Hi All,

My turn.

The a/c started to fail just as we left Dubai last year, so I knew it had a leak.

Dealer here re-gassed it and subsequently replaced one hose and the heat exchanger in front.

Thankfully not the one in the dashboard.

It seems ok (not really hot here yet), but I can hear are "whooshing" sound behind the dash when the compressor starts.

AND, the electric fans come on after a minute or so of starting the engine ..... never did this before even in 50 degree heat.

What on earth have they done?

Right, somewhat baffled.

The whooshing sound disappeared with the first hot day ...... only 27 degrees, no the 45 in Dubai.

Seems to be cooling ok, but not ice cold.

Any ideas?

Insufficient refrigerant. Yours is the later one that takes 1380 grammes compared with the GEMS cars that take 1250. Even 1250 is a lot compared with most cars so unless they've looked it up and put the correct amount in, they probably just bunged the average 850-900 grammes in.

Update ... the a/c has been working well but not freezing. Still hissing a bit at the thermo valve location.

Until yesterday .... bang like a tyre blowout. All tyres and air bags fine, but the new hose had popped off the compressor (the smaller pipe of the two).

Back to the garage for the third time... happy days!

Sounds like they might have overcharged it quite a bit if the fans were coming on and now you've popped a hose...

Mine is making a bit of noise from under the dash for a few seconds after the compressor starts, though to a point that is normal I've found. I've got the glovebox and centre console panels removed currently so that makes it easier to hear. Even my air conditioning / heat pumps at home does it from time to time when the compressor goes to a high speed from resting quickly. If its hissing constantly while the compressor is running though, that's less good.

You've got A/C at home? Flash bugger.......

Is nice :) eBay 2 years ago or so. 10kw Multi split Hitachi system with two indoor units taken from a business being stripped out. All in I think it cost about £550, including finding someone to do the pipework and gas it up. Gets most of its use during the winter - we have a tiny sort of 2 up / 2 down (living room/kitchen downstairs, bedroom/bathroom upstairs, does that even count as 2/2?) house with no separation between floors.

So all heat from the pathetic radiator downstairs just goes up if we use the gas central heating. Forced air works far better, and takes a couple of minutes to warm up rather than running the boiler for hours getting nowhere. Nice being able to get to sleep in a cool room too on the rare hot weather days we get...