Hi all, one of the big jobs I wanted to tackle this spring was at last to get the aircon upgraded to modern spec. I believe it currently runs R12? I was hoping a conversation was available to upgrade but the garage has told me there is nothing available to upgrade the system and had basically told me to forget about the aircon on it . ?

Has anyone on here recently upgraded their aircon successfully and if so could you advise what was required? 

Thanks again for any advice, always much appreciated. 
Thomas
 

It is eminently possible to convert from R12 to a later refrigerant like R134a. I would find a specialist who knows that.

This is a suitable write-up to get you up to speed on what's involved:

https://conceptzperformance.com/wiki/index.php?title=R134A_Conversion

Nissan published a very detailed Sevice Bulletin describing the procedure in detail (more than needs to be done, see above) but

here for reference

NTB96-023a.pdf

 

Edited March 6, 20223 yr by AndrewG

Yup - exactly what Andrew says!!

There is still an R12 substitute available - as a straight drop-in - but you can also upgrade to R134a quite easily, if the AC engineer knows what to do.

Your best bet, is to get your car down to Jimmer. He uses a very good specialist - and it's all done under Jimmer's watchful and knowledgeable eye. Also, if you need any additional components to recommission the AC, then Jimmer will most likely be able to replace them for you.

Jim did mine about three years ago now and it's still blasting out ice cold air on a hot day.... ? 

Perfect, thanks for this I will have a good read and then go find an aircon specialist about it. 
Thanks again ?

I have heard so much about Jimmer I would love to take it there - I’m about 20 miles outside of Glasgow so it’s not really practical- unless I combined it with a holiday ?

 

2 hours ago, ThomasTWM said:

I have heard so much about Jimmer I would love to take it there - I’m about 20 miles outside of Glasgow so it’s not really practical- unless I combined it with a holiday ?

 

I combined it with a holiday last year and it's so worth it ?. To be fair I am only 2.5-3 hours away from him!

9 minutes ago, Raja93 said:

I combined it with a holiday last year and it's so worth it ?. To be fair I am only 2.5-3 hours away from him!

I just checked, I’m 7 hours away but I’m thinking it’s worth it. I will give Powerzed a call and see if I can arrange to book it in later in summer. 
SO - any recommendations of things to see and do in Bristol ??

3 minutes ago, ThomasTWM said:

I just checked, I’m 7 hours away but I’m thinking it’s worth it. I will give Powerzed a call and see if I can arrange to book it in later in summer. 
SO - any recommendations of things to see and do in Bristol ??

I worked with Jim, Mon to Fri in Sept 2021, I stayed in an air b&b, £25 a night, did the job.

8 minutes ago, phutumsch said:

I worked with Jim, Mon to Fri in Sept 2021, I stayed in an air b&b, £25 a night, did the job.

I’m not the most mechanically minded so don't think he would want me working with him but I’m selling it to the wife as a good opportunity for us to ‘spend quality time together on a road trip and wee break together’.  It’s amazing that another car expense can be glossed over by saying hotel in same sentence! ? 

On 06/03/2022 at 18:01, RichardS said:

Yup - exactly what Andrew says!!

There is still an R12 substitute available - as a straight drop-in - but you can also upgrade to R134a quite easily, if the AC engineer knows what to do.

Your best bet, is to get your car down to Jimmer. He uses a very good specialist - and it's all done under Jimmer's watchful and knowledgeable eye. Also, if you need any additional components to recommission the AC, then Jimmer will most likely be able to replace them for you.

Jim did mine about three years ago now and it's still blasting out ice cold air on a hot day.... ? 

I know it will vary from car to car depending on what is required but was just wondering if you can give me an idea of cost involved. Even ball park helps. 
thanks, Thomas

21 hours ago, ThomasTWM said:

I’m not the most mechanically minded so don't think he would want me working with him but I’m selling it to the wife as a good opportunity for us to ‘spend quality time together on a road trip and wee break together’.  It’s amazing that another car expense can be glossed over by saying hotel in same sentence! ? 

Jimmer is just off J18 of the M4 - which is actually closer to Bath than it is to Bristol...... And Bath is a lovely city, with plenty to keep the tourist and his wife occupied for a few days ? Bristol has a few must-see attractions too, the harbour is nice and the SS Great Britain is well worth a visit. Bath is still a lot nicer though!!

3 minutes ago, ThomasTWM said:

I know it will vary from car to car depending on what is required but was just wondering if you can give me an idea of cost involved. Even ball park helps. 
thanks, Thomas

I was fortunate, in that all my Zed needed was a re-gas, after being left idle for over a year in the bodyshop whilst it was having a full sill replacement and respray. All the old gas had simply disappeared into the atmosphere....!

Looking at my bill, Jim charged me £75 for a simple re-gas in Nov'19....

But in the 13 years I have had my Zed, I have had both the compressor and condenser replaced - by JeffTT when he was still trading - the condenser was £150 (ex the re-gas) back in 2009 and the compressor was £230 a year later (which included another re-gas).

 

Thanks Richard, that’s good to know. I have actually fancied a trip to Bath so perfect excuse. 
I will actually be driving to Dorset in July on a family holiday but unfortunately I don’t think I could load 4 of us and 2wks luggage into the 300 so will just need to plan another trip South, which is never a bad thing. 
Thanks for ballpark figures. I think I budget for the worst with mine and anything else is a bonus. 
cheers, Thomas
 

Had mine re instated by jimmer cost a bit as we needed  to get all of it new pipe work,condenser,compressor, personally i think it was worth every penny 

7 minutes ago, gray said:

Had mine re instated by jimmer cost a bit as we needed  to get all of it new pipe work,condenser,compressor, personally i think it was worth every penny 

Yeah I think I’m going to require the same as you - but as you say - worth it! ?

 

8 minutes ago, gray said:

Had mine re instated by jimmer cost a bit as we needed  to get all of it new pipe work,condenser,compressor, personally i think it was worth every penny 

Sorry meant to ask was Jimmer able to source all the parts while he had the car in the workshop? 
cheers. 

He did indeed yes although i was having a few other bits done. ?

Edited March 8, 20223 yr by gray

26 minutes ago, gray said:

He did indeed yes although i was having a few other bits done. ?

I have a feeling I will add a few jobs too while I’m down. 
thanks again ?