Cab Air Con (Fiat Ducato)

[IRHP]

Mine is about 5 degrees after regassing last year at 3 years old. Been fine since, don't know where the gas went but before the regas it was only blowing it at a few degrees below outside air temp. You don't need any special thermometer

 

[jezport]

Our aiircon didn't feel cool enough just after the warranty ran out. Got a specialist out who noticed pag oil in the large refil cap. Fiat had cross threaded the valve from new. Luckily he was able to do. This was 4 years ago, and I've just had it regassed again as there was a Groupon deal £43.00 It tends to loose half its gas in 3.5 to 4 years.

 

[ontheroadagain]

I just realised I didn’t update this thread. The aircon had lost its gas due to a pipe rubbing against a bracket which had wore a hole in it allowing the gas to escape. The pipe was replaced under warranty and it worked well for a while but is now not working properly again. It is booked in with Fiat again next week.

 

[4b2b2b]

I had to have our AC re gassed last year (3 years old). It was never really cold from new but when it was re gassed it was great. I suspect it was never fully gassed from new.
It cost £70 from a very professional guy with fully equipped van with all the equipment he needed. Well worth the money.

 

[sfrain145]

Mine is about 5 degrees after regassing last year at 3 years old. Been fine since, don't know where the gas went but before the regas it was only blowing it at a few degrees below outside air temp. You don't need any special thermometer

well here goes a super rant, so my van has never had cold air con if at all so I decided to get it looked at, using the fiat professional place closest to me as it was in for its two year old service earlier this year. so the other day I had it booked in and they rang to say it needed a new pipe this has 3000 miles on the clock and 4 months out of warranty, they wanted £768 to replace it and regas it so I said no problem.
I called fiat customer support to ask of some help as this isn't really acceptable on such a new vehicle and they set up a case and emailed me over the request info like v5 and service history etc, I went and collected the van this morning all done and they gave me the old pipe that looks fine as I wanted to show fiat the issue. uploaded all the info and within 25 min they said sorry we can't help with compensation as you have already paid the bill ???? what is that supposed to mean ?? I called and they said I hadn't follow their process but they never at any point told me no to pay the bill, I called the dealer and they said we wouldn't release the vehicle without payment and its needs to be out and paid asap due to the size, never heard anything so mad, I have escalated it to someone higher up so we will see, I only want to be helped with the payment as I feel it never worked but now its amazing.

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[ontheroadagain]

they gave me the old pipe that looks fine

Mine was replaced under warranty but to be honest I suspect there was nothing wrong with it as replacing it didn't fully resolve the problem.

 

[gus-lopez]

called the dealer and they said we wouldn't release the vehicle without payment and its needs to be out and paid asap due to the size,

That's why a friend of mine never pays if he considers it warranty work. He let's them disassemble, identify fault ,then expressly refuses permission to do any work until manufacturer agrees to pay. Nothing dealers can do about it apart from refuse custom at outset. He even got daughters gearbox where a pin dropped out replaced foc by vw after identifying that it was a common problem eu wide which should have been a recall.

 

[sfrain145]

Mine was replaced under warranty but to be honest I suspect there was nothing wrong with it as replacing it didn't fully resolve the problem.

Jokers
did you get it sorted in the end, this just boils my blood

 

[sfrain145]

That's why a friend of mine never pays if he considers it warranty work. He let's them disassemble, identify fault ,then expressly refuses permission to do any work until manufacturer agrees to pay. Nothing dealers can do about it apart from refuse custom at outset. He even got daughters gearbox where a pin dropped out replaced foc by vw after identifying that it was a common problem eu wide which should have been a recall.

I like that idea to be honest maybe, good advice for us all in the future, but I just wanted my van back so probably my fault.

 

[ontheroadagain]

did you get it sorted in the end, this just boils my blood

Still not fully resolved.
It is an intermittent problem - the air con works most of the time but sometimes it just stops working for no apparent reason.
(It has been regassed and there are no signs of any leaks).
I had it back with Fiat, but on the day it worked perfectly, so they just said it is working fine, there is nothing we can do.
I replaced the pressure sensor this week, but as the problem was intermittent I will need to drive it for a few days to see if that has made any difference.

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[Insider]

Probably of little help to anyone but had my 2016 van serviced just before leaving for France/Spain a month ago and mechanic mentioned aircon belt was beginning to show wear but would be fine and he'd replace it when I got back. Down in Girona(and down with Covid) and heard a crunch when driving. Found part of the belt melted into my front right tyre. Continued to Carcassone(sweltering) and called into a Fiat garage there when better. 40mins later and €200 I had a new belt and aircon was back working. I felt ridden but also felt cool for the rest of the journey

 

[Sleeveless]

Manufacturer will only cover a re-gas if a component is found to be leaking as a result of a manufacturing defect . This gives the dealer a headache, as the time taken to find a leak cannot be reclaimed unless said leak is found. The fact that the system is working suggests any leak would be tiny. Extracting the gas for measurement may reveal any shortfall in the gas content then refilling with a dye may help.

 

[Sleeveless]

Still not fully resolved.
It is an intermittent problem - the air con works most of the time but sometimes it just stops working for no apparent reason.
(It has been regassed and there are no signs of any leaks).
I had it back with Fiat, but on the day it worked perfectly, so they just said it is working fine, there is nothing we can do.
I replaced the pressure sensor this week, but as the problem was intermittent I will need to drive it for a few days to see if that has made any difference.

Could be the evaporator sensor detecting ice formation , rightly or wrongly...seen many of these changed for the symptom you've described.

 

[sfrain145]

what happened to the days of when things actually worked as they should and for a good few years, now everything is plastic, event things like rocker covers, water pumps,oil pumps inlet manifolds, remember when these were metal, throw away society

 

[sfrain145]

I have just had a look at a van we are rebuilding and the air con pipe they have replaced is so easy to get to they charged £500 labour to replace it is super daylight robbery as I could have replaced it in I say less than an hour, I wondered why my dash cam was disconnected,

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[Richard n Ann]

Mine still working great at 10 years old, I did put some gas in about 4 years ago when it suddenly stopped cooling, must have just lost enough gas to stop working , never found the leak and it's not leaked out since I do carry 1kg of R134a and a cheapo ebay suction gauge just in case.

 

[ctc]

I was told by a reputable mechanic that aircon should be topped up roughly at 2 year intervals. Did my car and van myself, both took 1 can to reach the correct pressure. Cost just short of £50.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I was told by a reputable mechanic that aircon should be topped up roughly at 2 year intervals. Did my car and van myself, both took 1 can to reach the correct pressure. Cost just short of £50.

They should never be topped up really.
Modern refrigerants are a zeotropic mix of 2 or more refrigerants and when there is a leak the one with the highest evaporating pressure can leak out first making the blend proportions incorrect. To do the job correctly the whole lot needs recovering and the correct charge weighing in.

That's why you always charge liquid refrigerant ie with dip tube or bottle inverted.

You will most likely get away with "topping up" though, I've done it myself I'm just saying, sometimes when you don't get away with it, the pressures are all correct but there's not a lot of cooling going on

 

[LostInSpace]

The air con in our 18 month old motorhome doesn't feel very cold.

Sounds fasmiliar.

The “aircon man” says many motors are not fully charged from new so not too cold at 18 months wouldn’t be unusual

Interesting. that could well explain it. Would give a better fuel consumption when new. (and test cheating?)

 

[jezport]

I recently instructed my friend how to deal with an out of warranty adblu issue.
Fiat professional dealer has already contacted Fiat and been refused help towards the £500+ bill.
I told him to call Fiat Camper Assist, they took 5 days to let him know they would pay the bill in full. Never pay first they won't pay as they get a lower rate. This is another reason not to let the dealer contact Fiat as its not going to get them as much money for a warranty job.

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[cyberyacht]

Just had OH's car regassed. At ten years old I can't complain.

 

[Sleeveless]

Sounds fasmiliar.

Interesting. that could well explain it. Would give a better fuel consumption when new. (and test cheating?)

Less gas content means more compressor action required to achieve cooling, so that would mean higher fuel consumption, These so -called specialists can certainly spin a yarn....

 

[MTB Deano]

Info from Halfords web site....not sure I believe this....

 

[dunnah01]

what happened to the days of when things actually worked as they should and for a good few years, now everything is plastic, event things like rocker covers, water pumps,oil pumps inlet manifolds, remember when these were metal, throw away society

Not sure there are any plastic bits in a typical air con system tbh (except the dash buttons)

 

[Googlebot]

Well, mine is 11 years old. When I had it at 6 years old I took it to a specialist for a regas and he told me it didn’t need it.

Currently in the Alps and it was 34 degrees today. It’s kept the whole motorhome at a comfortable 20 degrees with no effort at all.

Turned the engine off at the Aire and melted.

If it’s working, it’s working.

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[Richard n Ann]

Info from Halfords web site....not sure I believe this....



View attachment 934043

Wow I'm amazed they can get away with that, just goes to show they aren't AC engineers,, just salesmen. Lots of people will fall for it though, even funsters when they've been told

 

[sfrain145]

Not sure there are any plastic bits in a typical air con system tbh (except the dash buttons)

You are possibly right most of it is aluminium and high pressure tubing with around half a KG of R134 A or if it’s the new one the really expensive version.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Has anyone put R134a in a R12345689yf system? It says definitely not on line but they would say that wouldn't they
The oil is the same and pressures similar so I'm betting it would work

 

[sfrain145]

There will be some AC specialist on here but I know people who use the old stuff in a new system as it runs colder but I have no idea

 

[ontheroadagain]

If it’s working, it’s working

I wish I could say that about mine.
It worked perfectly for 70 miles on Friday.
Blowing 5 deg at the vents.
Coming home early this afternoon it worked for 5 minutes then stopped. Just went out and started the engine 15 minutes ago and it is now working again! It is booked in with an auto electrician on Wednesday. If he can’t fix it I really don’t know what to do next.

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