Air Conditioning
- Is your air conditioning not what it used to be?
- Is it not blowing cold?
- Is there a foul smell?
Unless your air conditioning system is regularly used, the rubber seals in your air conditioning system may dry out over a relatively short period of time and the gas in the system can leak out. This leak can lead to failure of your air conditioning system and damage to the components. To help prevent this, Team Valley Land Rover recommends that you have your system checked periodically.
During the summer and winter your Land Rover / Range Rover’s air conditioning system will generate condensation. This environment provides an ideal breeding growing for germs, bacteria, fungi, spores, mould. This could produce a nasty or musty smell in your car and may not be good for your health.
A poorly maintained air conditioning system can occasionally promote the growth and spread of microorganisms. Conversely, air conditioning, including filtration, humidification, cooling, cleansing, can be used to provide a clean and safe, hypoallergenic atmosphere. Effectively maintained air conditioning can have a positive effect on sufferers of allergies and asthma and the elderly.
At Team Valley Land Rover our full air conditioning service includes
- Remove old gas from your system, to a deep discharge level
- Re-charging the system with gas
- Checking for leaks by injecting a special dye into the air conditioning system
- Disinfecting the system to neutralise odours and protect against any future bacteria growth
- A service system print showing the condition of your system.
An air conditioning service will prolong the quality and life of your system – so whether you are cooling in the summer or heating in the winter, treat your vehicle to a Team Valley Land Rover air conditioning service.
Air conditioning odour neutraliser and cleansing treatment is available
Full air conditioning service is available
What is Air Conditioning?
Air conditioning is the cooling and dehumidification of air for comfort. In a broader sense, it is the cooling, heating, ventilation or disinfection that modifies the condition of air.
Air conditioning aims to provide an indoor comfort that remains relatively constant in a range preferred by humans, despite changes to external conditions or in internal heat loads.
The highest performance for tasks for people seated is expected to occur at 720F (220C) – performance is expected to degrade about 1% for every 20F change in cabin temperature, this could affect your driving ability.
How often should I use my Land Rover / Range Rover air conditioning?
Your air conditioning system should be used all year round – warm air can hold much more moisture than cold air, though the drying of cold air can increase visibility in cold conditions by de-humidifying your Land Rover windscreen in very cold weather.
Do not leave your air conditioning turned off all the time as the system will suffer from a lack of lubrication of the seals from special lubricants injected into your system. If you do not use your AC for whatever reason, turn it on at least once a week for half an hour.
In the North East of England, the temperature can be below 5 degrees centigrade for approx. 30% of the year with a good chance of frost on more than 60 days per year. During these periods of extreme weather driving any type of vehicle is more comfortable, safer and healthier with a correctly maintained AC system in your vehicle
How do I know when I need my system to be recharged?
To operate, an air conditioning system needs a specific quantity of refrigerant, of the correct quantity. The only way of knowing is to recover all residual refrigerant, evacuate the system to deep vacuum and recharge with the correct weight of refrigerant. Team Valley Land Rover has spend many thousands of pounds on high quality systems which will carry out this procedure to a high specification, while at the same time injecting a special dye into the system to help in maintenance which may reduce future costs.
The evacuation to deep vacuum plays an important part in the recharge; it is also the lengthiest part of the procedure taking up to 50 minutes alone. The object is to achieve such low pressures within the system that any moisture that has become absorbed by the hydroscopic oil will boil away at ambient temperature and be drawn away by the vacuum pump (remember that water boils at lower temperatures as the pressure is reduced).
In the absence of any other indications, a reasonable rule of thumb would be for a first recharge when your car is three years old. Most problems occur when the system is struggling because it has insufficient gas to do the job properly, and some of the results can be expensive to put right. It us usually cheaper to have your system properly maintained every three years than to wait for a breakdown. Particularly DO NOT leave your car with a low charge over the winter months – this is when the air contains most moisture in it and it is likely to enter the system. It is certainly cheaper (and more comfortable) to keep a good charge in the system rather than repair a system that has been allowed to deteriorate with a depleted system.
I know the system needs recharging, but is there anything else that needs doing?
The biggest enemy of the air conditioning system is moisture within the refrigerant of the system, but don’t confuse this with the water that is produced by the system when it is working well and drips out from under your car. The oil used in Air conditioning systems is hygroscopic and will absorb moisture – just like the brake fluid in your braking system. Obviously any free moisture floating around in the system will sooner of later get into the place where the cold is produced and will promptly freeze into a chunk of ice thus stopping the system from working. As the evaporator defrosts it will flood the windscreen with moisture and mist up the screen, then after a couple of minutes the chunk of ice will melt and the air conditioning will resume working again which will quickly demist the screen, the piece of moisture will freeze up again and restart the cycle.
Each air conditioning system has a container designed to absorb any free moisture. These are intended to be replaced on a regular basis, rather like an oil filter but not so frequently.
If the system does develop a fault it could be worth replacing the dryer when the fault is cleared but if there is no fault then replacing it perhaps each alternate recharge would be prudent – that is, about every six years. This is because the dryer is gradually absorbing moisture that has entered the system and after a time it reaches the limit of its capacity – it is important not to approach too close to that limit.
If the drier is really quite old, the desiccant can sometimes break down and circulate with the refrigerant and eventually clog the expansion valve, this could manifest itself by the lack of coldness out of the vents but the expansion valve glowing with hoar frost.
Many Land Rovers have a linked condenser/radiator assembly which means that the failure, through poor maintenance, of either component could have a negative on the other component, the recovery of the refrigerant and the recharging of the AC system.
Call Team Valley Land Rover on 0191 4877361 and we can advise you whether your air conditioning system is working properly of whether it needs attention.
