Air conditioning

Afternoon all, my air conditioning is in need of a recharge. Would you chance it at a local garage or go to a Maserati specialist.
Thanks
Hexadex

Go with the local. Do it properly, change the drier and ask them to pressure test rather than just vacuuming it and charging it. You will probably be paying about 70 for the refrigerant as it is pricey these days.

Got a Groupon deal for £37.99 recently and used on the SL I sold. Worked a treat. Basic but effective. A drain, pressure test then refill with dye. Can't complain at that money. Was at an ATS in Hemel and had all the kit and seemed to know what they were doing.

rockits said:

Got a Groupon deal for £37.99 recently and used on the SL I sold. Worked a treat. Basic but effective. A drain, pressure test then refill with dye. Can't complain at that money. Was at an ATS in Hemel and had all the kit and seemed to know what they were doing.

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Thats was a good deal. Refrigerant is £55 a kilo wholesale at the moment so if they supplied you with new gas they will have lost money.

Zep said:

Thats was a good deal. Refrigerant is £55 a kilo wholesale at the moment so if they supplied you with new gas they will have lost money.

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I just looked on Groupon - only valid for 650g of gas, so £35 of gas and I doubt they would have pressure tested it for that, just connected it to their machine. But if it works, it works.

Probably a loss leader on the assumption they will get other business off the back of it. Didn't with me yet though.

Someone messed up on mine then. The SL had 90g left which they drained. Then refilled to full with 800g. Perfect for a car your selling.

Zep said:

Go with the local. Do it properly, change the drier and ask them to pressure test rather than just vacuuming it and charging it. You will probably be paying about 70 for the refrigerant as it is pricey these days.

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Cheers I’ll book it in on Monday to the local

Kwikfit £59 fixed price when I had the Pinin vacuumed and recharged a month ago. Automatic machine, suck out, vac test (not positive pressure) and recharge along with lubricant if pass the vac test.
Would like to go to someone a bit more a/c specialised for the Maser though.

mjheathcote said:

Kwikfit £59 fixed price when I had the Pinin vacuumed and recharged a month ago. Automatic machine, suck out, vac test (not positive pressure) and recharge along with lubricant if pass the vac test.
Would like to go to someone a bit more a/c specialised for the Maser though.

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Yes, this is how they tend to do it. For commercial systems we are legally required to pressure test systems up to the maximum operating pressure because the refrigerant is so nasty to the environment. For cars they use the same gas and effectively throw it in and see what happens. Bonkers.

I would recommend to refill the AC with Envirosafe or Easyklima refill sets. They use environmentally friendlier gasses that cool down much more than the r134a. Down to minus 40 degrees!
It’s finally fun to drive my 3200 GT at summer heat. Costs are around 15€ per can of 450g that lasts for a complete fill up.

Boomerang_GT said:

I would recommend to refill the AC with Envirosafe or Easyklima refill sets. They use environmentally friendlier gasses that cool down much more than the r134a. Down to minus 40 degrees!
It’s finally fun to drive my 3200 GT at summer heat. Costs are around 15€ per can of 450g that lasts for a complete fill up.

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I wouldn’t personally. The replacements being sold are generally a mixture of isobutane (R600) and propane (R290), which are, as you can probably guess, quite flammable.

They have it on offer again at ATS £37.99

Does anyone know where the recharge points are on the GS I can see a blue cat on the right hand side but can’t spot the second one.

Hexadex said:

Does anyone know where the recharge points are on the GS I can see a blue cat on the right hand side but can’t spot the second one.

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I think they are close together, but well hidden.
When my 4200 was recharged they couldn't get the machine connected to one of the points it was too inaccessible for the fitting on their hose. They did it all from one side, certainly not preferable, but possible.

From memory it is on the bulkhead to the right hand side (as you are looking at it).

The Ghibli is the new y123h refrigerant and not many places do it, DL just did mine and it was £ 150. The Mustang was £180

690g needed on a Ghibli D.

Yes. HFO-1234yf (it’s been 3 years since I heard about it and I still can’t get over how they named it!) has a global warming potential of 4 compared to 1430, so it is much, much less likely to make an Eskimo cry.

They are just ramping up production, it used to be 3 times the price of 134a but it is now about the same and will drop below when the quota system means we have almost no 134a to go around.

Zep said:

I wouldn’t personally. The replacements being sold are generally a mixture of isobutane (R600) and propane (R290), which are, as you can probably guess, quite flammable.

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That’s right. Some people say, I believe it’s a conspiracy, that the up to 90 liters of fuel that Maserati‘s might have in the back, are flammable too.
R1234f ist flammable too. Plus: the result is the most lethal acid existing. Still it’s the actual antifreeze.
Happy Eskimos are more important! And Greta Thunafish will have a better sleep.

Additionally one could get a 14 liters can of r134a for 170€ over here. That would last for 20 years of driving.

Boomerang_GT said:

That’s right. Some people say, I believe it’s a conspiracy, that the up to 90 liters of fuel that Maserati‘s might have in the back, are flammable too.
R1234f ist flammable too. Plus: the result is the most lethal acid existing. Still it’s the actual antifreeze.
Happy Eskimos are more important! And Greta Thunafish will have a better sleep.

Additionally one could get a 14 liters can of r134a for 170€ over here. That would last for 20 years of driving.

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You make some fair points.

HFO-1234yf is rated as A2L, non toxic and mildly flammable, this means it will only sustain a flame in a very narrow band of stoichiometry, rendering it self extinguishing in most circumstances.

Petrol is A3 flammable, however it is contained and used in systems that are designed and used to prevent this being an issue, with things like inertia cut off switches to prevent fuel release in the event of an accident.

Isobutane and propane are A3 flammable and highly reactive in the presence of oxygen. As I said, personally I would not want to use them in a system that was not designed for them. In this case a high pressure system with various joints and pipes in a hot engine bay.

Refrigerant is supplied by weight due to the volume changing significantly with pressure and temperature, but assuming you 13.6kg, this is probably in illegal disposable cylinders (outlawed due to their environmental impact when recycled) which are being imported from China through illicit channels. Even then the going rate is around 300€ - 450€ for one of these cylinders.

While I would like to see lower GWP alternatives to R134a in the market place - there are some that aren’t flammable but they have not achieved market penetration in automotive use like R513a - at this time it is safest to try and use as little of the right refrigerant as possible, through pressure testing not just vac testing and hoping.