Product & Services
We service, diagnose problems, repair or replace damaged components and recharge the air conditioning systems of cars, trucks and other vehicles.
Our specialised AC service vans come to your home or business within an area which covers the majority of the county of Kent and also much of south east London.
We concentrate only on the air conditioning and climate control system although we occasionally deal with heater problems if that is affecting the AC. Similarly we sometimes need to look for electrical faults if they are preventing the correct operation of the aircon system.
We do not dabble with Refrigeration or with the air-conditioning of buildings of any kind. We are pure specialists in the aircon of vehicles whether they be cars, trucks, combine harvesters, agricultural tractors, coaches or plant.
We specialize to the extent that we do not even get involved in new installations of AC into cars - only the diagnosis of problems, and the repair and recharging of existing systems.
Hints, tips and information on car airconditioning
Click on this link for several pages of information which may help you to run your system more effectively, give you an insight into what is going on under the bonnet in the AC department and may also allow a little self-diagnosis if your AC system is making funny noises or is not up to scratch. There are also pages on whether running the AC is costing you more in fuel (not as straightforward as you may think) and also the effect that using the aircon button may or may not have on the environment including one page which is really a bit of a rant from a slightly sceptical old man.
www.airconditioningforcars.co.uk
Service for your auto air conditioning? - The Area we cover
 If you require service we may be able to help if you are in south east England but our other Home Page (see below) also lists other AC specialist technicians around the country.
Our normal service area is from South East London, to the south of the River Thames going eastwards into Kent as far as Herne Bay, then from Faversham southwards to Ashford, then going west to Royal Tunbridge Wells right near the border with Sussex, north east to Croydon and then north into London again as far as the Congestion Charging Zone border, keeping the A23 as our general westerly border. In other words, much of the county of Kent and a little of SE London although we do occasionally sneak into Surrey, Sussex or Essex when requested and if time permits. During the spring and summertime we cannot manage to cover the whole of our winter-time area. Please check the maps mentioned 5 lines down this page. If you live some way from Gravesend or our base in Northfleet and have some doubts about the efficiency of your car's AC please don't leave it until the spring when we cover a much smaller area of SE London and Kent. There are maps of the area we shall try to cover and a Postcode chart as well on www.ac4cars.co.uk/ourarea.html
If you are outside our normal operating area please click www.ac4cars.co.uk where we hope to suggest to you another aircon technician who covers that territory and who may be able to help. If you have been sufficiently wise to have your aircon system looked at before the normal summer rush and if you are only just outside our normal range it may be worth e-mailing me as sometimes at this time of the year we have the time to venture a little further afield. Also present on that site are a number of special offers.
Any car or truck over four years old could benefit from an AC service. Working in a moving vehicle the aircon system loses a percentage of the refrigerant every year, very much more than a static system, such as a refrigerator would do in a similar time. If the AC system is allowed to run only partially full there is much more likihood of problems arising, so a regular AC service at perhaps three year intervals will almost certainly save you money. There are many opportunities to have it recharged today, main dealerships, garages, tyre and exhaust centres, even virtual DIY at Halfords. Almost any fool can add some extra refrigerant and make the car cooler - at least temporarily. The expertise is to ensure that the vehicle stays that way. That expertise is not a common commodity and is found only in those that spend years of their working life doing nothing but vehicle air conditioning and also with the specialised tools necessary to detect leaks or to diagnose other AC faults.
Our standard service takes around an hour or maybe a bit more and costs from £48 including vat during the wintertime. We don't waste your time as we come to your home or business with one of our specialized equipped AC service vans. If your car has the earlier Freon (R12) refrigerant (approx before 1993) this is no problem to us and we usually advise a conversion to the newer refrigerant R134a. This need not be horrendously expensive and for most vehicles we are able to convert for a total of £105 plus vat and then subsequent recharges in three years time will be much cheaper. If you prefer to not go for conversion we do have a good replacement refrigerant for R12 (we use RS-24) and this costs £75 plus vat. There is a page on this website devoted to the subject of the older classic car.
If you live inside a 5 mile radius of our base we evacuate and recharge for £40 + vat (£48). For those further afield it costs £50 + vat (£60). After the end of March 2013 this wintertime price reverts to the normal price for summertime of £60 + vat (£72) with some reductions for those closest to us.
Our gas analyzer enables us to make checks for contaminated refrigerant.
Should your car require new parts we are well served by several excellent specialist aircon suppliers who are able to supply replacement parts at prices usually well below the car manufacturers list price. Most of these parts are exactly the same as in the Original Equipment Manufacturers box and thus carry the same warranty - they are not just copies of these OE parts (these are referred to as Pattern Parts). A few parts, mostly specialised hoses, we can obtain only from the car manufacturer. We hold a stock of some of the most frequently required parts and are able to obtain most other parts in 24 hours. Our service vans are well equipped with spare fittings and specialized tools and we are often able to repair damaged hoses and pipe work or make up some completely new hoses on site. Occasionally for common problem hoses we fabricate an alternative hose of better design.
Much of our work is dedicated to the accident repair trade. We offer a specialized service to these and to other trade services. Our current clientele include some of the largest Accident Repair Centres in the South East, including Porsche Approved Repairers, Mercedes Repairers, Jaguar and BMW specialists and main dealerships for trucks and vans as well as for cars.
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