Air con low vacuum

hst125 · 21st April 2021, 20:35

Bear with me, I’m not asking for a fix but some idea of what order to check this fault out...
On Saturday I drove the car a short distance and noticed the ac was blowing cold then ambient. On parking up the clutch was kicking in and out, but when it kicked in it was chilling. It was cutting in for a few seconds then off again, and the rad fan didn’t operate (ext temp was about 16/17C).
So I took it up the road to Merityre and they pulled it down, then diagnosed a low vacuum fault. The ac belt had been making an overload kind of screech very quietly and it was worse on Saturday.
It does point to a compressor fault but as I’ve a CDTi it’s looking expensive and probably not a justified outlay.
As a diagnostic check will cost a fair few quid I thought I’d ask if anyone here has had this fault or fixed it?

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SD1too · 21st April 2021, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by hst125

... and the rad fan didn’t operate ...

That's your problem Mick. The fan should be running continuously whenever the air conditioning is activated. Do you have a 2 speed resistor system or a 3 speed without resistor?

Simon

hst125 · 22nd April 2021, 07:01

That I can’t answer, was going to look when I did the front end jobs but the house renovation is sucking all my energy!

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21st April 2021, 20:35	#1
hst125 Loves to post 2004 ZTT CDTi manual, 2017 Fiat 500L MPW, 1946 MG TC Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Reading Posts: 272 Thanks: 22 Thanked 27 Times in 23 Posts	Air con low vacuum Bear with me, I’m not asking for a fix but some idea of what order to check this fault out... On Saturday I drove the car a short distance and noticed the ac was blowing cold then ambient. On parking up the clutch was kicking in and out, but when it kicked in it was chilling. It was cutting in for a few seconds then off again, and the rad fan didn’t operate (ext temp was about 16/17C). So I took it up the road to Merityre and they pulled it down, then diagnosed a low vacuum fault. The ac belt had been making an overload kind of screech very quietly and it was worse on Saturday. It does point to a compressor fault but as I’ve a CDTi it’s looking expensive and probably not a justified outlay. As a diagnostic check will cost a fair few quid I thought I’d ask if anyone here has had this fault or fixed it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ My other car's got 3 V12s under the floors.

22nd April 2021, 07:01	#3
hst125 Loves to post 2004 ZTT CDTi manual, 2017 Fiat 500L MPW, 1946 MG TC Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Reading Posts: 272 Thanks: 22 Thanked 27 Times in 23 Posts	That I can’t answer, was going to look when I did the front end jobs but the house renovation is sucking all my energy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ My other car's got 3 V12s under the floors.