AC slow to get cold - XF

[Pvapour]

Just bought a 2013 xf 3.0d, well bloody chuffed with it tbh but the ac takes about 5 mins to get cold, is this right?
definitely icy once cold and copes easily with the 30+ temps but don't think things should take that long..
Read up on ac issues and apparently there can be a problem with a pressure sensor, does my slow start up sound symptomatic of this?

Cheers for any pointers...

[Pvapour]

Not listened for that tbh, ill check..

i did notice that when i left it there idling to get cool, after about 3 mins the fans kicked in and this then seemed to kick the ac into action, extra airflow past the condensor? Very short time with car so far but i think if i set off in the car giving extra airflow then this also activates cold air quicker.

[Pvapour]

Certainly hope its that simple but my pessimism doesnt allow me to believe such things unfortunately

Cheers! will investigate further and the probably further still

[Pvapour]

No compressor on start up, takes about 5 mins to kik in

[Pvapour]

verynicechap said:

The next thing to do in these situations is to make sure the refrigerant levels/pressures are correct. if not then its check for leaks using dye / detectors.

think you're right, i'll try the below to eliminate that possibility first then pootle off to the garage for a pressure test / top up with dye and see if it uncovers anything. cheers

w824gb3 said:

Sounds like it needs a new battery to me. If its starting up with a low voltage the car will not energise all the systems until there's enough elecy to go round. The a/c compressor takes a lot of elecy to energise the clutch.

i like that as a solution, i'll charge it up overnight and see if theres a difference on start up,

Edited by Pvapour on Monday 14th August 17:33

[Pvapour]

Been out there again listening to things and can definitely hear the clutch engaing when i turn ac on & off but no fans start up at the same time??

Done allot of miles in it today so battery should have been pretty much full but its been on charge at 4amp for 2hrs now and its still charging, we'll see...

[Pvapour]

got things checked out, was 150g down on gas so was hoping the re-gas might sort things but alas...

looked back through service records to find Guy Salmon advised back in June that the compressor was at fault after an initiated inspection, symptoms not printed on sheet but i assume previous owner had same query, wish i'd seen the note when scanning records, hey ho.

dealer's being good so far and offering to send a new Denso unit over but i'm guessing i'll have to foot the bill to install and re-gas as warranty is european wide, could be worse I guess

[Pvapour]

Weirdly it's getting better and better i.e. Getting colder quicker since re-gas, I wander if being 150 short caused some valve to get sticky or something and now it's slowly freeing up??

Well I have a new Denso compressor on way now so may well be up for grabs at a bargain price, we'll see....

[Pvapour]

Think theres something in what you say, as posted, i did charge battery which took a good 6 hrs at 4 amps even though the car had just done a long run so should have been fully charged.

This gave me hope but made no difference, though this was pre re-gas so will try again, i would say battery is on its way out though because of this.

I'll try charged battery again post re-gas but before i do i'll try setting off in maual mode holding revs above 2k to see if this improves time to blowing cold, it maybwell have been standard on s-type but its definitely not right according to the xf forums.