Just tried one of those DIY Air con pressure and chargers - so far so good...

[pcman_jh]

My '99 E300 TD had no cold air at all (last got any around Xmas). Took it to a Kwik Fit who ended up saying its coming up with a fault so gave me it back for no charge. (I'm not convinced how thorough they were as they were taking off side panels behind the nearside wheel and the front fog lamp access panel!!).

Anyway - Paid £30 for one of those pressure and charge cans on Ebay for £30 +P&P. On connecting it with the engine off, it was in the Yellow (higher than normal pressure) which means get it checked by a PRo. On starting the engine, as per the refill instructions, the pressure guage went to the Blue which means normal pressure. Gave it the whole can's contents, took about a minute, and now I have cold air.

Fingers crossed on how longs it lasts but I suspect it's the first recharge in the car's 8 year history!

 

[anyweb]

interesting info, so where exactly did you squirt the new stuff into ? got any photos ?

 

[pcman_jh]

The low pressure connector is attached to the inside of the nearside suspension strut body ( looking into the engine bay, it's to the right of the inlet manifold) about level with the inlet manifold. It's a black screw on dust cap.

No photos required as it was a case of plugging in the recharge snap-on connector to the above and pressing the button while the engine and air con (or climate in my case) was switched on/running.

 

[Andy Wr]

How many grammes of gas had you in the system already before topping up and how many grammes of the can have you used to make up the manufacturers specified total gas charge, do you now have a solid column of liquid to the expansion valve or do you have flash gas, I bet it explains all of this on the can though.