Forum:
After 8 years of ownership I felt that the aircon was a lot below par so booked the car in to a local aircon specialist for a check.
I have always run the aircon for a few minutes a week whatever the season, to ensure nothing dried out internally. Also I run at full heat through the air vents for a couple of minutes when parking up at the end of a day when the aircon has been used, to ensure that any moisture therein evaporates to prevent spores from taking hold and ultimately causing a musty smell.
It was found that the system had lost 40% of its refrigerant, but was told that this was very little after 8 years. They said many systems will lose this amount after a year and that they advised a check for all systems every 2 years. Otherwise they said YRV's aircon system was in very good condition.
The checks, on an automatic machine, cost £69 and before they started they told me that KwikFit charge £50. I thought it worth the extra £19 to have a specialist rather than a tyre fitter doing the work!
Another point. Just in case, I took the car's workshop manual CD....and it was needed. Their records showed the system capacity for all Daihatsus, except the YRV. The manual says -
- 400gm for a parallel condenser (the figure they used)
- 380gm for a series condenser.
YRV Tony