Hello, I’ve had my x300 for maybe 5 years and the aircon has never worked.
i know the compressor doesn’t work as never kicks in.

my question is, can the aircon ever be recommissioned on these cars?
if I get all the second hand parts can they just be fitted, regassed and go?
thanks for any help in these increasingly hot summers!

 

There are do it yourself compressor kits if it comes to that

Your compessor is a Denso 10 PA

Featured Products (shopcenturyautoair.com)

See page 110

T703 BOOK (jagrepair.com)

and

See
14-10 (jagrepair.com)

And the video

 

I'm thinking that you can't buy R-134 in the UK unless you're a repair shop, etc. Correct?

Its not rocket science but does take a lot of knowledge and equipment to do it right (and safely). There are a lot of questions about the state of your system that would begin a steep learning curve for you.

You could easily replace all the o-ring seals, the compressor, the high pressure hose, the filter bottle and the ball valves on the hoses. That would save a lot of money and hassle from a shop. Flush out the condenser and evaporator. From there a shop could vacuum, leak check, and charge it up for a nominal cost. Although they would probably not warranty the work unless you buy their parts.

It should be a worthwhile investment not only to keep you cool, but to keep the UK fog out of the cabin!

 

You can on eBay, also there are lots of small cans of it selling there too and you can even use a keyboard duster spray to charge it. I've bought a 12kg bottle of R134A few years back and still not even unwrapped it as the AC still works fine. Air con is dead easy on these cars and definitely can be recommissioned. Worst case scenario is evap core leaking in which case that's a major job as the dash needs to come out to get to it but in most cases its either shot compressor and/or condenser falling apart.
If everything visually is there and the belt is also still there but compressor is not engaging it means that there is no charge in the system. What I would do is to get a small screwdriver and undo the cap and press the shrader valve. Even if the system is almost empty you should hear some hissing for a second or two. If you can hear it - you're most likely fine and just need to top it up. If you cant hear any noise then you most likely have a leak and you need to find it. Most Jags I've owned had leaky condensers(or ones that were falling apart). Its an easy job to replace it, sits in front of radiator and cost ~£100. You will need to replace the drier bottle too if you're replacing condenser.
You can figure out where its leaking(if it is) by pulling vacuum. You can do it yourself with a cheapo ebay pump and a set of ac gauges or take it to any AC shop so they can plug it and check for leaks.

 

R134 is available in the UK, eg from Halfords.
by far the most effective way to fill up is to go to Kwik fit, who will regass the system for £59. Great value, as the gas alone would cost twice this at Halfords

 

Sure, AC can be revived. Clearly you have a leak somewhere, you have to find and fix that first.

I have all the AC tools and my method of finding leaks is I put about 10 psi of propane in the system and then I go over every joint with a hydrocarbon gas detector good down to 5 ppm. I can find leaks fairly quickly with that. One car I worked on had a hole in the condenser, so as soon as I put pressure on the system I could hear the leak! Often, it isn't that easy.

 

Fluorescent dye is sold for the purpose of finding leaks too.
Where the bottom of the condenser mounts on to the front crossmember is a prime candidate for the site of the leak. The mounts seem to fatigue the bottom of the condenser.
the self test function on the heater controls will give you a clue as to whether lack or refrigerant is your issue.
kwik fit test your system for leaks before refilling, so it doesn’t cost anything to find out if you have a leak. ( I don’t work for kwik fit btw!)
It is conceivable that your system simply needs degassed, as eventually even a sound system will lose gas, but Sod’s law usually dictates that there will be a leak.

 

It is, and many of the newer cars have the dye in the oil already. However, I find that method more difficult to detect small leaks, as it relies in the leak being big enough to take oil out with it. Some are small enough the let the gas out, but not the oil.

 

Good point Jagboi.
I should have mentioned earlier, but at the risk of stating the obvious, the compressor won’t kick in unless there is adequate refrigerant pressure, so establishing whether there is a leak is the first port of call after running the hvac self test on the heater controls.