Long story short...ish..
towards the end of last year the FL2 was suffering from the noisy Aircon that seems to be common place with them. I had it regassed and it went away. For 6 weeks. Then it returned. I wasn't too fussed at this point as I was only using it to demist etc. However on a trip to Cornwall around October time, the aircon was randomly turning itself on/off (it was always off in the car with the econ button pressed). This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the noise. So in an attempt to stop it and avoid any potential damage, I pulled fuse F13 so the aircon was isolated.

Id kind of forgotten about the fact I needed to get this sorted, so yesterday i went out and put the fuse back in. I expected it to kick in and be its noisy old self... however I got nothing. no distinctive sound of the compressor/solenoid engaging, nothing.

So before I take it to a garage and spend lots of money, does anyone have any ideas as to why its now dead etc?

Ta in advance.

Possibly lost too much gas.
If you had to top it up, it is loosing a small amount - not unusual, If the compressor is noisey it might be leaking more than usual. When the refrigerant level drops too low the air-con will not turn on, this protects the compressor from running dry.

Most car systems have this feature. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

My air on is really noisy! Been re gassed which helped but now back really noisy again. As I am upgrading to a much newer freelander2 very soon I am just going to ignore it and get a bit warm! 1998 300TDi Auto Disco, never to be forgotten.
2008 Auto TD4 Freelander2, now gone?
2013 Auto SD4 Freelander!
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Andy131 - Thanks for the reply. I'm booked to have an air-con specialist (Aircon direct /ac4cars.co.uk) come and take a look in a few days, so will update on the outcome. Hopefully its the lack of gas which is stopping it from coming on... they will be doing a leak test etc so fingers crossed.

PR - Mine was noisy until it was regassed. it only came back as it lost gas from what im now guessing is a leak somewhere. Ive coped without it up to now... but being stuck in traffic the other day in 25c sunshine made me more then a little hot

Get them to check the heat exchanger.... muck had built up at the bottom corner of mine and made a hole.

The leak was very small indeed but had to be done.

I got a new unit for £85 from Advanced Factors and had it fitted this end. Every thing else looked new.

T Terran



'The' Car For The Modern Day UK Roads ( ie all the pot holes )

'A Freelander that leaks oil is just marking its territory' - Wise words

Now a member of the FL2 'Silly Bill' Club

Ta for the heads up

Once ive got the aircon fixed, I need to sort the VERY annoying squeek that comes from the rear of the car. at slow speeds (0 - 15mph) any little bump or undulation makes it sound like an old truck squeeking around .. its like a noisy bush or something and it goes when its raining so thats obv lubricating what ever it is..

Had the guy out giving the aircon the once over, once refilled it came back to life... So thats a little reassuring. He spent ages with the leak detector and it looks like the leak is a tiny one from the bottom of the condensor by the nylon plug.
He has stuck some dye in it so hopefully thatll confirm it.

So the question is... Where can i get a condenser from at a decent price?

I would like to know who the aircon engineer was ! does he have his certification ! he risks a fine up to 20K

" suspect leak so put some dye in it !!!!!!!!!!! " Totally illegal. Knowingly filling a system with a suspected leak is illegal and he could face a massive fine.

If a system has no gas in it and a leak is suspected the system must be filled with OFN or ( I use hydrogen mix ) excellent to trace leaks as it has the smallest molecule so it will find the smallest of leaks using a hydrogen sniffer.

Until the system is fixed it must not be filled with R134a.

Did you know that R134a gas once released into the atmosphere takes 11 years to disperse !
R1234YF the latest refrigerant takes 4 days to disperse hence the current cost Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

Well as far as im aware they are a long trading company who seem to have a fairly good rep from those who suggested them to me.
As a customer who doesnt know anything in the aircon field i have to take what they tell me on face value.
He told me he filled it with 400g? Of gas which is a little over half full. He had the detector around everywhere and said he had one tiny trace from the condenser but that it wasnt picking anything up anymore. Told me he has put the dye in it to try and help and that next week when he is coming back it should show.

As,to the damage to the enviroment... I can only imagine. But as said before, not knowing whats what i had to put my faith in him.

Dont shoot the customer.. :-/