Another aircon question
Discussion
Right, seems like the aircon decided to spring into life today. Noty sure how good it is supposed to be, mine is coldish but on a day over 20 degrees i can see it struggling. what i cant work out tho is the compressor is cutting in and out every 10 or 15 seconds, so when driving i get full power, loss of power, full power, loss of power. Really irritating, and dangerous i might add if really going for it. Any ideas, surely this cannot be right?
ajg31 said:
Right, seems like the aircon decided to spring into life today. Noty sure how good it is supposed to be, mine is coldish but on a day over 20 degrees i can see it struggling. what i cant work out tho is the compressor is cutting in and out every 10 or 15 seconds, so when driving i get full power, loss of power, full power, loss of power. Really irritating, and dangerous i might add if really going for it. Any ideas, surely this cannot be right?
Mine is doing EXACTLY the same thing I took it to Noble North London and they said that it needed a coolant re-fill, however their air-con charging kit had packed up.
They also said it could be a faulty "Trigenic"(I think)switch. but they were pretty sure it was just a re-fill
F.C.
The constant cutting in and out (every 15-25 seconds or so)is how the system works. Mine has been like that from new(now 4 years old). On a light throttle yes you will feel a definate drop in power as it requires about 5hp to drive the compressor,but when you mash the pedal to the carpet and hold it there I don't really notice any difference in acceleration. Other than the compressor there's nothing really to sap power like you are suggesting.
i just meant i am trying to drive at a steady 30-40 and i get the obvious drop in power when the compressor kicks in. make town work jerky, which is the only time i would use blinking aircon 
i can imagine i will feel the same at 70 on the motorway tho as the revs will be about the same. i couldn't stand that on a nice 2-3-4hr drive which i am intending to do alot of this coming summer. might ask the former owner if it has always been like this as suggested. wonder if there is a way to get the compressor to run constantly.
i can imagine i will feel the same at 70 on the motorway tho as the revs will be about the same. i couldn't stand that on a nice 2-3-4hr drive which i am intending to do alot of this coming summer. might ask the former owner if it has always been like this as suggested. wonder if there is a way to get the compressor to run constantly. ajg31 said:
...i get full power, loss of power, full power, loss of power. Really irritating, and dangerous i might add if really going for it. Any ideas, surely this cannot be right?
Sorry to say they're all like this as far as I know. I'd say it's the worst air-con I've ever seen in a car I've owned. The system does seems like some mad inventors homemade system using a secondhand fridge. That said, it's nice to have as in the really hot summer of 2004 I drove through London when mine had packed up. No nice at all....
ajg31 said:
i just meant i am trying to drive at a steady 30-40 and i get the obvious drop in power when the compressor kicks in. make town work jerky, which is the only time i would use blinking aircon i can imagine i will feel the same at 70 on the motorway tho as the revs will be about the same. i couldn't stand that on a nice 2-3-4hr drive which i am intending to do alot of this coming summer. might ask the former owner if it has always been like this as suggested. wonder if there is a way to get the compressor to run constantly.
i can imagine i will feel the same at 70 on the motorway tho as the revs will be about the same. i couldn't stand that on a nice 2-3-4hr drive which i am intending to do alot of this coming summer. might ask the former owner if it has always been like this as suggested. wonder if there is a way to get the compressor to run constantly.My air-con was working perfectly until two weeks ago when it started "ticking" and like you say you can feel it through through the transmission, I'm getting mine filled this week I'll let you know if it sorts the problem.
F.C.
ajg31 said:
cool. i am going to try to book mine in for Monday of next week, but i may hold fire. Is yours still as cold as it should be, or has performance dropped off at all
Okay took Nobby to a back yard garage with refrigerant thingy and they "vacuumed" the system and re-charged it with 950 grammes of refrigerant, it took about an hour. Drove home and my right hand was iced to the steering wheel.
So now when driving there is no perceptible clicking in and out of the pump, however when stood still and idling the pump cuts in and out every 20 / 30 seconds but as soon as you start to move the frequency of the pump cutting in and out drops off.
All in all the cooling is working well (better than before) and I'm happy.
Noble say 1 Kilo of refrigerant for the system, but the guy who did mine said best put 950g he reckoned it would be more reliable as when a system is too full it can also produce the same symptoms as when low.
F.C.
I strongly recommend everyone ignores the advice of the last post by madman, the switch he has linked out is the safety tri-switch which switches the system off if the pressure is too low or too high. The reason the A/C cuts in and out while going slow or static is insufficient airflow over the condenser and the system pressure rises too high, by linking the tri-switch out you are likely to damage the compressor at best worse case could be a burst pipe in the cabin with a system pressure in excess of 500psi !
A really stupid thing to do ! I wouldn't link the stat out either, the compressor is meant to cut in & out on ALL cars.
A really stupid thing to do ! I wouldn't link the stat out either, the compressor is meant to cut in & out on ALL cars.
Edited by GTO400 on Thursday 19th April 20:48
Edited by GTO400 on Thursday 19th April 20:49
I'd second the above post by GTO400, DON'T bridge out the pressure sensor or the thermostat, they are there for a reason and a well gassed system should cut in and out but not be obtrusive. My aircon gets nice and cold and you hardly notice it cutting in and out (although my heater fan packed up on Monday!).
Cheers
Dave
Cheers
Dave
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