Car Air Conditioning in Bigbury

On a hot August weekend the road down towards Bigbury-on-Sea and the Burgh Island crossing fills with visitors, and a car with weak air conditioning turns into an oven. Winter brings the opposite complaint, a heater that takes ages to warm up or never does.

Automaster, at Longcombe Cross near Totnes, deals with both ends of the problem. We service and re-gas car air con, trace faults, and repair heating systems on petrol and diesel cars and vans from Bigbury and the villages around it.

Is it worth sorting the air con before the summer rush?

Coastal villages like Bigbury see heavy visitor traffic, which means long spells of low-speed driving with little airflow through the front of the car. That is exactly when a marginal system gives up. Having it checked before the crowds arrive is much calmer than finding out in a queue.

Slow loss of refrigerant is normal over time, so a car that was fine two summers ago may not be now.

What does an air con service and re-gas involve?

The system is checked for pressure and performance, the old refrigerant is recovered, and the correct charge for your particular car is put back in. The right amount and type depend on the vehicle, which is why we need to know the make, model and year.

If there is a leak, a re-gas on its own will not last, so a leak check is part of doing the job properly.

• Performance and pressure check
• Visual check of pipes, condenser and compressor
• Leak test where the system has lost charge
• Refill to the figure for your vehicle

Why does the air con work only some of the time?

An intermittent system often means a marginal charge, a failing compressor clutch, a sensor playing up or a fan that is not pulling air through the condenser. Cold when driving fast but warm in traffic is a classic sign of the cooling fans or condenser struggling.

Tell us when it fades, because the pattern points us towards the cause.

Can you help drivers from Bigbury, and where is the garage?

We can. Automaster is at Longcombe Cross, Longcombe, near Totnes, and drivers come from Bigbury as well as Ringmore, Kingston, Bantham and Thurlestone.

If you are not sure whether your symptom is an air con or a heating matter, ask for a quote and describe what you notice; we can usually tell from the description which way it is likely to go.

What heater faults do you see?

No heat can come from low coolant, a stuck thermostat, a blocked heater matrix or an airlock after a coolant top-up. Weak airflow points to the blower motor, its resistor or a blocked filter.

A sweet smell, damp carpets or a fogged windscreen that will not clear suggests coolant leaking at the heater matrix, and that should not be left.