Further to my recent post I've had the system re-gassed and now when auto is selected the engine jumps approx rpm indicating that the compressor is okay. Also when pressed the fans kick in and I'm assuming it's in an effort to call the car.
However it does not blow cold at all. From looking inside the engine compartment I can hear as if the air con is working correctly but again no cold air in car.
I suspect I may have a problem with either the condenser or perhaps even the air con rad.
Would highly welcome any views before I spend further moneys. Rgds Duggs.

I have a similar problem, fans working, pump kicking in and gas in the system but no cold air  :(  the pipe that runs along the passenger side of plenum chamber is also getting warm, it was always icey cold before.

Can't get to the aircon man until Thurday morning, he's busy until then  :(

mrjimbo wrote on 03. Jul 2010 at 15:47:

..... the pipe that runs along the passenger side of plenum chamber is also getting warm, it was always icey cold before. ....

My air con does work .... of a fashion  :-/ but the pipe and ally expansion chanmber is also red hot. I don't know if it ever did get cold though, I know it did on my Senator though  :-/

It definately used to get icey cold, used to get condensation on it when the engine was running but now gets quite warm. Don't know whats causing it but i'll find out on Thursday   :y

mrjimbo wrote on 03. Jul 2010 at 18:47:

It definately used to get icey cold, used to get condensation on it when the engine was running but now gets quite warm. Don't know whats causing it but i'll find out on Thursday   :y

I shall quiz 'my' a/c man when he comes back  :y

I normally use the local CoolCarAircon man (Nick) in Reading but he's fully booked until Thursday morning.

Mine was working OK up until last weekend, went to use it Saturday dinner time and it would'nt get cold and was blowing warm air with the C/C set at LO, that's when i noticed that the top pipe was getting warm. It shouldn't be doing that  ;D

mrjimbo wrote on 03. Jul 2010 at 19:06:

I normally use the local CoolCarAircon man (Nick) in Reading but he's fully booked until Thursday morning. Mine was working OK up until last weekend, went to use it Saturday dinner time and it would'nt get cold and was blowing warm air with the C/C set at LO, that's when i noticed that the top pipe was getting warm. It shouldn't be doing that  ;D

Like I say, mine's working .... but of a fashion. Despite various regasses, a new compressor, fill valve, a pressure switch - it could also do with a new condensor according to the expert.  ::)
It was struggling yesterday in 35^oC  ::) and wasn't blowing as cold as it should.
It's funny how an ambient of 35 makes the engine temp higher too  ;D it was sat around 98 even when moving and maybe just shy of 100 when crawling in traffic. The extra effort of a caravan on the back might have had something to do with that though.  :y  :y  :y

we were on our way back from France  :y

REALLY appreciate your input and thoughts guys...Seems to be exactly the same problem I'm having.. Will continue to monitor with interest.

Tell me.  With the system OFF....when you hit AUTO do your fans shoot on quite strongly along with the REVs picking up but just ambient air flowing out...NOT cold at all.

duggs wrote on 03. Jul 2010 at 20:09:

..... Tell me.  With the system OFF....when you hit AUTO do your fans shoot on quite strongly along with the REVs picking up but just ambient air flowing out...NOT cold at all.

You mean interior fan?
It will speed up as it's trying to dispribute the cold air it's expecting to come from the evaporator, but as the cold air doesn't come, the fan just keeps running. My fans were on high-ish all day till ambient eventually reduced and the interior reach the selected temp.

Thank heavens...its not just me then.  Ditto except mine never reaches the colder temp as colder air never appears.

Hopefully some solutions will come our way shortly.

PM simon omega2 and ask him he did my compreser the other week and the regas. :y

Thank you for the advice but it would appear the compressor is ok..certainly kicks in by the looks of things. Just curious as to where the cold air has gone too !

typically cold air blows out off the top vents and warm air blows out of the footwell vents. if you have lukewarm air coming out of the top vents(indicates that the distribution system is operating)coupled with a warm top ac pipe you are either undercharged (ac gaswise or you have a blockage in the ac system.

Gotcha !   Think I may need a visit to or from a Air Con expert.

sassanach wrote on 04. Jul 2010 at 10:35:

....coupled with a warm top ac pipe you are either undercharged (ac gaswise or you have a blockage in the ac system.

and mine has just been re-gassed about 3 weeks ago  :-/

I think you have blocked expansion valves. HTH

How do we go about checking/un-blocking said expansion valves please ?

after nearly 2 months of trying 5 days ago I finally seem to have solved my air con problems, with to my mind, costly lessons learned.Firstly there seems to be a large part of the motor industry appears to think invest in regassing equipment have motorists come along regass their systems, then when there is some sort of fault, reclaim back the gas(its a legal requirement they do so)and still charge.I just could not get a reasonable diagnosis of what was wrong. In fact the 1st time I had it regassed when I got into the driving seat the car interior was bitterly cold Next day it simply wouldn't work, when I returned to ask what could be wrong. It could be this- It could be that, and when I wouldn't leave miggy to their tender mercy, they degassed the system telling me to return when I had had the system put right. I then went to a garage advertising to be an air con specialist.They allegedly regassed the system and reported a blockage somewhere in the  system. Again no definite diagnosis or quote, finished up as another degass.By now desperation had set in and I remembered a few years back I rebuilt an insurance write off 16v ecotec Cav for myself with bad frontal damage And a firm called Sewells of Leeds rebuilt the air con system with great success.Sewells are true tec experts doing all aspects of motors inc buses and HGV tachographs so I thought it might cost me an arm and a leg but my problem had a good chance of being sorted. I asked them 1st to diagnose what the problem was, a couple of hours later they told me the gas inlet system valve was faulty and recommended the valve and  pipe that carried it be replaced at a cost of £120.00,So I agreed got a price, paid their invoice in full, and then oh dear should have known had to wait a further month for the part to come from Germany,To digress, a few months back I ordered this super HP laptop I'm useing direct as I remember from Mephis USA,2 days later I was takeing delivery at my front door,and what's more was able to track it's progress.The conclusion Ive come to is if possible make the person or firm responsible for putting the system 100% right,and as is the form with most other jobs give a quote for doing so.This way you may be able to diy it (after 1st getting it degassed with an under takeing to regas)Of course I'm now makeing it my business to get to know as much as I can about the science of air con in cars. I am amazed that so little is known especially on the Forum.Well as promised in a previous post, there is my experience of present air con in cars.Hope it helps others avoid my mistakes when remedial action is required. Another thing may help I've been told that a lot of problems can be avoided by working the air con for a short period once a month every month,even in winter months.      

this possible blockage fault was one of the possible faults I was given,on investigation its located somewhere behind the glove box,and I picked up this explanation of it on the internet I quote,Somewhat of a nozzle to drop pressure of refrigerent liquid. Meter its flow and atomize it.I considered stripping out my system to find the diagnosed blockage but knew from my experience that your dealing with alluminium pipes and nuts and special O ring seals and when I enquired about the 2nd hand parts availability was told their chopped and discarded by the breakers. Take note all you expert breakers on the forum, these parts cost an arm and a leg thats when you can get them. As it turned out in my case it was'nt a blockage unless it was in the gas inlet valve,So had I gone ahead and started stripping my mind cringes at the problems I could have met up with.As already mentioned I found a wealth of info on the Internet I'll try and find this and post back

as promised,what I did was Google "car air conditioning problems" and really did learn a lot :y :y

Where abouts is the expansion valve located ?

Is it easy to get at ?

Glovebox out, blower motor out,undo refrigerant lines at bulkhead, unbolt solenoid valves from evaporator, six screws to remove evap. cover, unbolt retaining plate, disconnect refrigerant lines, unbolt exp. valve from the evap. Not as easy as it sounds.

RobG wrote on 04. Jul 2010 at 19:23:

Glovebox out, blower motor out,undo refrigerant lines at bulkhead, unbolt solenoid valves from evaporator, six screws to remove evap. cover, unbolt retaining plate, disconnect refrigerant lines, unbolt exp. valve from the evap. Not as easy as it sounds.

it doesn't even sound easy!  :-?  ;D  ;D

RobG wrote on 04. Jul 2010 at 19:23:

Glovebox out, blower motor out,undo refrigerant lines at bulkhead, unbolt solenoid valves from evaporator, six screws to remove evap. cover, unbolt retaining plate, disconnect refrigerant lines, unbolt exp. valve from the evap. Not as easy as it sounds.

Assuming that everything goes OK how long does it take to change the expasion valve ?

Glovebox out is 10mins, blower motor is the pain, unclipping all the wiring harness & moving the airducts, then you have three torx screws, 2 you can see and get at, the 3rd is at the top virtually inaccessible.. Once you`ve removed that the rest is plain sailing. Difficult to factor a time. You may be lucky and get the blower assembly out in 20mins or conversely you could be struggling for a good couple of hours

So if i said 4 or 5 hours from start to finish is that sounding about right ?

Shouldn`t be any longer. As said, if you`re lucky with the blower motor about 2-3hrs start to finish

Looks like that might be my job for Friday or Saturday. Got to take it to the aircon man on Thursday morning and i got a sneaky feeling after looking at the replies here he going to say "Expansion valve be FUBAR'd" hope it ain't  :y

Fingers crossed for you matey :y

Cheers RobG, i'll let you know how i get on. I hope it's something more accessable. It seems a lot of arseing about just for a £35 valve   :(

mrjimbo wrote on 04. Jul 2010 at 20:33:

Cheers RobG, i'll let you know how i get on. I hope it's something more accessable. It seems a lot of arseing about just for a £35 valve   :(

It`s an Omega ;D ;D ;D

Maybe your system would respond to what they call a good vac and dry out. The firm who did mine said they left it on for a good 3hrs as I have already said from what I was told by who I now consider to be some sort of dickheads
I expected 1 or more of the following to be at fault,condenser,expansion valve,reciever/dryer,In the end it was a faulty front filler valve,when you think about it to function proper the system lives in a permanent gas sealed state so where can any blocking material come from?Only perhaps the compressor wearing, the other medium could be ice hence the drying process,to remove any traces of moisture.Hope I'm right and your ok Thanks RobG for your info on accessing the expansion valve, at least I know now to run away with arthur and my hands. :y

you do not need to dismantle anything to confirm a blockage,a good ac man will confirm in minutes by hooking up his guages.a blocked expansion valve will produce a vacuum on the low side.ps does the omega have an expansion valve or an orifice tube?

I'm taking it to Coolcaraircon on Thursday morning and he's going to have a look, he's fully booked up until then. I just wanted to know where the expansion valve lived if that is what the problem turns out to be  :y

http://www.autoairconparts.co.uk/Car-Air-Conditioning-Expansion-Valve-for-Vauxhall-OMEGA-B-3.0-V6-Petrol-Manual-or-Automatic-Oct-94-to-present-Part-22-1039.html

Listed as having expansion valve in thier online shop   :y

I'm hoping it's only low on gas as the Highside service valve was leaking last time it went there but he managed to get it to reseal as he didn't have a replacement, i've got one now so that can be fitted while i'm there   :y

MrJimbo !   I'm awaiting in anticipation for your Thursday appointment.

PLEASE report back soonest !

Will do duggs, i hope it's not the expansion valve but something tells me i'm going to be disappointed   :y

When my expansion valve failed the final bill was close on a grand !!!

Blockage proved by pressure test.

Simply put, when they took off the filter/drier - due a change as it was of unknown age, they poured out metal filings !! At which point they said it was not worth doing the expansion valve unless the compressor was changed.

Gave me a choice of paying for the work done so far - hours labour basically - or having the job done fully: full system flush to get the rubbish out, new compressor, new expansion valve, filter drier, regas.

Took them over 6 hours in total !!!!

:(

Entwood wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:36:

When my expansion valve failed the final bill was close on a grand !!! Blockage proved by pressure test. Simply put, when they took off the filter/drier - due a change as it was of unknown age, they poured out metal filings !! At which point they said it was not worth doing the expansion valve unless the compressor was changed. Gave me a choice of paying for the work done so far - hours labour basically - or having the job done fully: full system flush to get the rubbish out, new compressor, new expansion valve, filter drier, regas. Took them over 6 hours in total !!!! :(

Does your a/c now cope when faced with an ambient of 30^oC+? Mine bearly does :(

Andy B wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:51:

Entwood wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:36: When my expansion valve failed the final bill was close on a grand !!! Blockage proved by pressure test. Simply put, when they took off the filter/drier - due a change as it was of unknown age, they poured out metal filings !! At which point they said it was not worth doing the expansion valve unless the compressor was changed. Gave me a choice of paying for the work done so far - hours labour basically - or having the job done fully: full system flush to get the rubbish out, new compressor, new expansion valve, filter drier, regas. Took them over 6 hours in total !!!! :( Does your a/c now cope when faced with an ambient of 30oC+? Mine bearly does :(

Not a problem ... recently had it re-gassed - its 2 years since the compressor change ...  OAT 27 C .. vent temp was 7 C I think

Gets the cabin down to 18 C very nicely thank you ... I'm comfy .. SWTSMBO has a fleece and a jumper on !!! - daughter in the back .. she brings a blanket !!!

:)

I had my system re-gassed a couple of months ago and during the recent hot spell I had 26 deg outside temp and 6 deg at face level vents with re-circ on and lo settings on the dials,after 10 mins like this the car was pretty chilly inside.
also my aircon mans quote was "use it or lose it" so I leave it on auto all the time and let the system do its own thing,does'nt seem to alter consumption much(maybe 1-1.5mpg)

Entwood wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:57:

Andy B wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:51: Entwood wrote on 05. Jul 2010 at 10:36: When my expansion valve failed the final bill was close on a grand !!! Blockage proved by pressure test. Simply put, when they took off the filter/drier - due a change as it was of unknown age, they poured out metal filings !! At which point they said it was not worth doing the expansion valve unless the compressor was changed. Gave me a choice of paying for the work done so far - hours labour basically - or having the job done fully: full system flush to get the rubbish out, new compressor, new expansion valve, filter drier, regas. Took them over 6 hours in total !!!! :( Does your a/c now cope when faced with an ambient of 30oC+? Mine bearly does :( Not a problem ... recently had it re-gassed - its 2 years since the compressor change ...  OAT 27 C .. vent temp was 7 C I think Gets the cabin down to 18 C very nicely thank you ... I'm comfy .. SWTSMBO has a fleece and a jumper on !!! - daughter in the back .. she brings a blanket !!! :)

My compressor was new about 18 months ago, it was re-gassed 3 or 4 weeks ago and it often struggled much above 27/28 ambient  :(. I'll get there ..... eventually. The car is due another condenser when I get round to it, so I'll quizz my 'expert'  ;D  ;D

Just got back from my visit to the aircon man  ;D

  When i arrived there he asked what the problem was and i explained it just stopped getting cold and the pipe along the plenum chamber was getting warm/hot. He put the gauges on and the gas pressure was found to be border line so he suggested he put a little in and see what happens. A small amount of gas was all that was needed to get the system working again so it was decided that all was well in general with the system. Now that the fault had been found he then drained the system so as he could fit the new High side service valve that was a bit problematic last time(it needed several goes at getting it to seal) which in itself was a bit of a strange situation, a normal nut has 6 sides, a normal socket has 6 sides or 12points but Vauxhall decide that the valve has 8 sides = a normal spanner fits but you can't get it in and turn it, a socket is the ideal way to remove the valve as you can get onto the valve from directly above but a normal socket won't fit  >:(  so to undo the valve we had to remove the SAI pipes and solenoid  so as to get enough room to use a spanner, it took 2 minutes to fit the valve 15 minutes to make room  >:(


Once the valve was fitted the system was vacumed out as normal and then refilled and leak tested as normal and it's all working fine and dandy now  :y

So the day turned out better than i was expecting, had visions of it needing an expansion valve which i wasn't looking forward to fitting after finding out where it lived but it would have been done had i needed to.

A big thanks to Nick @ CoolCarAircon   :y :y

mrjimbo wrote on 08. Jul 2010 at 15:24:

.... so to undo the valve we had to remove the SAI pipes and solenoid  so as to get enough room to use a spanner, it took 2 minutes to fit the valve 15 minutes to make room  >:(  .......

:-? Mine came out dead easy, 15mm socket on the valve & another spanner on the hex underneath on the pipe.  :-/

For some reason a 12 point 15mm socket wouldn't grip it and 6 sided 15mm wouldn't fit on without forcing it on and we couldn't support the underneath of the pipe because not enough room so played safe and made a bit of room  :y

mrjimbo wrote on 08. Jul 2010 at 15:45:

For some reason a 12 point 15mm socket wouldn't grip it and 6 sided 15mm wouldn't fit on without forcing it on and  .....

Someone possibly had been there before you & chewed it up a little, a 15mm hex socket went mine easily.  ;)

The new valve and the old one were the same.  I've just measured the one that came out and it's 15.58mm across the flats and just checked the new one and thats the samesize too  :-?

OOOOOOOOO...so yours was far from terminal then.

Think thats what I need for mine, a air con specialist to take a look at her.  Thank you for the update.