A case of 'did you mess about with it'?

As my aircon hasn't been used very much, I was told it was a good thing to periodically to shut off all the dash vents, set it to 'face' and put fan to full. Not sure exactly what that was meant to do but I'm now thinking it was a bad idea?

i can't say it blew ice cold before but temperature doesnt alter if air con is on or off and just seems warm probably the same as the outside temperature?

Argggg

Not had car that long and weather been cold so can't say if it was working fully before?

Any ideas or firstly get a re gas?

 

The procedure you describe is to blow the accumulated junk out of the drain tube. This prevents permanent blockages later on. I doubt this caused any problem and suggest you look further if the aircon is not optimal.

 

Yep, like Tarhealcracker says, you do that to open the duckbill drain which can get stuck closed. The drain allows the evaporator condensation to drain out of the car. Without it, the water would fill the tray because your drain is clogged, leaving your passenger floor carpet soaked. Nothing you did broke your A/C.

Please don't just get a re-gas. If it isn't blowing cold air, you likely have a leak or a broken part (in which case a recharge would be useless anyway). Best to take it to a shop and have them put the gauges on it for starters to ensure you are low on refrigerant. If you are, fix the leak first.

To test the A/C system, you can take it to an independent mechanic. There is nothing special about Jaguar A/C functionality, only the parts themselves. So you can at least save some $$$ by not paying dealer prices for a service check.

 

Thanks for clarifying that! I should had made sure what I was doing anyway so no excuses! Ha.
Well hope your right and caused anything.

I've read a couple of threads on the control modules.

It goes in for a new steering wheel **** spring on Friday so I'll get them to check it out. Had few 'low mileage and lack of use issues' so been unlucky!

 

Thanks Sean, great advise again! I'll see if jaguar will charge to test it when it goes in first then and take it fron there. I thought it was blowing a little cold last week but not ice cold. Just seems warm now. 16 degrees isnt really cold is it but you can tell on my daily driver. Will keep you posted.
Chees

 

Well it's been it.

Not much refrigerant in the system so cleaned it out and did the pressure test before re gassing it. All nice and cold now.

They said it passed the pressure test but also put the uv dye in as well so if it does go then they should be able to see where from.

Fingers crossed another thing sorted! Just the steering wheel creek to sort now (other post).

Cheers guys.

 

..and did you fix the air conditioning leak first before you refilled it? The original refrigerant got out how?

 

That's the worry!
i think by law they have to test it it cspable of keeping the gas due to ozone and it passed the pressure test done by the machine but it doesn't answer the question on how it escapes does it.
they put uv dye in so will give us a clue what's happened but what else can you do?
Def a case of lack of use and can cause seals to shrink can't it.
Working fine but time will tell unless you have any other advice?

 

UK Regulations prohibit the deliberate release of refrigerant to atmosphere and AC service stations also have to be licensed. The machine they will have used on your XK first removes any residual refrigerant. The system is next pressurised for a minimum of seven minutes to check for leaks before recharging with PAG oil and refrigerant. No AC is completely gas tight. It will lose 2-5% charge weight per year.

There seems to be a strange notion that AC is only for use when you want to keep cold. It's intended to maintain the desired internal temperature and humidity regardless of external temperature.

I run my AC all the time as recommended by Jaguar. In addition, I cycle it from defrost to max HOT through to max cold every couple of months to make sure the flaps etc don't lock up through lack of use.

Graham