Now mates,

Last summer I re-gassed my A/C since the little A/C button light would come on and the fan would work but nothing else happened in the cooling and conditioning department.

For a while (3 days) the beast was working splendidly... although some compressor whine/rattle suggested that all was actually not 100% well in the engine room.

After the 3 days (of deteriorating cooling) the beast packed up altogether, so I deduced that the A/C might have a leak... but at the same time/instead, the compressor seems to have packed up altogether... since now the little A/C button light would come on but the fan wouldn't. So something in there is now worse than it was before.

If I was not afraid of a fatal death, I would manually de-gas the system and swap the compressor before trying again... but I'm not 100% sure what's wrong with the bitch. Could be that the compressor is fine and I just need more gas (after sealing the leak).

But why is the fan no longer working when I press the A/C button? Does it offer any clues?

Meanwhile I have a dashtop fan stuck to the dash top... but it is ****e basically. I need A/C.

Ralf S.

The A/C system is 'smart', so if it senses a problem it won't let the system turn on.

The system should not turn on if the outside air temp is below about 3degC or if the system believes there isn't enough pressure in there to run the system safely.

Have you given it a scan to see if it comes up with any error codes?

There is a clutch pack and relay sat on the compressor that should engage it when the system is active. That was, on the Alfas at least, an actuator test you could do - so you could list to hear the really rather loud, audible, click of the relay, to know that's working.

It's not unheard of for the pressure sensors to fail either. If the system doesn't detect enough pressure in the system to safely run, it won't allow it.

You can get pressure gauges that you stick on the high pressure port side of the A/C system and it'll tell you if it's holding any pressure or not.

A duff sensor may give an error, depends on the failure mode. A word of caution if you decide to change the pressure sensor / switch - make sure you have a spanner on the port as well as on the sensor. If you just start applying torque to the switch without something to counter that torque holding the port you'll just twist the soft ally pipework of the A/C system and rip it apart.

You could try and find a local air-con regas or leak test deal. They spring up all over this time of year. Its a legal requirement of an A/C regas to test for leaks before filling anyway as you're not allowed to vent this gas to atmosphere. They therefore vacuum out the system and test that it will hold a vacuum. If it doesn't, you know you're leaking!

Good tips.

According to the gassers last year, the system "seemed" to hold pressure.. I'm not completely convinced in retrospect.

But I suspect something else has gone wrong, since before the refill, the A/C button would turn the fan on, even though the fan dial was Off. The air that came out was ambient/not cooled (which is what I'd expect without any gas and/or the A/C not working).

When I re-gassed it, the relay would definitely "clunk" the clutch .. and the compressor worked .. although it made some kind of a grating sound at idle suggesting another problem in there somewhere. The garage said the sound might go away with use.. which is fair enough.

Now the A/C switch doesn't turn the regular fan on, even though the orange light in the switch comes on. I can't hear the relay working and there's no life in the A/C at all.

It sounds like the first step is to get the pressure confirmed... If there's pressure in there then that proves the problem is somewhere else. If there's no pressure then that's the first thing to fix.. although I'm curious why the A/C button used to turn the fan on but now doesn't.


Ralf S.

Aha!

A quick visit to Merit Tyre Services in St John's, Woking (my preferred Tyre Supplier to the Stars) for a free Air Conditioning system inspection, isolated one problem, if not THE problem... the little radiator in the front bumper is cream-crackered beyond all repair.

On closer inspection, the bottom row of fins seems to have had some fatal impact with something marginally smaller than a house-brick..

I presume that these little intercoolers are a) arm and a leg expensive... and b) unicorn poo scarce... but on the other hand, does anyone have a good one lying aboot that they don't need?


Ralf S.

That is the aircon condenser radiator mate.

Available for little money second hand / breakers or from about £50 brand spanking:

eBay Link

Ralf S. said:

Aha!

A quick visit to Merit Tyre Services in St John's, Woking (my preferred Tyre Supplier to the Stars) for a free Air Conditioning system inspection, isolated one problem, if not THE problem... the little radiator in the front bumper is cream-crackered beyond all repair.

On closer inspection, the bottom row of fins seems to have had some fatal impact with something marginally smaller than a house-brick..

I presume that these little intercoolers are a) arm and a leg expensive... and b) unicorn poo scarce... but on the other hand, does anyone have a good one lying aboot that they don't need?


Ralf S.

Click to expand...

I may have to purchase one soon too...

Mine looks like a tennis ball as hit it, the fins are damaged but not the core! and A/C still works so not worrying just yet.

A bit peed off too as this radiator on the other MJ i had was peppered so didnt bother to keep it, i would of least had an idea how it all comes out.

A word of caution to you both then.....

Be very careful with the pipework for the AC system. They're all made of rather soft aluminium and are very brittle. If you bend or twist those pipes they'll rip up like tissue paper.

The unions on the pipes aren't usually too bad as they're machined into blocks with bolts through them, so you're not torquing on them like a normal plumbing fitting.

Still; be warned.... You have to be gentle with them. Particularly the two pipes that come off the condenser as they're long and unsupported. You don't want to accidentally tweak or catch them.