[ajengli]

When I bought my GT4 last October the aircon was freezing - really cold. I didn't use the car a lot over the winter and when I did, I didn't bother using the aircon - too cold anyway and it saps power from the engine.

Is the aircon on a Ferrari (esp. of this age) anything special or can it be re-gassed at the garage that re-gassed my other cars (Merc, BMW, VW)?

Is it normal for the gas to leak out in this space of time i.e. Oct - Mar? Why does the gas leak out anyway? I guess these problems can get expensive?

 

[justynb]

Hi Andy,

I'm no air-con expert but I'll try and help.

Car manufacturers recommend that you use the aircon for something like 10 mins every month. I think this is supposed to prevent the seals from starting to leak.

Having said that, my last sports car was a Porsche 928 and in seven years of ownership I never used the aircon in winter and the car was also garaged for one 12 month period unused. The aircon always worked fine when I came to use it.

If your aircon has stopped working since October I would guess there was a leak somewhere. It could be that the last owner had it recharged so it appeared to working and to hide an expensive repair (sorry to be negative). Or maybe the compressor has stopped operating?

You should be able to get the system pressure checked by anyone that does car air conditioning. Older cars used to use a different gas to new ones and I believe that all cars now have to use the new gas. I think it is only a case of removing the old gas and filling with the new. I don't think there are any parts that need replacing.

Hope you get it sorted!

Justyn.

 

[senna21]

Old cars use R12 new R134a. You can do a retrofit to the system. R12 is EXPENSIVE and very, very bad for the ozone.

A proper working system should loose no gas. If you have to top it off you have a leak somewhere.

http://www.motor.com/MAGAZINE/Pdf/042004_04.pdf

 

[Beerman]

If the aircon needs a regas, the gas has leaked out. You have a problem.

The system needs to be evacutated and tested for leaks. It should be impossible to buy R12 by now which means you will require an R134A retrofit, not difficult but not cheap on any European older styled aircon system.

No matter what, you need to find the source of the leak/s. It is imperative that you have the leak corrected failure to do so allows the refrigerant to continue disappearing into the atmoshere, this is bad for both ozone and your wallet.

Running the the aircon system for five minutes every week is a good way to keep the seals and moving parts lubricated.