Took the Giulietta in to get the air con charged up today. Upon my return they said they changed the gas (which was nearly empty) and that there was no leaks in the system but there was no cold air coming out the blowers, just air at the ambient temperature.
He said that it could be a sensor of some kind? Apparently, if the gas runs low then a sensor will pick this up thus not letting the compressor start to help protect it. Now it's been recharged the sensor isn't recognising this and not starting up the compressor.
Does that make any kind of sense to anyone at all? Has anyone else had similar?
Could anyone help me locate where the compressor is in the engine bay and what I'm looking for? I'm going to see if it even kicks in when I turn the AC on
you don't need to touch the BELT DRIVEN AC compressor to see if it's working: locate both the aluminium rerigerant linezs coming from the firewall. They're a different diameter. The Big one needs to be icecold, the small one hot. If they're the same temperature the AC compressor isn't working.
Sounds totally feasible! When the gas runs low, the compressor definitely doesn't run so that it doesn't get damaged.
In terms of testing whether the compressor is engaging when you press the switch, you will be able to tell both from the engine revs increasing and by the click of the compressor. From inside the car, it's obviously easier to tell by the engine revs, as hearing the click is a lot harder inside than outside.
the diesel doesn't increase revs, so you can't tell that way. Also, if the compressor is faulty but gets the signal to go the revs will increase on a petrol.
Hope you didn't give them any money. Tyre places can't be trusted with air con. It's way too complex. There are elements of truth in what's described. The sensor indeed needs to read the correct pressure for the compressor to engage. It has an upper limit as well. Has he put to much in? Furthermore, where did he think the original gas had gone? A 20min vacuum test tells you very little about the integrity of the system. I take it the guy who did the regas doesn't have the skills to investigate any of this further and so has just fobbed you off with one possible cause. Take it to an air con specialist.
Equally likely scenarios are the air con hasn't run for a long time then a new drier maybe needed or the compressor itself is broken.
Get it to a proper air con place that will check the system properly before mindlessly gassing it with an un specified mass of refrigerant. All quite costly I'm afraid.
When fixed always have the ac button on. Use it or loose it is the general rule as the refrigerant also lubricates the system.
Not good news but hopefully useful.
Hope you didn't give them any money. Tyre places can't be trusted with air con. It's way too complex. There are elements of truth in what's described. The sensor indeed needs to read the correct pressure for the compressor to engage. It has an upper limit as well. Has he put to much in? Furthermore, where did he think the original gas had gone? A 20min vacuum test tells you very little about the integrity of the system. I take it the guy who did the regas doesn't have the skills to investigate any of this further and so has just fobbed you off with one possible cause. Take it to an air con specialist.
Equally likely scenarios are the air con hasn't run for a long time then a new drier maybe needed or the compressor itself is broken.
Get it to a proper air con place that will check the system properly before mindlessly gassing it with an un specified mass of refrigerant. All quite costly I'm afraid.
When fixed always have the ac button on. Use it or loose it is the general rule as the refrigerant also lubricates the system.
The refrigerant isn't the lubricant, there is actually oil put into the system on purpose to lubricate the compressor internals. I don't know the giulietta setup, but have worked on systems that had high and low pressure switches. Low pressure stops compressor pumping air and high pressure in its most basic function protects system from bursting if fans don't work to dissipate heat etc. A good Aircon man will introduce an ultraviolet dye to help with leak detection in the futureetta
If the system has been recharged and the compressor isn't engaging at all it may be something simple (hopefully). In a car that I previously owned, the compressor clutch relay had failed causing the symptoms you've described. That was a $20 part from the dealer and a 2 minute job to replace.
+1 For running A/C all the time. Compressors these days are that efficient that the difference in fuel consumption is negligible.
I agree its better for the AC system but mine is the 1.6 Diesil and noticed yesturday how much slower the car felt, I had to use Dynamic to give me any confidence at busy junctions..
Bumping my own thread here. Basically, I never got this sorted in the end. I have identified that the clutch isn't engaging
I've checked the fuse, which is fine.
I've read about testing the relay but I can't seem to find a diagram anywhere for where/how I can find this. Could anyone advice?
Evening all. Just for an update on this as it’s quite funny actually.
Had the guy who came and did my brakes back over today to look at my AC just to see if he could diagnose it.
Double checked the fuses etc. All fine.
Had a poke about the compressor which as you know is a bit of a pig to get to.
He asked, have you had any work done on it? To which I replied, no just a refill so they wouldn’t have gone near the compressor.
Turns out, it was only bloody disconnected! I said after I bought the car I had the cam belt and water pump changed which is in the same part of the engine. So I guess they’ve either accidently disconnected or forgot to plug it back in. It was probably this now lack of cold air that prompted me to get it recharged that identified this issue!
I now have a fully working AC compressor!
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