Two tips.

[Colin]

Hi,

Whilst waiting in the doctors surgery a few days ago the middle aged couple seated next to me struck up a conversation with me regarding how hot it was and that it was even hotter in the car they had arrived in? I asked if their car had air conditioning and yes it had but it wasn't working correctly; I asked if the aircon had been serviced; no it had never been serviced and their car was now 11 years old. I suggested the aircon would need regassing and the pollen filter changing; I added that our Skoda Yeti had just had its second year service with only 14,000 miles on its clock and that the main dealer wanted to service the aircon at the same time for an extra £75 which almost brought tears to their eyes. This couple were aware of the disease danger associated with air conditioning but they drive around in a hot oven rather than get the aircon sorted out; obviously heat struck because for many years summer has been cancelled here in West Yorkshire?

Bron and I have owned new cars always still under warranty since 1990 so I never do any work at all on our car and although I'm aware aircon needs regassing at some point it's never been a problem for us. Out of interest and wanting to know what is involved in regassing a car aircon unit I browsed the web and on YouTube found this it being one of many;

If ever our car needs the aircon regassing I now know how to do it and it doesn't look difficult to do at all.

The second tip regards rainwater stains to exterior paintwork and plastic cladding etc; our expensive paintwork was starting to gather a few water streaks which looked unsightly and I tried a number of ways to remove the steaks; I even emailed Shaw's who sold us the Benjamin Moore paint to ask for their advice; Shaw's said they could send paint patches but I didn't like this idea of covering up dirt so a bit more experimenting; I tried meths and white spirit; washing up liquid had no effect then I thought I'd try using WD40; WOW this worked a treat and I've let Shaw's into the secret; our lovely neighbour Carole was going to get someone in to remove the dirty water streaks from her plastic cladding; I popped into the workshop and collected my WD40 and a clean cloth; Carole was amazed as I wiped a small patch to see the marks disappear.

Just rambling on as usual.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

I had no idea that re-gassing air-con was something that could safely be done at home. Funnily enough, I was talking to my brother in law about this just a few days ago, as he's been delaying recharging his due to the cost. I'll forward this video on in case he decides to go the DIY route.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply Ian. I've just been browsing eBay looking at re-gassing kits and as usual with items on eBay the prices vary widely; it might pay to look at the eBay buyer reviews before committing to buying a kit; once the kit is bought though future re-gassing will only cost the price of the gas and perhaps having the kit a few quid could be made re-gassing other cars? I thought £75 quoted by the Skoda main dealer to be expensive but it's not too bad; however once the kit is bought the kit will be owned unlike having the re-gassing done at a garage.

Another very useful tip regarding WD40 is to use it on curtain tracks which are stiff; just spray a drop onto paper towel and wipe over the track; the difference is remarkable; next Saturday is Rufforth Auto Jumble once again and I think I'll be buying 5L of WD40 at £20 from a stall where its always on sale near the toilets.

Kind regards, Colin.