How does the A/C work, dudes?

Gerrard has a manual air con... with the round dials.

It used to have no gas.. so a/c didn't work at all... but pressing the a/c button made the fan come on faintly (maybe speed 1) even though the fan dial was off (position 0).

After I had the system re-gassed, this still worked like this for a few days.. although the air was now cold.

But yesterday I noticed that with the a/c button pressed but with the fan off (dial at position 0 ) there was no air coming out. It used to ^^ before. If I turn the fan/dial to speed 1.. the fan works as you'd expect.

I think the air is not as cold as it was.. so something may still not be right in the system... but I can hear the compressor activating.

The fan working at position zero might have been a "funny". How is it supposed to work?


Ralf S.

So much as I am aware the system should only work with the fan on; I have digital CC (as opposed to the manual AC) so can't check properly for you.


The only way you should have air movement with fans off is if you have the recirc vent open and letting in fresh air, the natural movement of the car should provide some airflow in that instance but that wouldn't trigger the AC - maybe why you felt warmer air?


It sounds more like a short in the system leaking current to the cabin fan when the AC button is pressed - so the only thing I can think is maybe the control panel was having an issue.


I wouldn't rush to try and do anything about it - just keep an eye on it. Being Italian as it is it might be that it'd got damp and decided to do something funny with all the rain we've been getting.

Yes, I was surprised that a/c switched the fan on... even with the fan on zero... but I don't have another car to compare it against.

The fan now stays off with a/c button on (but with the dial set to zero). The only air that comes in is via the vents when the car is moving.

On the other hand... I can't hear the compressor clattering away any more and the "a/c" air that comes out when the fan is on, is no longer cold... so I fear that the recently (1 week ago) re-pressurized system has all leaked away.

At least that guarantees a hot spell for the rest of the country...


Ralf S.

I hope for your sakes it hasn't leaked out mate.


If it's disappeared that quickly the leak check on re-charge would have found it, unless you gassed it yourself of course.


The R134a refrigerant gas is proper badass nasty stuff, incredibly carcinogenic and a heavy gas - makes your breath feel very odd too. I had an AC system explode in my face once in a scrap yard as they'd failed to empty a junker car of the gas before letting me go and remove one of the AC pipes - I told them that was what I wanted as well!


When you get them filled at a proper regas place they vacuum out the system of the old stuff and before refilling perform a vacuum test. It has to hold a certain level of vac for so long before the machines will allow you to refill - it's all automated. So typically anything but the tiniest of leaks should have been detected.


Good luck!

Running the fan when the A/C is on and the manual fan control is off IS standard behaviour - it's designed to stop the evaporator from freezing.

I think our Stilo's evaporator has a leak, as it also won't hold a charge, and I suspect this is a common problem now that the Stilo is old. The air conditioning specialist and I tried many things including pressure-testing the condenser (radiator at the front of the car), replacing the pipe work while the engine was out, and rebuilding the compressor with a new shaft seal. None of which made any difference - the charge seemed to leak out faster than ever.

The gas isn't carcinogenic but it is heavier than air, so there is a risk of suffocation.

-Alex