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Technical air con issue

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Technical air con issue

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Phoenix123

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Hi....recently bought a 500c 2010.....having issues with the air con/climate control. Its fine if I have the temp set to 16 but as soon as I put it on LO, I hear a clunk behind the steering wheel and hot air starts blowing out....am I doing something wrong or do I have a problem?
 
Phoenix123 said:
Hi....recently bought a 500c 2010.....having issues with the air con/climate control. Its fine if I have the temp set to 16 but as soon as I put it on LO, I hear a clunk behind the steering wheel and hot air starts blowing out....am I doing something wrong or do I have a problem?
Click to expand...

As I'm not entirely sure of the actual spec of your own car, on our TA which is fitted with climate control, in the first year of our ownership, it required a new heater flap control unit which was done under warranty.

As your car is a 2010 model, unless you can categorically state you've had the climate/air con system serviced at some point during the car's lifetime, then I'll go with the idea it's never been serviced. Car aircon systems need to be serviced periodically, despite what some people will claim, yes ahmett, that one is aimed at you lol! Since I had my condenser replaced in May last year in my Saab, I now have it serviced annually. The Wife's TA, well that car will officially be three years old from build date this coming September, but I'm having the aircon fully serviced, degas, leak tested, UV dye and regas, for 50 quid, in the next couple of weeks.

I also wouldn't ever be tempted to buy one of those do it yourself aircon regas kits either. Leave it to a specialist.
 
Our Clio is 14years old and the aircon works faultlessly. We've had her from brand new in 2001.
The aircon has never been serviced, looked at, or had anything done to it.

Just thought I'd put the other side of the argument. :)
Mick.
 
Phoenix123 said:
Hi....recently bought a 500c 2010.....having issues with the air con/climate control. Its fine if I have the temp set to 16 but as soon as I put it on LO, I hear a clunk behind the steering wheel and hot air starts blowing out....am I doing something wrong or do I have a problem?
Click to expand...

I've got a 2013 TA and I get something like that on switch-over from time to time, and its usually when I've had it on in the morning and set it to warm me up (set to around 23/24...yes, I know.. I feel the cold :p) and then get in the car after work and its been sitting in the hot sun and I switch on AC and turn it to 18. There is a noise when it switches from one setting to another and a few seconds of warm air before the cold, which I suspect is either the warm air from the morning still caught up in the system or just the fact that the air has been warmed up via weather.

I didn't think it was an issue, just how it works, and no-one has mentioned it during services or other trips in. It might be a bit off though, and its my first car with CC so I can't comment further.
 
DBunX said:
I've got a 2013 TA and I get something like that on switch-over from time to time, and its usually when I've had it on in the morning and set it to warm me up (set to around 23/24...yes, I know.. I feel the cold :p) and then get in the car after work and its been sitting in the hot sun and I switch on AC and turn it to 18. There is a noise when it switches from one setting to another and a few seconds of warm air before the cold, which I suspect is either the warm air from the morning still caught up in the system or just the fact that the air has been warmed up via weather.

I didn't think it was an issue, just how it works, and no-one has mentioned it during services or other trips in. It might be a bit off though, and its my first car with CC so I can't comment further.
Click to expand...

It's probably the electromagnetic clutch on the air conditioning compressor being engaged.

OP: As above, a proper air con service (not just "a regas, bruv") should sort it out.

I'd advocate (and do) keeping the air con switched on at all times with a climate control equipped car.
 
Mick F said:
Our Clio is 14years old and the aircon works faultlessly. We've had her from brand new in 2001.
The aircon has never been serviced, looked at, or had anything done to it.

Just thought I'd put the other side of the argument. :)
Mick.
Click to expand...
same with my mom's polo it was about 9 years old, never had AC service and it was blowing ice cold air right until the engine blew up from oil starvation! The engine oil sensor basically failed so i did not know it did not have oil until too late (i was not driving the car regularly so did not maintain it - i should have!)
 
Phoenix123 said:
Hi....recently bought a 500c 2010.....having issues with the air con/climate control. Its fine if I have the temp set to 16 but as soon as I put it on LO, I hear a clunk behind the steering wheel and hot air starts blowing out....am I doing something wrong or do I have a problem?
Click to expand...
If you are putting the climate control on to low then it should start blowing out cold air on full not hot. That setting takes the temp down to about 14 degrees to quickly cool the car on a hot day. If it is blowing out hot air then you have a problem
 
My air con works on 16 nice and cold but as soon as I select Lo it blows hot?
When I want heat it only works on Hi, otherwise blows cold.
Any ideas please?
 
I have 1.4 sport 2010 and exactly the same problem.
This occurs when A/C unit is in auto mode and the desired temp is set too low, in that case the fan accelerates (as it should) but in the process one flap inside gives in because of the excessive air pressure and hot air comes out instead of the desired cold. To make things worse, the AC unit feel that the desired low temp cannot be achieved and further raise the fan speed :mad: hot air at full speed :mad:
Maybe the problem is with the relative solenoid valve of the flap but I cannot tell for sure because at the moment I use the following workaround:
I just put the fun manually up to the middle speed (and not in auto mode or manually above the middle speed),that way the flap remains at the cold mode and I am happy.
(When I have money I will try a visit to a repair shop :p)
 
frupi said:
As I'm not entirely sure of the actual spec of your own car, on our TA which is fitted with climate control, in the first year of our ownership, it required a new heater flap control unit which was done under warranty.

As your car is a 2010 model, unless you can categorically state you've had the climate/air con system serviced at some point during the car's lifetime, then I'll go with the idea it's never been serviced. Car aircon systems need to be serviced periodically, despite what some people will claim, yes ahmett, that one is aimed at you lol! Since I had my condenser replaced in May last year in my Saab, I now have it serviced annually. The Wife's TA, well that car will officially be three years old from build date this coming September, but I'm having the aircon fully serviced, degas, leak tested, UV dye and regas, for 50 quid, in the next couple of weeks.

I also wouldn't ever be tempted to buy one of those do it yourself aircon regas kits either. Leave it to a specialist.
Click to expand...


Where can you get an aircon fully serviced, degas, leak tested, UV dye and regas, for 50 quid ?!
 
gaurav500 said:
Where can you get an aircon fully serviced, degas, leak tested, UV dye and regas, for 50 quid ?!
Click to expand...

Interesting you chose to quote me on something I posted over 3 years ago!

But in any case, where I live in the Midlands, I can still get a full aircon service done for less than 50 quid. I've personally always made a point of phoning around for quotes and on lots of things, I'm prepared to travel a few miles depending on the price and reviews.

Concerning my Saab, the last time I had the aircon serviced, I discovered that it had not lost any refrigerant from the aircon system and it was in a healthy state. I haven't therefore had it serviced for two years now because it is doing its job very well. I still use my aircon every time I'm in the car, even in winter when rather bizarrely, many car owners won't even switch it on. My aircon is set to come on automatically anyway when the car is started, so I have to switch it off if I don't want it operating, which suits me fine.
 
Last edited:
You are doing the best thing, Frupi, keeps the seals lubricated and reduces the chance of bacteria build up and nasty smells.

£50 used to be a fairly standard charge for a regas, but the R1234YF refrigerant used on most new cars is much more expensive so a regas is likely to cost more. Our 14 plate Suzuki and 65 plate 500X both use this gas, don't know what the 500 uses now but there should be a label somewhere under the bonnet.
 
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