General Air conditioning not cooling

[carlorff]

Hi all

I have the following problem and I thought until now that the car is ok. My 2007 Bravo MJTD 1.9 8v black does not cool down the car. Yesterday I left it as always at 35 degrees in the shadow, and when I started driving I turned on the ac, but the thing is that it is blowing out some air which is just slightly cooler than outside, and the car did not cool down in 45 minutes of driving non city roads. As far as I can remember it does not cool down even in one hour. AC on, fan to 4 outdoor air or indoor air, no cooling.I had the same problem last year and I drove it to the dealer who checked out the ac and it was suppose to be ok even enough coolent. But the car did not cool down. So I am asking you is anyone else feeling the heat in bravo? I mean I love the car but ac SUCKS big time at least in my car.

 

[Benny]

I have a 08 mjet sport. The air con didn't do anything, you could hear the compressor engage, then disengage again. Fiat first regassed the system it blew the lot out in an afternoon. It would appear a number of bravos were fitted with the wrong condenser, they, fiat have a memo, but they don't know how many cars are affected. They replaced the condenser twice, big job all front end off. The first new condenser had a crack in it, now all working fine. If you look under the bonnet on left hand side where the air con pipes enter the condenser there should be an arrow stamped on the condenser body, if not you got the wrong type apparently. Thats the story I was told i've no reason to disbelieve them, they have been looking after my fiats for 25 years without problems. Good luck.

 

[carlorff]

Hi Benny thank you for the info, can you be so kind and add a picture as I did try to locate the part that you are talking about, but I can not find the condenser. Thank you

 

[Papa P]

OKay, this is probably going to seem like a silly question...but do you have the windows closed when you put the AC on?

Just making sure...

 

[Charnwood Fox]

And the recirculate button pressed?

 

[carlorff]

windows are closed and the recirculate button pressed. I tried with recirculate button on and off. But the air blowing from the vents is almost warm not cool.I hope that Benny is correct and I will check the car today or I will take it to the dealer it depands when I'll finish working. Last year when the car was serviced the fiat dealer told me that if the coolent was escaping from the closed circuit it would leave the yellow spot as it is colored. The coolant is not escaping anywhere so it must be something else.And I tried everything written in the users manual. I feel like:bang: especially when they said that it will be like 37C today and I will be like driving my nice black car.

 

[venturer]

I have exactly the same problem with my a/c. It sort of feels colder than if it wasnt on, but a long way off being as cold as a/c should.

Another strange thing is that the left two vents seem to have colder air than the right (drivers) side vent...most strange.

Could it be the same problem?

 

[carlorff]

Venturer, you are right about the left two vents as the car is made for european market and as I know yours is made for UK, and if I check my left hand drive car, both vents on the left feel colder than the ones on the right. My fathers old Marea Weekend which is 10 years old produces colder air with ac on than my bravo.

 

[špeljac]

There is a possibility that you have too little ac gas or too much in the aircon..If there is too much gas, the pressure builds up too much when it's 30+ degrees outside, and the presostat turns off the ac, but the ac button is still lit... i had that problem, after they refilled my ac on 30k service..it just didnt work because they put too much gas ( normal is 500-550 g) i had in mine 670..went to another service, and they have discharged the extra gas and everything works perfectly now

 

[venturer]

Is there any pics of the air con condensor anywhere so I can see if it has the arrow or not?

 

[Benny]

The condenser is the radiator in front of the water radiator. Two pipes enter this on the front lower left hand side of the engine bay the arrow is on that pressing, you can't get a camera in there to show you, the mechanic could only see with a torch and knew what he was looking at. I was shown said marking on the condenser after it had been removed, sorry I can't of more help.

 

[carlorff]

Hi all
I have to report back that it seems the air condition is fixed, but there is absolutely no way of checking it out since it is pouring outside and it is very cold for the fourth day today. Anyhow I borrowed my car to my father who is retired and he has lots of time and patience to take it to the Fiat garage. It takes me a week to do one thing since I am constantly working for ten or more hours per day.They checked all the above mentioned things and also the gas amount .The gas amount was 150g and it should be 350g. They refilled it, and behold, it was not enough. So they dug further and found… please take a look at pictures… I guess that the the first Fiat dealer did not change the air filter while the car was in warranty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52519659@N03/4840143389/

 

[stakyr]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52519659@N03/4840143389/[/QUOTE]

LOL. One picture that worths 1 thousand words...

 

[stakyr]

Regarding the loss of AC gas this is the most common problem for the AC not working or not working its best. The question is how the AC gas is lost. You see AC works like a refrigerator, but we never check our refrigerator gas, do we? I had the same problem in 2 of my previous cars and it was a misplaced tube the first time and a broken AC fridge the second one. So be aware of some leakage. If you feel low AC performance in the future, tell them to check for fluid leakage with some fluorescent liquid that they use in these cases. (hope you ll never need this info.gl)

 

[Ulpian]

Remember that fridges are on permanently.

The biggest problem with car A/C is that people don't use it enough and the seals dry out and leak gas. Given that the lubricant is suspended in the refrigerant, it is essential that the A/C be operated regularly - at least every week of the year. Used properly most A/C systems are very reliable.

Some people don't realise that it should also be used in winter, to clear fug.