How can you tell when air con needs changing?

[LindaH]

Hi,
My Nissan Micra Spirita is second hand, but new to me and it's a 56 reg.

I've tried the Air Con and it seems to be working fine, but I've been told that as the car is coming upto 6 years old, it will need a full service with everything changing, but nowhere in the manual can I see what - pertaining - to the Air Con actually needs changing.....will it be just the filters or is there a gas canister? The manual, tells me virtually nothing about the Air Con, it just tells me to go to a Nissan Dealer. Obviously, I don't know if the previous owner used the Air Con regularly or not, so I don't know if anything has been changed from new.

Is there an indicator on the dash which tells you the Air Con needs changing?

The thing is, I go to a mechanic who I have been with over 25 years. I don't want to go to a Nissan dealer because I know a dealer will charge the earth, so is the Air Con something which can be sorted by any mechanic, or does it need to go to a Nissan Garage?

I would appreciate any advice please.

Thanks
Linda

 

[Jen319]

With regards to your AC...if it ain't broke don't fix it LOL

My 55plate sport+ is now coming up for 7 years old, I've never had a problem with the AC working, so far, so i've not done anything with it...
I don't know if it had anything done before i owned her (before December '09) but i can't imagine the previous owner would have bothered <_<

I'm not sure if there's a light displayed if you have a problem with it, but i noticed that my mums made a sucking/whispy noise when it was...well...not working
she has a 52plate SVE (also a K12) k...had it recharged about 3 times now...but that's not what's wrong with it...it's more than a leak, we think it's the compressor and Nissan want to charge us £400 and no-one else can get the part...so for now hers is still busted...

When a car reaches a certain age it doesn't mean it needs everything changing... it is worth changing your timing chain/belts if that has yet to be done though
air and oil filters are every few thousand miles and i think fuel filters are a few thousand more... timing chain belt i think are engine specific?...Mine was changed at 68,000 miles but the suggested service period is 72,000 or 5 years...

I hope some of that helps ^_^

 

[LindaH]

With regards to your AC...if it ain't broke don't fix it LOL

My 55plate sport+ is now coming up for 7 years old, I've never had a problem with the AC working, so far, so i've not done anything with it...
I don't know if it had anything done before i owned her (before December '09) but i can't imagine the previous owner would have bothered <_<

I'm not sure if there's a light displayed if you have a problem with it, but i noticed that my mums made a sucking/whispy noise when it was...well...not working
she has a 52plate SVE (also a K12) k...had it recharged about 3 times now...but that's not what's wrong with it...it's more than a leak, we think it's the compressor and Nissan want to charge us £400 and no-one else can get the part...so for now hers is still busted...

When a car reaches a certain age it doesn't mean it needs everything changing... it is worth changing your timing chain/belts if that has yet to be done though
air and oil filters are every few thousand miles and i think fuel filters are a few thousand more... timing chain belt i think are engine specific?...Mine was changed at 68,000 miles but the suggested service period is 72,000 or 5 years...

I hope some of that helps ^_^

That's brilliant information I'll take on board, thanks a lot

 

[Jen319]

No problem
Good luck with it ^_^