Really glad I got my air-con sorted before I went on holiday with my caravan! Just driven 2 and a half hours back from Norfolk in sweltering heat and the air-con was very welcome.

 

My AC finally gave in a few weeks back....similar here, just had it vacuumed, pressure tested and re-gassed after 14 yrs with no attention ... £60 + vat

 

T31 X-trails take 450g of gas, so it takes ca 10 years to loss the half of it. The system pressure would be still there to turn on the compressor, but the cooling efficency would be low. Last year I went to AC service and they sucked it all out with the service machine and just few grams where needed to top it off. I went to a garage that had a base cost+gas +oil. I paid almost nothing for the gas and oil.
In the ideal world you do this every 3-5 years just to be sure.

 

I have heard that ca 25g in a year is acceptible loss of the gas.

 

I was never really sure what was considered normal, as this is only the third car I have had with air-con. The first, a Volvo V70 I had for 9 years. I had the compressor replaced on that after about 6 years, and apart from that I never had any problems with the gas. I used to do around 9,000 miles a year with it. The second, a Hyundai Tucson, I only kept for 11 months, then I bought the X Trail. I have reduced my mileage to around half what I was doing with the Volvo hence the X Trail has only done around 8,000 miles since the compressor was changed at the beginning of 2020. There is no mention on the bill from yesterday about how much gas I had lost.I don't know how much the system holds anyway.

 

Well I had my air-con checked and re-gassed by my local garage, who assured me there were no leaks. (Where's it all gone?) Cost me £70 but it's all working fine again now. One thing they did tell me though is that they are currently having problems getting the stuff to refill with, and it is now costing them more than 3 times what it did a few months ago. I think I probably just got it done in time as they had very little left and they were waiting for an overdue delivery.

 

Well at least mine is resoled sort of leak on the condenser £108.00 for a new one according to the garage guess its drive with the windows down for a bit.

 

On mine, it works, my set up is -2.
Bardon the stupid remark, but is the fan speed knob in the uk on the right side?
Instruction is for the left hand drive.

 

It is.

 

Climate Correction:
1. The car is not running.
2. Set the air fan knob (left knob) to OFF
3. Insert the ignition key into the lock and turn to the ON position.
4. Not later than 10 seconds after turning the key to the ON position, press the recirculation button (on the middle knob) and hold for at least 5 seconds.
First, 2 recirculation lights will flash (most likely, the automatic recirculation mode will turn on, described in the operating instructions on page 4-13). Then those lights will go out. And the default adjustment will be set to 0°C. (A/C-OFF, FRE-OFF, REC-OFF)
5. By pressing the recirculation button once (on the middle knob), 3 lights will turn on and off: A / C and recirculation (FRE and REC) according to this scheme (0 ° C → 1 ° C → 2 ° C → 3 ° C → - 3°C →
−2°C → −1°C → return to 0°C)
...... FRE REC A/C
+3°C OFF ON ON
+2°C OFF ON OFF
+1°C OFF OFF ON
=0°C OFF OFF OFF
-1°C ON OFF ON
-2°C ON ON OFF
-3°C ON ON ON
If you need it colder in the cabin, then choose negative values.
If T is not maintained at all, check the T sensor (to the right of the steering column). If you heat it up, then cold air should come out.

 

Hello
I have tried this but all I get is the three lights stay on A/C on REC on fre on does not what I press nothing else happens!

 

Funny you should say this, just had mine re gassed 9 weeks ago and it is working intermittently. Looking around on the forums am coming to the conclusion that if the exterior temp sensor is playing up eg reading lower than actual will this affect the coolness shall we say of the air flow as the dial only goes down to 16 deg.

 

A decent Air-Con specialist should be able to pull a vacuum test on it all & check filter dryers etc if fitted. Mine lasted 10 years before it got a bit warm, all tests were OK & it was re-charged & has been working well for 2 years now.