The car is a 2010 XF 4.2 SV8. As the weather has begun to warm up here, I have discovered that the air-conditioning is not cooling. Took the car to my usual aircon guy the other day and he was able to confirm that the gas pressure was low. I had assumed this would be the case, I expected to find that the gas had leaked from one of the places where I had disconnected when I removed the engine and transmission (twice) earlier this year. We removed the under-body trays and the left inner mudguard and there were no traces of the fluorescent dye that is supposed to show up aircon leaks. We were both a little mystified so he recharged the system with gas and we agreed I would drive it around for a week and then come back and see if we could spot where the gas was escaping. It is now 2 days later and the aircon is again not cold plus there is a chemical smell in the car when the aircon blower is running. I figure it must be leaking from the evaporator or TX valve or their connections. I'm thinking that this looks like possibly being the most difficult, costly and time-consuming failure that this vehicle has thrown at me so far- and that is no small feat. The unreliability of this car is now something of a legend amongst my friends. Has anyone else experienced an aircon leak in the climate-control assembly in these cars or able to offer any advice or suggestions?

 

Did they put in the Freon dye? If so, use an ultra violet light and you should easily be able to find where it's coming from. Not a common issue on the XF so most likely you disturbed or knocked something loose during your major works

A good shop should have no trouble finding it.

 

I spoke to the aircon guy yesterday and let him know of the smell in the cab and the rapid loss of charge. the plan is to fully charge the system and run it, collect the condensate from the drain tube and check it for the fluoro dye which should be present if there is a leak at or near the evaporator. I f this is confirmed, I'll have a dash removal job that I really don't need. It really is hard to imagine how I may have caused this during the engine & trans removal process, I guess all will be revealed albeit with difficulty.

 

Finding the dye may mean having to take the entire dash apart. Which comes with a new host of unknowns if things will work right after reassembly, which OP is keenly aware of.

My AC has been solid and one of the very few strengths this car has, which is the bigger reason I've kept it as long. From lurking here I haven't seen the condenser/evaporator come up as a weak point, so something could have been disturbed during the engine overhaul. Hope you find find the leak without having to take the dash apart, I find a good borescope a required tool for this car and a good investment for a variety of uses.

 

Good suggestion re the borescope, I bought one not long ago, it appears from the workshop manual that the blower assembly for the climate control is removeable without too much effort and may provide a portal to poke the scope in.
thinking about the possibility of having disturbed something during the big dismantle, I'm wondering if maybe the pipe from under the left-hand inner guard has become unseated from it's connection with the TX valve.

 

I use a Freon sniffer tool to find evaporator leaks. Lots of them around heck even the Harbour Freight unit works pretty well!
Pulling the dash is a big deal and as posted above we really don't see any evaporator troubles so maybe just a connection leak? Since the transmission/engine has been pulled twice I think your right that is the source of your problems.
.
.
.

 

​​​I have the same problem with my 2015 XF 3.0, they think it is the evaporator under the dashboard which is believed to be an expensive repair, any suggestions gratefully appreciated

 

Here's the thread where I detailed the replacement of my evaporator Steve; https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...s-done-254220/

You will see why it is an expensive repair if you have to pay someone else to do it. Took me about 30 hours.

 

duplicate