Air Con Problems again!

[Rincewind]

Right, my turn to ask for some help and advice before I really lose the plot with my air con.

Brief history:

bought car Jan 05 to discover that the air con not working a few months later (never really use it).

May 05 discover that cooling pack fans need replacing and aircon regassed.

Everything ok until about 6 weeks later when aircon not getting cold.

Teddy thrown duly out of pram and car returned to EMG in Epsom (great bunch!) to sort. They stuff dye in the system only to find no leaks etc so all regassed and everything ok for ages.

Just out of curiosity today, dropped the temp to low with the air con in auto to find that the temp not dropping - EFFING gas has escaped somehow again!!!!!!!

Any ideas chaps and chapesses? I'm beginning to think that that actual compressor is knackered and it's allowing the gas to escape internally?

If anyone has got anysuggestions as to where I could take the car other than a dealer again (mind you the warranty should sort that out) I would be most appreciative (and somewhere that's not going to fleece me as the good lady wife will go nuts as soon as I tell her that it's packed up again and she's every right too as this is the 3rd time in less than 12 months I've had to get it sorted).

Cheers

Nic

[Kandyman]

Ok if you have a warranty then cost is not a problem :)

But for the dealers it could be a problem as it could work out to be a lot of money for them to fix and they might just be doing temp fixes till your warranty runs out then YOU will be left with a big bill.
What I would be inclined to do is go to a local independent AC specialist and get them to check it out for you (don’t tell them what your up to) and get them to give you a report that you can show your dealer.


I am not saying the dealers is doing this but I have heard of a few garages trying theses

[baxlin]

I had a Rover 600 style Honda accord with a similar problem and it turned out that vibration had caused a tiny leak in one of the pipes where it passed under a saddle fixing. First application of dye didn't show it up, it was only the Independent (mobile) A/C specialist refusing to be beaten that found it.

Steve at Aircool on 01442 214700 Hemel Hempstead area.

[Rincewind]

Thanks chaps, I could however do with someone in the Leicestershire area or more notably Ashby-de-la-Zouch as I've been all over the shop with it and I'm getting well hacked off with it all now. This is the only bug in an otherwise great car (ignoring the fuel line whistle).

Nic

[Phil]

Is it not the cold weather causing it to not feel quite as cold as usual, it's about 8 degrees here and the a/c only cools to about 4 or 5 degrees anyway. Just a thought.

[Lates]

Just out of curiosity today, dropped the temp to low with the air con in auto to find that the temp not dropping - EFFING gas has escaped somehow again!!!!!!!


Not teaching you to suck eggs Nic as I respect your knowledge base, but may I ask how cold the ambient was ?

[Rincewind]

Not teaching you to suck eggs Nic as I respect your knowledge base, but may I ask how cold the ambient was ?

Humm, yes I was thinking about that last night and I wonder if I've fallen foul of an ambient of 7 degrees C? Do these things have cut offs where they won't work? Our 25 gets cold with the button pushed but that's a "thick" system compared to the ZT's system.

Nic

[Keith]

It should cool the car regardless (within reason) of outside temp

Run it at Hi for a few minutes to get the cabin temp nice and warm then stick it too Lo. The outlets should be at a cooled rather than outside air temp

Check you don't have this pipe rubbing on the silver AC pipe as shown they need to be tied back if too close other wise a notch will soon be made which will eventually become a hole

http://www.midnightphotos.co.uk/userimages/full/1/5874.jpg

[JemP]

An air con specialist can pressurise the system with gas (think its hydrogen) which you can hear escaping from any small hole. It works far better than the dye. Mine did this on my Saab and found a pin NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- hole in a pipe which the dye would never have found.
Quick test to see if the air con is working is to feel the two pipes on the left hand side of the engine bay, the thin one should be warm, and the thick one should be very cold. If not, it aint working.

[Keith]

.
Quick test to see if the air con is working is to feel the two pipes on the left hand side of the engine bay, the thin one should be warm, and the thick one should be very cold. If not, it ain't working.

Yes sort of, if cold then something is working but if both are warm that could be no gas or the compressor not engaged or both or neither not an easy thing to do a diy check on does the compressor engage Nick?

If not ione thing worth diy checking is the state of the trinary switch both the the internal Hi and low pressure switches should be short circuit if either are open circuit as they are wired in series then AC will not run.

I am surprised you never managed to "obtain" a T4 Nick as with that you can test AC actuate the compressor clutch etc