Technical Air Conditioning Not Working

[ahmett]

Now a new problem, past few months/years, when not driving AC would not really cool much/at all, but when moving it was fine. Now it is not fine when moving as well, so back to the mechanic to check it out! At least the coolant level is fine = ) Heat is good, but no AC, so thinking either compressor is starting to die, or fuses/activation method from the AC box. Let's see, I'll leave it with mechanic so he can play with it

If it had happened like a month later wouldnt even need the AC, but its still quite hot!

 

[Mike1alike]

Could be the AC pressure sensor. If it's dead the pressure cannot be read and the system does not get the OK to start, the compressor won't be fed, no voltage.

 

[ahmett]

Could be the AC pressure sensor. If it's dead the pressure cannot be read and the system does not get the OK to start, the compressor won't be fed, no voltage.

On a quick look he said the compressor looks to be ok and that it has fluid in it, but he wanted to take a longer look so I'll leave it to him tomorrow! Tomorrow is the last hot day of the year from what I see haha, I honestly wouldn't have bothered otherwise

 

[Mike1alike]

And yes, it's funny thing the temperatures these days. In the morning you need to turn the heat on, later in the day use the AC.

 

[steveras57]

It's probably out of gas and needs refilling!- when running the engine is spinning the compresser fast so gives the best chance of what gas is left in the system to work as best it can as it flowing round quicker!- at idle much lower speed so system at it least efficient!.
Get the system pressure tested to see if it holds a vacuum with no leaks if it does (and while this is being tested they will be able to see how much gas is left in the system!) then a simple re-gas should sort it!.

 

[ahmett]

It's probably out of gas and needs refilling!- when running the engine is spinning the compresser fast so gives the best chance of what gas is left in the system to work as best it can as it flowing round quicker!- at idle much lower speed so system at it least efficient!.
Get the system pressure tested to see if it holds a vacuum with no leaks if it does (and while this is being tested they will be able to see how much gas is left in the system!) then a simple re-gas should sort it!.

It’s annoying as it’s still 30c in Athens otherwise I would have waited until march

 

[John202020]

Never turn off the ac even in the uk

 

[The Panda Nut]

Agreed. Mums Perodua pump seized as she wouldnt turn it on. My brother did, and it shredded its drive belt. Oils in the system need to be distributed internally to keep the compressor lubricated, and ensure seals stay sealed. Only turn off if you have the windows open as you travel. Otherwise leave it on. In spite of seeing it uses 6bhp and ruins economy, I cannot detect either less power or less economy. I have tested this many many times and think the costs are so small they are undetectable.

 

[steveras57]

Agreed. Mums Perodua pump seized as she wouldnt turn it on. My brother did, and it shredded its drive belt. Oils in the system need to be distributed internally to keep the compressor lubricated, and ensure seals stay sealed. Only turn off if you have the windows open as you travel. Otherwise leave it on. In spite of seeing it uses 6bhp and ruins economy, I cannot detect either less power or less economy. I have tested this many many times and think the costs are so small they are undetectable.

Well bearing in mind we have no power anyway and the economy's so good a few less mpg aint gonna matter who gives a S**t anyway and just leave it on!

 

[John202020]

I passed my test in 1984 at 18, I was lucky enough to drive a car with ac from then onwards ( most Honda accords had ac as standard a big selling point along with legendary engineering) this taught me to never turn it off to keep the system working

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Find a new garage...

Coolant has nothing to do with the AC and neither does the heat working.

The "compressor looks to be ok and that it has fluid in it" is the weirdest thing I have ever herd from a supposed garage. if you opened it up to see if there was any fluid in it, you would get a big hiss or whoosh of all the gas escaping and yeah there would be fluid, compressor oil but that also has nothing to do with how the AC makes the car cold, it just stops the compressor from seizing up.

The way any normal garage would/should deal with such things is connect it to an AC regas machine. suck all the gas out, hold it for 20 - 30 minutes to make sure there are no leaks and if all is good put the right amount of gas back in, with maybe a little oil and some dye to look for leaks in the future.

It takes no more than an hour all in. You certainly don't need to keep the car in over night, so I have no faith that this guy has even the remotest idea what he is doing, or he does but is relying on the fact that you don't. expect a hefty bill coming your way.

 

[ahmett]

Find a new garage...

Coolant has nothing to do with the AC and neither does the heat working.

The "compressor looks to be ok and that it has fluid in it" is the weirdest thing I have ever herd from a supposed garage. if you opened it up to see if there was any fluid in it, you would get a big hiss or whoosh of all the gas escaping and yeah there would be fluid, compressor oil but that also has nothing to do with how the AC makes the car cold, it just stops the compressor from seizing up.

The way any normal garage would/should deal with such things is connect it to an AC regas machine. suck all the gas out, hold it for 20 - 30 minutes to make sure there are no leaks and if all is good put the right amount of gas back in, with maybe a little oil and some dye to look for leaks in the future.

It takes no more than an hour all in. You certainly don't need to keep the car in over night, so I have no faith that this guy has even the remotest idea what he is doing, or he does but is relying on the fact that you don't. expect a hefty bill coming your way.

Didn't leave it overnight, just left it now actually. Let's see what he says. And no way I'm leaving the car overnight = )

 

[ahmett]

Suspected wiring issue. It's with an auto electrician now to check out, so maybe you were right AC pressure sensor? Let's see

 

[ahmett]

Wiring issue from the Fuse Box. They tested the compressor by connecting it direct to the battery and it worked fine. He says he has done this before several times with other Fiat 500's, so said that he will try to fix the fuse box if not find a used one and replace it.

Weather is actually cooling down anyway so not the most urgent thing, I may travel for a few days in a week or 2 so I may just leave the car with them to deal with over 1-2 days

 

[Mike1alike]

Wiring issue from the Fuse Box. They tested the compressor by connecting it direct to the battery and it worked fine.

That could totally be faulty AC pressure sensor. Why did he exclude that and jumped to replacing the fuse box? Did he test the pressure sensor? Wiring fuse box issue is way less probabil to be the fault. I say it's the sensor. Connecting MES you should normally be able to read the AC pressure. If sensor is bad you should have an error about it registered.

 

[ahmett]

That could totally be faulty AC pressure sensor. Why did he exclude that and jumped to replacing the fuse box? Did he test the pressure sensor? Wiring fuse box issue is way less probabil to be the fault. I say it's the sensor. Connecting MES you should normally be able to read the AC pressure. If sensor is bad you should have an error about it registered.

I'll ask him when I pass by again. It's not urgent for me to fix it with the cooling weather, so I'll let him know when I leave it with him.

Also if he opens the Fuse Box it will be obvious if there is an issue or not. He said he ran current from the fuse box and nothing happened I think. Anyway if replacing the Fuse Box doesn't fix it I ain't paying for the Fuse Box so he has no reason to be wrong = )

 

[The Panda Nut]

Try changing the fuse, its sounds likely that rather than wiring.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Wiring issue from the Fuse Box. They tested the compressor by connecting it direct to the battery and it worked fine. He says he has done this before several times with other Fiat 500's, so said that he will try to fix the fuse box if not find a used one and replace it.

OMG why does no one ever listen…

If the compressor is good (and we have no reason to suspect it isn’t) if you connect 12v to it, it will work. You know what causes a compressor to not kick in….? Low gas. The pressure sensor goes, “oh look there is not enough gas for the system to operate safely”, so the sensor tells the ECU and the ECU will not send the control signals to the compressor…

So… has anyone done the bare basic regas, or are they just spinning you a tale about wiring issues and specialist electricians and spending hours “fault finding” when they know damn well all they need to do is regas.

As I said big bill coming your way, what was probably a €60 regas is now already racking up a few hundred € in Labour alone.

When he tells you he has done this successfully before with other fiat 500s he is literally telling you that he’s pulled this grift several times before and it seems is now doing it with you, if he has not even done a regas.

 

[ahmett]

OMG why does no one ever listen…

If the compressor is good (and we have no reason to suspect it isn’t) if you connect 12v to it, it will work. You know what causes a compressor to not kick in….? Low gas. The pressure sensor goes, “oh look there is not enough gas for the system to operate safely”, so the sensor tells the ECU and the ECU will not send the control signals to the compressor…

So… has anyone done the bare basic regas, or are they just spinning you a tale about wiring issues and specialist electricians and spending hours “fault finding” when they know damn well all they need to do is regas.

As I said big bill coming your way, what was probably a €60 regas is now already racking up a few hundred € in Labour alone.

When he tells you he has done this successfully before with other fiat 500s he is literally telling you that he’s pulled this grift several times before and it seems is now doing it with you, if he has not even done a regas.

Labour is cheap in Greece

 

[steveras57]

Labour is cheap in Greece

Not so cheap you should be paying it for nothing id say