Hey anyone know if our car uses 134 or 1234 AC recharge? Asked by a local shop, I have no idea what they are but 134 is like under 50 bucks and 1234 runs 900 bucks.

Called dealership and quoted 399, they couldn't verify if it is 134 or 1234.

2015 f type r.

Thanks.

 

Our F's use R-134A - the cheap stuff!
BTW - there's a TSB that covers the AC in your '15 R:
https://www.cars.com/articles/2010-2...1420681139395/

 

Good to hear! I will look into the TSB, my AC is cool but not cold, it wasn't enough to cool the car down on a 90F day on the lowest setting.

I will probably pump it up first and see how it goes, as TSB usually aren't covered out of warranty.

 

Has the car ever had an air con service ? Six years is a long time and the refrigerant gas quantity will no doubt have leaked a percentage of it out over that time so that the system can't cool the car enough. Last year when I bought my SLK the air con shut down and had to be regassed, yet it was OK on the test run. It was fixed under warranty, (just a regas). All car air con systems leak a very small amount over time, and this is picked up by regular servicing and regassing. A proper air con regas machine extracts all the remaining gas, then the correct weight of gas and lubricant is put back in. Sometimes it may be necessary to check for leaks if there is no gas there at all. This is done using nitrogen under pressure. Basically the nitrogen is injected, then the pressure gauge is studied to see if the pressure drops. I know in the US people buy cans of refrigerant and just put some in but this is not really much good to be honest, as one has no idea about whether the correct weights of gas and lube are in the system.

 

A properly working A/C system is sealed, and SHOULD NOT LEAK ANY refrigerant or oil. If you are losing either, then there is a faulty component and/or leak in the system to be addressed. No gas or anything else leaves a properly functioning/sealed system (Or it would not be sealed).

Also note the A/C Spec from the shop manual: Appears to be different for different locations. FYI (NAS stands for North American Spec BTW). I would be sure to look for and check the label on your car. If a shop does not know, I would not use them at all. It is as simple as popping the bonnet and looking at the required label (see below).








Also you can check this video....Guy is hard to understand, but covers the topic (Also note: R1234 is flammable)

 

That's a good question! Pulled up the carfax and the car have had 1 dealer visit @ March 2016 @ 4200 miles for:

• Vehicle serviced
  • Recommended maintenance performed
  • Maintenance inspection completed
  • A/C refrigerant recharged
  • PCM reprogrammed
  • Safety inspection performed
  • Emissions or safety inspection performed

Judging by the AC TSB issue date(July 2016), it was probably not performed.



I was looking through the shop manual for recharge location and found the same thing, ima double check under the hood later, this is getting more complicated than it needs to be haha. If it is indeed 1234 then the dealership actually has the best rate by far, wow.

I will be back with an update.

 

[QUOTE=Therock88;2396479]A properly working A/C system is sealed, and SHOULD NOT LEAK ANY refrigerant or oil. If you are losing either, then there is a faulty component and/or leak in the system to be addressed. No gas or anything else leaves a properly functioning/sealed system (Or it would not be sealed).

Also note the A/C Spec from the shop manual: Appears to be different for different locations. FYI (NAS stands for North American Spec BTW). I would be sure to look for and check the label on your car. If a shop does not know, I would not use them at all. It is as simple as popping the bonnet and looking at the required label (see below).







Exactly what I was thinking Rock. I was EPA 608 & 609 Automotive and Universal certified in a former life. My daughter has a Kia Soul that was still under warranty and the dealer tried to charge her $250 stating that low refrigerant isn't a mechanical failure and therefore not covered under the warranty. We cleared that up real quick with the general manager, since it takes a mechanical failure for the refrigerant to leak. Most common are the high or low side Schrader valves. The dust caps are often left off allowing dirt to get in and contaminate the o-ring seals. A proper service would evacuate the system and pulled into a vacuum to check for leaks. If the system has been opened, or the dryer is saturated and replaced, then nitrogen is used to dry it. The video is spot on and the same as when the automotive industry switched from R12 to R134. I would also check the compressor oil compatibility with R134 though, not sure without looking it up. But for me, I'd use the OEM specified R1234. Just make sure they check for leaks and seal the system, much too expensive to keep having it recharged over what may amount to a $2 o-ring.

 

R1234YF at Amazon for $70.00 single can, or $120.00 for two cans.

 

It's made from real people

DC

 

Man.....been off this board for a little while and the first time back, I learn something new. Cool

 

Finally had the time to drop the car off at the dealership.

They are quoting me $12xx to recharge the system and replace the schrader valve.

This is a far cry from the originally quoted $399 and when asked for a break down, it's 4xx for the schrader valve and 6xx for the recharge, plus an additional 160 to perform another leak test after all is done, doesn't sound right to me.

I'm questioning the quote and haven't heard back yet, but most likely imma take the car back and service it somewhere else.
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I'd have thought a proper AC shop could do it for (considerably?) less than the price of the dealer's second leak test. Do you look especially gullible?

 

Yep - it's the Jaguar key fob in his hand.

 

Maybe it's the grey poupon I wasn't carrying ;p

I asked around and it seems $350 is the going rate around my area for 1234, compared to 399 and a free loaner from the dealer it wasn't a bad price, plus I was trying to get the audio and DPS TSB done at the same time if the price was reasonable. They shut me right up though, when they said any thing I wanted them to check would incur a diagnosis fee plus the cost. And now 1200 is just outrageous for the AC, waiting to hear back why the recharge alone is 6xx now and what kind of magic valve cost 4xx to replace, plus why'd I pay extra to get a test done after paying for the repair.

Don't think this is gonna go anywhere though.

 

The Labor time for a complete Recover/Evacuate/and Recharge is 1.6 Hours. Once it is recovered, a Schrader valve replacement would take literally 2 minutes. Plus whatever the R 1234yf runs. Not sure how it would get to the $12XX mark in any world??

By the way.. The valves are generic and cheap. There is also a tool that can be used to remove them without losing refrigerant if desired.

Good luck.

DC

 

Went in today and the conversation wasn't going anywhere as expected, the best they could do was knocking a hundred off, i declined and paid 200 diagnosis to have the car back.

Looking at the receipts, they added 199.99(diagnosis fee) to the schrader valve replacement cost and told me in an earlier text they would waive it if I approve the work 🤣🤣



Disregard the first item costing 428.55, that's their recommended oil change. Funny when I asked them to check if I have an oil leak they said there would be another diagnosis fee added, and now they somehow determined my oil is bad and recommends an oil change.

 

Clearly a dealer worth avoiding! Swapping profit for customer service seems a bad way to do business.

 

Since I have a 2015 R RWD myself and have been working on the A/C I can confirm that all North American vehicles are indeed yf1234. The compressor literally states R134a OR yf1234 on it. In fact, with the right adapter(amazon), you can evac the system, test for leaks, repair if needed and refill the proper 700+/-25grams(24oz) of R134a and it will run perfectly fine. Hope that helps. You should not mix yf1234 and R134a but if you evac and hold vacuum for ~15 mins, refilling it with R134a will be fine. Or if you want to refill with yf1234, Advance Auto Zone sells the cans for ~$45, you'll need two for a completely empty system. DON'T overfill. this system does not like that.

Oh and the TSB associated with our vehicles is for the direct pressure sensing valve on the compressor. If under warranty, have the dealer do it. It requires a full evac and recharge to do correctly. If not under warranty, its a pain in the butt to do but very possible, I did it a couple weeks ago. If anyone here would like instructions, I can make a video.

Hope something in there helped!

 

Agreed with Viperhawke. AC repair is not that difficult, been Universal Certified 608 & 609 since 2004. It's the certifications that some folks get hung up on and can't buy refrigerant. You could buy a vacuum pump and a set of gauges for a couple hundred bucks and always have the equipment for next time. The important thing is hold in vacuum to check for leaks, repair any leaks (most times schrader valves), and recharge with correct amount of refrigerant. Hell you can get a small or used Robinair system for less than your dealer wants for repairs.

 

Thanks, if this were a more frequently serviced item I'd definitely dig deeper into it. The local shop told me they did not find any leak in the system(or too little to be detected) and recommended 1) do a complete evac and charge for $350 and check again for leak, replace things necessary or 2) top it up for $200 and if I needed another service in the next 2 years they will give me a $100 credit.

I opted for the second choice and so far so good, will see how it goes next year.