Air con fault finding

[Weston Dave]

I have a new to me 92 Surf 2.4 td auto

Air con not working. Can hear fan running. Can see nothing in sight glass. What I’m looking for?
I know very little about A/C units.
Are there any tests or checks I can do before contacting a specialist?
Regards, David

[nero279]

Simplest one is to see if the clutch is engaging, on the pump with the engine running and a/c on. There is a clutch in the pulley on the pump.

Is just the pulley turning and the bit in the middle of it staying still? Or is the whole lot turning?

[drunkmonkeyboy]

you might be out of gas, i accidently (spelling police!!!) degassed mine!! I know how bad it is as my dads a registered refrigerent handler. But having read up on cfcs and how they are heavyer than air i dont see how they can get all that way up to the ozone layer to damage it, but thats another story.

what i did find thatcan help you and cost you less is a diy regass kit heres the link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d..._promot_widget

hope its some use to you

[fenman666]

aircon

I had the same problem with mine... fans were running ,clutch was engaging but still no cold air. I rang a local aircon guy and for £55 he came out and did a cleanout and recharge and now its working perfectly. Also at the time, being as mine is a 93, it was still running on R12 which is now illegal but he said he could fit a adaptor kit (larger ports) and refill with R134 for £70... but advised against it. The reason for this is that the older system is better suited to the old gas than the R134 and would run more efficiently on the direct R12 replacement which is R29..... I think ... anyway it is what they still use on a lot of trailer fridge units. I had no reason to disbelieve him as he could of done the conversion and had £70 out of me instead of the £55 !!!
He also told me that they are going to eventually phase out R134 and use co2 instead!!!!

[Weston Dave]

aircon

Hi nero279
The inner part off the compressor pulley does not turn when A/C switched on (both push switch & heater switch on). There is no voltage at the wire from the loom to compressor. Is there a fuse to this somewhere?
Just heard of some bad vibes in Kent. Hope things are ok with you
David

[BUSHWHACKER]

Fuses are just above the kick panel on the passenger side.

[nero279]

Allegedly there's an inhibitor switch which stops the clutch engaging if the gas pressure is low, you could try to feed +12v from the battery into the connector, if the clutch engages doing this and the fuses are ok it's probably just low on gas.

There is a relay/control box/something for the aircon behind the panel right at the bottom of the dash between the two footwells, which has had some write ups on the aussie site due to problems with a chattering relay or something but it doesn't sound the same problem as yours.

PS never knew anything about the earthquake til i heard it on the lunchtime news, I was in the shower when it was supposed to have happened.

[Weston Dave]

Put 12v live feed to compressor, inner pulley engaged.
Found what seems to be a pressure switch on pipe from/to condenser. With a/c on I can hear a fan running (not heater blower which is running anyway). If I remove wires from pressure switch another much louder fan kicks in but still no volts on black wire (where does it come from?) to compressor.
Unable to find any fuses on the passenger side –what is a kick panel? Is it the foot-well lining?-.
Still don’t know what I should be seeing in condenser sight glass.
David

[Antshiel]

Put 12v live feed to compressor, inner pulley engaged.
Found what seems to be a pressure switch on pipe from/to condenser. With a/c on I can hear a fan running (not heater blower which is running anyway). If I remove wires from pressure switch another much louder fan kicks in but still no volts on black wire (where does it come from?) to compressor.
Unable to find any fuses on the passenger side –what is a kick panel? Is it the foot-well lining?-.
Still don’t know what I should be seeing in condenser sight glass.
David

When you switch air con on you should see nothing in the sight glass. This is good and bad as you will also see nothing if your gas is gone. When the system starts to get low on gas you will see bubbles in glass of receiver dryer, time for a regas. There is a pressure switch also on the same unit that stops all of the air con system from working, this protects the bearing in the compressor and oil seals from being damaged through lack of gas and oil not being carried through the system. Once the system has been pressurised the switch will trip and the compressor will kick in. This will run for a few minutes and the a/c fans (bottom of engine behind lower bash plate) will then kick in and the compressor will stop and restart again within about 15 - 20 seconds. Dont short the compressor to +live as you will damage the bearing and possibly pop an oil seal. Have the system regassed professionally. They will first vac out the system of old lube oil and re oil the system. Then the system will be regassed using a sacrificial gas to check for leaks and to make sure the a/c is working correctly. Once system is found to be working properly, only then will the system be vacced and regassed with refrigerant.
Air con is not something you should play about with unless you know exactly what you are doing. As for the cheap diy kits, Dont bother, they only do half the job and don't rectify any faults or leaks. for £55 you are better off taking it to someone who nows what they're doing.
Mine was done only 2 weeks ago and i needed a new receiver dryer. Total cost £55 for the regas and £15 for the receiver dryer = £65
Now it's ice cold and no leaks, Good luck.

[nero279]

Total cost £55 for the regas and £15 for the receiver dryer = £65
Now it's ice cold and no leaks, Good luck.

Ice cold in the cellar too i believe with maths like that

[That Ruddy Squirrel]

Ice cold in the cellar too i believe with maths like that

Just call the odd fiver his vote tax

[Antshiel]

OOps Sh1t. £55 is what he normally charges but he charged me £50 so +£15 = £65
Heres me trying to save the poor bloke from splashing out loads a wonga and the maths police are all over me for fraud

[Chris _Leeds]

Anyone in or around the yorkshire area needing an aircon man ? , i reccomend autoteknic air conditioning 07851103847 , the guys name is Wayne and is very resonable in his pricing