Air Con Issue

[ashtoguy12]

Hi

Just after some advice, when I purchased my megane 2004 cc 1.9dci the air con wasnt working ie not very cold I took it to renault who diagnosed a leak and it will cost 220 to fix. The question I have is that the air con has not been used for at least a year and I was wondering by not using the air con can it cause any damage to other parts of the engine that may be linked to the air con. Just trying to get a timescale on how quickly i need to get it fixed.

Cheers

[willholdsworth]

No it wont cause any damage to any other parts of the engine if it has not been used. You could not use it for the life of the car and it wouldnt have an effect on any other part of the car. People only say to use it because the gas needs to be circulated to stay efficient, otherwise it will go "flat" so to speak and the air wont cool down.

[ashtoguy12]

Cheers. Better safe than sorry.

[willholdsworth]

even if the air con gas tank is full and you dont use it, it still wont have an effect on other components.

The air con in mine is great for now, but then I would expect it to be as its only 1 and a half years old! Not expecting to use the aircon much in the summer though as the tlop will be down haha

[davelowe]

the air con has not been used for at least a year and I was wondering by not using the air con can it cause any damage to other parts of the engine

As others have said, not using the air conditioning will not damage anything else. But, not using the air conditioning for a year will damage the air conditioning system. It needs to be operated (15 minutes will do) periodically to circulate the lubricating fluid that is integral to its closed system. So, when it is fixed, used it occasionally even if not for any other purpose.

[ChrisM]

If the air con system is not used it will dry out the seals on the system as dave said lack of lube, summer and winter it needs to be run to circulate this lube, it is suprising how many people will come into the garage in late spring complaning thier air con does not work, usually becasue they have not touched it since last summer, seals have dried out and refrigerant lost, late spring we will get at least 3 to 4 people per week with this problem, never been a real fan of it myself, not in this Country. Not exactly tropical are we!

[ashtoguy12]

Cheers Everyone. When my car went in as it was leaking they drained all the gas out. But having the luxury of the convertible it takes the sting away from having no air con.

[willholdsworth]

Cheers Everyone. When my car went in as it was leaking they drained all the gas out. But having the luxury of the convertible it takes the sting away from having no air con.

Amen!

[ChrisM]

Oh yes, here in Wales get that roof off and you are freezing and wet in seconds!!! Keep it on and you are just wet! No only joking Renault DO NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH WATER LEAKS!
EVER!

Well..... when we where a Renault dealership a good few years ago the bulk of our work was either electrical or water leaks! We took a VW T5 van to the tip last week half full of Renault electrical diagram manuals, that is how many we had and they send to you as a dealer!

[willholdsworth]

Wales is great Im about to hijak the thread so apologies!

Me and my Girlfriend are doing a welsh roadtrip this weekend. Horseshoe pass at Llangollen, on to Bala, through the Sonowdonia national park and on to Porthmadog. Should be good fun, even with the roof up

[ashtoguy12]

It was a nice day up here, so the nice days are coming, the roof will be down soon. Oh yes!!