** I am sharing a personal experience + personal opinions in this thread. This is not meant to be advertising - I gain no benefits in promoting the below workshop and the service described below. Hell, I'm not even a regular of the workshop. **
Some background here - My current car is registered in 2008, and I took ownership of it when it was about 2 years old. I'd always had my aircon set to 24degs/1-fan ... on a hot day I might set it to 2-fan, and if my car has been in the sun for most if not all of the afternoon, I'd set it to 23degs/2-fan to cool down the car before switching it back to 24degs/1-fan.
In the last 1-2 months though, I felt like my aircon was getting weaker. I would need to set the aircon to 22degs/2-fan or 3-fan on a very hot afternoon, and at best 23degs/2-fan at nights. My last car servicing was about a month ago, and I asked for a top-up of refrigerant (aircon gas) hoping that would help. It didn't. I decided I'd try to do something about it while the aircon was still able to blow cold air than to wait till it fails completely.
When I was still driving my previous FD Civic, I'd known about 2 people in the CivicFD forums who were selling "aircon treatment" oil that was sold in small vials, injected into the system. People in the forums posted good reviews about them, and I thought I'd give 1 of them a try. Unfortunately, the threads about those products could not be found, but I found something else instead, a Mass Order in 2012 for aircon servicing at SKM aka Ah Heng's workshop, possibly the most popular workshop for the online community of Honda owners (of course, especially FD owners) in SG currently.
S'pore Honda Civic FD Club :: Log in
(Membership required to view the thread)
I decided to go for it on Wed afternoon.
The aircon servicing that SKM offers is done by a machine, a Bosch ACS 650:
According to the worker operating the machine, the left receptacle is for new oil, the middle one is for receiving your old oil ... sorry I did not ask what the right container was for.
The person who'd organised the MO back in 2012 claimed that the machine:
- sucks out your old refrigerant and compressor oil
- creates a vacuum in the system (which also tests for leaks - no vacuum = leak)
- injects new oil into the system
- injects a UV additive (which will act as an indicator for leaks)
- pumps in new refrigerant
The following photo shows the above to be true of what the machine is programmed to do:
The person who'd organised the MO also claimed that the machine:
- filters the old refrigerant and pumps it back in as new clean refrigerant (+ top-up if required)
- runs a full diagnostic test on your aircon system to determine potential problems / imminent failure
As spoken with Ah Heng and the worker who was operating the machine, the 2nd statement is false. I forgot to ask about the recycling of refrigerant though, but IMHO it sounds unlikely when you see the machine for yourself. I have no idea why the false claim(s), but back to the topic ...
A pic of the hoses connected to my aircon lines.
After the aircon servicing, I set it to 24degs/1-fan, and the coldness is back to how it used to be when I first took ownership of this car. The lowest temp/setting I need now is back to 23degs/2-fan after my car is left in the sun for hours, to cool down the car before setting it back to 24degs. I'll say that I got what I wanted, so I am a satisfied customer.
The whole process takes about a half hour - excluding waiting time because the workshop is always packed - make sure you have time to spare if you're going for it.
Damage : $80, non-MO walk-in price, for a mid-size hatchback. Larger/Conti cars may cost more. They will offer to sell you a new aircon filter as well (~$20), feel free to accept or reject as necessary. Just FYI, the MO price in 2012 was also $80.
Take note that this aircon servicing is not a miracle cure for aircon problems - If your compressor is failing or has already broken down, doing this servicing will not help. It is preventive maintenance, and at best restores your car aircon's coldness, but it won't become better-than-new. Also, some workshops may also already have a similar machine - I know that Riverview has a different machine that has a huge cylinder-shaped used-oil receptacle, but they won't wheel it out unless you insist that you want it (personal note: I feel that Riverview's service standard has dropped significantly ever since boss Vincent handed over the jobs coordination work to the Uncle), although I don't think it does all the same things that SKM's Bosch machine does - Autosaver does not seem to have any such machine, when I asked to top up refrigerant during my servicing I also told them about my aircon problems, but they made no mention of being able to service my aircon, and the top up was from the refrigerant canister direct.
If you are facing the same problem as I had and your workshop does not have a similar machine, you can give it a try at SKM.
P.S. I am not a regular at SKM, and I am not interested in organising an MO. Llike I was saying, I don't earn any commission or gain discounts, etc. If any of you are interested in getting together for an MO you could arrange for someone to give Ah Heng a call and negotiate.
SKM's website and contact: SKM Motorworks
Some background here - My current car is registered in 2008, and I took ownership of it when it was about 2 years old. I'd always had my aircon set to 24degs/1-fan ... on a hot day I might set it to 2-fan, and if my car has been in the sun for most if not all of the afternoon, I'd set it to 23degs/2-fan to cool down the car before switching it back to 24degs/1-fan.
In the last 1-2 months though, I felt like my aircon was getting weaker. I would need to set the aircon to 22degs/2-fan or 3-fan on a very hot afternoon, and at best 23degs/2-fan at nights. My last car servicing was about a month ago, and I asked for a top-up of refrigerant (aircon gas) hoping that would help. It didn't. I decided I'd try to do something about it while the aircon was still able to blow cold air than to wait till it fails completely.
When I was still driving my previous FD Civic, I'd known about 2 people in the CivicFD forums who were selling "aircon treatment" oil that was sold in small vials, injected into the system. People in the forums posted good reviews about them, and I thought I'd give 1 of them a try. Unfortunately, the threads about those products could not be found, but I found something else instead, a Mass Order in 2012 for aircon servicing at SKM aka Ah Heng's workshop, possibly the most popular workshop for the online community of Honda owners (of course, especially FD owners) in SG currently.
S'pore Honda Civic FD Club :: Log in
(Membership required to view the thread)
I decided to go for it on Wed afternoon.
The aircon servicing that SKM offers is done by a machine, a Bosch ACS 650:
According to the worker operating the machine, the left receptacle is for new oil, the middle one is for receiving your old oil ... sorry I did not ask what the right container was for.
The person who'd organised the MO back in 2012 claimed that the machine:
- sucks out your old refrigerant and compressor oil
- creates a vacuum in the system (which also tests for leaks - no vacuum = leak)
- injects new oil into the system
- injects a UV additive (which will act as an indicator for leaks)
- pumps in new refrigerant
The following photo shows the above to be true of what the machine is programmed to do:
The person who'd organised the MO also claimed that the machine:
- filters the old refrigerant and pumps it back in as new clean refrigerant (+ top-up if required)
- runs a full diagnostic test on your aircon system to determine potential problems / imminent failure
As spoken with Ah Heng and the worker who was operating the machine, the 2nd statement is false. I forgot to ask about the recycling of refrigerant though, but IMHO it sounds unlikely when you see the machine for yourself. I have no idea why the false claim(s), but back to the topic ...
A pic of the hoses connected to my aircon lines.
After the aircon servicing, I set it to 24degs/1-fan, and the coldness is back to how it used to be when I first took ownership of this car. The lowest temp/setting I need now is back to 23degs/2-fan after my car is left in the sun for hours, to cool down the car before setting it back to 24degs. I'll say that I got what I wanted, so I am a satisfied customer.
The whole process takes about a half hour - excluding waiting time because the workshop is always packed - make sure you have time to spare if you're going for it.
Damage : $80, non-MO walk-in price, for a mid-size hatchback. Larger/Conti cars may cost more. They will offer to sell you a new aircon filter as well (~$20), feel free to accept or reject as necessary. Just FYI, the MO price in 2012 was also $80.
Take note that this aircon servicing is not a miracle cure for aircon problems - If your compressor is failing or has already broken down, doing this servicing will not help. It is preventive maintenance, and at best restores your car aircon's coldness, but it won't become better-than-new. Also, some workshops may also already have a similar machine - I know that Riverview has a different machine that has a huge cylinder-shaped used-oil receptacle, but they won't wheel it out unless you insist that you want it (personal note: I feel that Riverview's service standard has dropped significantly ever since boss Vincent handed over the jobs coordination work to the Uncle), although I don't think it does all the same things that SKM's Bosch machine does - Autosaver does not seem to have any such machine, when I asked to top up refrigerant during my servicing I also told them about my aircon problems, but they made no mention of being able to service my aircon, and the top up was from the refrigerant canister direct.
If you are facing the same problem as I had and your workshop does not have a similar machine, you can give it a try at SKM.
P.S. I am not a regular at SKM, and I am not interested in organising an MO. Llike I was saying, I don't earn any commission or gain discounts, etc. If any of you are interested in getting together for an MO you could arrange for someone to give Ah Heng a call and negotiate.
SKM's website and contact: SKM Motorworks
