Quote:
Originally Posted by SD1too
Hi Tony,
You might be interested to know that it's not quite as sophisticated as that.  When you have 'Auto' selected the air conditioning compressor will generally be running continuously. The temperature regulation is achieved by the hot and cold air blending flaps.
As with everything there are pros and cons with this mode of operation. The good news is that it keeps the system in working order making a recharge less likely. But whenever the compressor is running the radiator fan will be too and this shortens the life of the motor brushes (3 speed system) and the resistor (2 speed system). It's not the end of the world but worth bearing in mind.
|
Interesting. I have had the car since new in Feb 2004 and done 105k miles. In that time, the radiator fan motor has had to be replaced once - in about 2014.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SD1too
I think that the ideal regime is to make sure that the air conditioning is used regularly, every month all the year round but not necessarily leave it switched on permanently.
Simon  |
I have had it on auto the whole time I've owned the car and this the first time I ever had a problem with the aircon. In fact, I don't recall it ever being serviced. It just ran reliably for over 17 years.
Postscript: now fixed with a new aircon compressor. The garage tried to use a (cheaper) third party part at first - but couldn't get one with the right combination of pully and compressor. After 3 attempts, I told them to just give up and buy the genuine original part (from Rimmer Bros).