Car air conditioning questions

It depends on which refrigerant your vehicle uses and how much it holds. R134a systems on most cars are the cheaper end; R1234yf, fitted to most vehicles built from about 2017, costs considerably more because the refrigerant itself is expensive. Call us on 0481 820 735 with your make, model and year and we will give you a price over the phone. If the system is empty rather than just low, we will recommend a leak test first so you are not paying for gas twice.

Yes — we are fully mobile across Melbourne's western suburbs, from the CBD out through Sunshine, Keilor, Caroline Springs and Werribee to Melton and Sunbury. We come to your home, workplace, depot, yard or farm, and the van carries refrigerant, nitrogen, oil, hose and crimping gear so most jobs finish in a single visit. Work further afield in the wider Melbourne metro area can usually be arranged — just ask.

A healthy system should not need re-gassing on a schedule. Manufacturers allow a small annual loss, so many vehicles benefit from a service every couple of years, but if yours needs gas every summer it has a leak and needs finding rather than refilling. What does need regular attention is the cabin filter, and running the air conditioning for ten minutes a week through winter to keep the compressor seals lubricated.

The most common causes are low refrigerant from a leak, a failed compressor or compressor clutch, a blocked or stone-damaged condenser, a blend door actuator stuck on hot, or an electrical lock-out from a pressure switch. Some of those are cheap and some are not, which is why we test pressures and check the electrics before quoting rather than assuming it needs gas.

R1234yf is the refrigerant that replaced R134a in new vehicles to meet greenhouse gas rules, and it is used in most cars built from roughly 2017 onwards. It is classified as mildly flammable, so it requires separate equipment, separate recovery gear and a licensed operator — which is why some workshops turn these cars away. Your refrigerant type is printed on a sticker under the bonnet, or we can tell you from the make, model and year.

Yes. We hold ARC (Australian Refrigeration Council) Licence AU28157, which is a legal requirement under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act for anyone handling automotive refrigerant. It is worth checking before you let anyone touch your system — unlicensed operators cannot legally buy or recover refrigerant, and venting it to atmosphere is an offence.

That damp, musty smell is mould and bacteria growing on the evaporator, which sits behind the dash and is permanently cold and wet. A blocked condensate drain makes it worse. Spraying deodoriser into the vents masks it for a fortnight; the fix is a new cabin filter, a cleared drain and a sanitising treatment applied directly to the evaporator core.

Yes, and we come to them. We service prime movers, rigids, buses and coaches, 4x4s and dual-cab utes, plus excavators, loaders, tractors and harvesters, including bunk and sleeper coolers and 24 volt control circuits. For fleets we can work through multiple units in a single visit and keep a per-unit record of charge weight and service date.

Yes. R12 has been banned from import for decades, so a retrofit to R134a is the practical path. Done properly it means flushing the mineral oil out, renewing seals and O-rings to R134a-compatible material, converting to barrier hose, fitting a new drier and recalculating the charge weight to roughly 85 to 90 per cent of the original. Done improperly it wrecks the compressor, so it is worth having someone do it who has done it before.

All work is guaranteed on parts and labour. We also re-test every system after repair and show you the vent temperature with a thermometer in the centre vent before you pay, so you can see the result rather than take our word for it.