.

[curryman86]

Hi Fred
Having not seen the car but now having the full story or at least more of the story it sounds more like a control fault, maybe a sensor (which is part of the control circuit) if the A/C works OK sometimes the actual A/C is OK, what controls the system to start & stop sounds as if it has a fault.
Being 'old school' I don't need a chart to tell me how much refrigerant should go into a system.
I think you would have a problem buying refrigerant (what you call the gas) as you need a refrigerant handling licence, https://www.acrib.org.uk/M6LEVN80958.

I don't know the make or model of your car and as differeant manufacturers control the A/C system differently it's not always a simle task to find the fault.
If you want to pop over to me for a fresh cup of coffee I'll take a look, it's a freebie so don't panic ...

All the best
Stephen