The two fans at the front of the car

[RUSSELLM]

Apologies for this

me on general gassing said:

Hi ya folks.

A prospective buyer of my car asked if the air con worked, which I confirmed.

However, I haven't been using the car recently, and on testing it, the clutch on the compressor wouldn't engage.

I haven't had it gassed for 15 months, so presumed it was low.

I drove the 30 minutes over to the air con place, and just as I arrived there, decided to press the air con button, and the compressor clutch engaged.

They confirmed that the driving over there had increased the pressure, which had made the clutch work again.

So I had it re gassed, and the clutch is clicking on & off perfectly. However they asked if the air was getting cold, and it wasn't. So they've diagnosed that it needs a new compressor (it's already had a new condenser)

I'm slightly distrusting of the place, and I'm considering taking it elsewhere for a second opinion.

Is there anyway they could re pressure the system that makes it "not" get cold. For example, no refrigerant or too much ?

I've been reading on another site, about how the fan in front of the condenser blows the cold air around the system.

However, on my car, the drivers side fan comes on at a certain temperature & the passenger fan comes on a bit later. At this point, with the second fan on (the air con one), my air con starts getting cold.

Is that passenger side fan, supposed to be on as soon as you turn on the air con ? or does it just kick in now & then ?

[Sparky69]

Cant remember exactly but the drivers side fan comes on bout 3 or 4 degs after the passenger side 1. both fans are controlled by the ecu and are dependent on engine temp. Hope this helps.

[thegreengoblet]

On my Lightweight, Im sure the 2nd fan goes on and off at regular but very short intervals when the air con is on. We're talking a few seconds and the fan never really picks up any speed?? I may have also seen it go on fully after the the other fan has been on for a short while?? Dont think this helps you though.

[RUSSELLM]

I'll have a look at the other car when I get home.

Seems strange that they're telling me the compressor's knackered, yet when that passenger side fan spins round, the air goes cold.

I've had a quick search of old threads & that second fan appears to have two inputs.

One from the heating control that fires it up when you press the aircon button & one from the ecu to help cool the engine, kicking in just after the drivers side fan.

[Ireland]

If you search back through my posts from last summer you'll see that I figured out exactly how they work when I was trying to improve my air-con.

I'm off out now but if I think of it later I'll see if I can find the thread and copy it to here.

[thegreengoblet]

RUSSELLM said:

I've had a quick search of old threads & that second fan appears to have two inputs.

One from the heating control that fires it up when you press the aircon button & one from the ecu to help cool the engine, kicking in just after the drivers side fan.

Well that fits in with my fan behaviour.