Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Mate of mine has one in creme white. It's has been his only car in the past 20 odd years, living in the city, parking in the streets. Restored it last year for a shitload of money. It's absolutely beautiful.

I used to have a mk2 Cube. Bloody loved it SO MUCH. So much room inside, economical, easy to drive and park. With the back seats down it was like a van.
As mentioned, it's a Micra underneath so no issues getting parts. Mine had some electrical gremlins from a previous owner's modifications which I knew would be expensive to diagnose and during lockdown it sat for weeks on end so I ended up moving it on. Would have another one with no hesitation though if I found a decent one.

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So, my Kangoo mk1 probably has a leak in the AC system. The shop put a gas trace in the system, but they're quoting me two more appointments, and that doesn't include the cost of the repair yet.

I've not tinkered with cars at all yet, so pardon my ignorance – should I take my chances at putting a trace / finding the source myself? Should I give myself my system a top up of AC gas every other month and not bother doing the whole investigation? Can I even perform these operations without too much specific gear?

Realistically, I won't be keeping the car very long.

Realistically, I won't be keeping the car very long

pointless spending any money on it then imho. Just state "a/c may need a regas" when you sell like 90% of used car adverts at the low end

I def will be driving it around this summer, and will need some AC to cool down the little one at the back at the very minimum.

Open the window?

wechillanycar offer a pretty good service. Of course if you have a bad leak it's a waste but most systems leak over time if they're not used much. So depending on how much you drive it could be it's not abnormal leaking.

The guy I got from wechillanycar was very knowledgeable regarding all things ac.

Will you be doing lots of long, motorway journeys? If so, AC would be useful as having windows open at 70mph is not nice.

I have AC on most of the time. It barely impacts my fuel economy, keeps humidity down inside the car and seems to prevent it from stinking.

Don’t fuck around with it yourself, too much risk of releasing the forbidden molecules into the atmosphere.

Likewise, unless you actually get the leak fixed, please don’t ‘just re-gas’.

Probably or has? There are to ways to check (that I know of) ultraviolet dye put in the system to see where the leak is. Usually straight forward to view tho some may use a vacuum test to see if the system is sealed. Then no idea where the leak is

Then how long is a piece of string, replacement dryer? Pump? Pipework could be anything.

Has the air con ever worked when you have had it?

If you have a Kwik fit or Halfords (or similar) do a free check before they regas and oil so will be able to tell you if the system is safe to regas.

Yeah a re gas...never heard that ever is just a regas. Apart from once someone on here.

"Probably" as in the shop looked at it for a few hours, and decided to follow the leak with a trace. Now they need the car back to see where the leak is. But as you say the costs could just add up.

The AC worked fine when I got the car, but it sits unused for 4-6 weeks at a time. After say 3 months, stopped being cold out of the AC when turning it on.

With every second hand car you chase other people fuck ups.

@HoKe are you looking to restore or buy restored?

Was involved on sourcing an early Jensen assembled coupe for someone. Mechanically bits are reliable but require a lot of maintenance at short intervals compared to modern cars, such as greasing joints and repacking wheel bearings. Then oil changes are around 3k.

The ES? Look awesome and restoration costs alot as the panels have complex curves. Is it the injected one?

Get it regassed / serviced by wechillanycar. They'll also give you an honest opinion as to whether it's fucked.

Iirc they use UV dye, so you should be able to see if you have leaks after they're finished. Call and ask what is included to fact check this.

If you know there is a leak in the system you have to fill it with Nitrogen and use a special detector to find the leak, only once it is fixed and holds nitrogen pressure can you empty it and refill with AC gas and by all means add UV dye then to assist future leak detection.

Most common faults are stone damage to condensers at the front of the car, have a look with a torch and see if you can spot any damage, it will usually show as an oily patch were AC compressor oil has also leaked out, even worth using a UV light in case it previously had dye in the system.

Possibly all the seals have dried out and caused leaks. If the car sits for ages unused then all manner of things start to fail. AC and cars like to be used.

AC and cars like to be used.

Our wechillanycar guy, Mike I think, always says you need to run your AC on cold every couple of months to help prevent seals from drying. Ultimately, past a certain age its something you need doing every couple of years.

me this summer
thanks all for your tips and knowledge

My AC broke about 5 years ago. I miss it on about 3 days a year. New compressor is needed and it's £1500 so that won't be happening. Open the window and turning the heating off works for me!

I miss AC whenever it's not performing perfectly.

To me it's like central locking or a stereo.

Buy one, but as I've learnt restoring my old look, parts are not here are there anymore or it will be bespoke to manufacture.

if I get a yeti, I’ll have the lfgss holy trinity stable: yeti, katu and arkose

Love ac, especially as it dries the air. Great way to clear a misted up screen.

Oh in that case be very careful on the car you buy. Look at the fun BRM had with his restored mg, that he bought to go racing. He ended up buying another restored shell. That is with a car you can buy all the panels and new shells.