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General MOT failure & other Things/Stuff
- Thread starter GettinBetter
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General MOT failure & other Things/Stuff
Sorry, don't turn off the ac(compressor snowflake on) ie leave the ac on, use all other controls normally some of our cars have been 20 years old and the ac still worked only requiring recharging from time to time, climate control cars require ac always on to work correctly
agreed!
vexorg
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I'd have my doubts on the airflow, or how long it would least.
The older juke has the same issue, no front grill to protect the aircon. I got some hlafords black alloy mesh and bolted it on. Looked quite nice when done.
My old Alfa 155 was a bit of a motorway monster and the radiator was continually getting shot through with stones, grit and weather.
As above I fitted a aluminium mesh inside the bumper slot. You don't want the "Bentley sized" diamond mesh (which can't stop much) but you can look on fleabay and find a finer mesh.. something with 3-5mm holes.
Anyhow, a sheet of that covering the slot made a huge difference to the radiatore. It suffered hardly any fins damage.. whereas before it was getting KIA every two years.
Radiators have a huge cooling capacity so the car won't notice. The thermostat will open wider and the rad is more than able to cope.. especially since it won't be shot full of holes, so will have the full monty of fins and cooling capacity.
Ralf S.
As above I fitted a aluminium mesh inside the bumper slot. You don't want the "Bentley sized" diamond mesh (which can't stop much) but you can look on fleabay and find a finer mesh.. something with 3-5mm holes.
Anyhow, a sheet of that covering the slot made a huge difference to the radiatore. It suffered hardly any fins damage.. whereas before it was getting KIA every two years.
Radiators have a huge cooling capacity so the car won't notice. The thermostat will open wider and the rad is more than able to cope.. especially since it won't be shot full of holes, so will have the full monty of fins and cooling capacity.
Ralf S.
Yup, Becky's is far worse with most of the small fins missing now - think it's still the original one from 2010. Took me a wee while to realize the wee bits of "glitter" which I found under the bonnet were actually bit of the wee fins! As you say jrk, it seems to still work quite well although I suspect the compressor cuts in and out more frequently. I've no immediate plans to renew ours.
Yup, called a void bush - just showing off that I know that! Because it's more flexible in one direction it's supposed to make it better at insulating noise and roughness. Very important that if you ever renew just the bush then the new one must be fitted in the same orientation.
At our age its not so much what you know but how much of it you can remember! 
Piccolo Nero e Bella
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I fitted the Zunsport wire mesh grille very early on; admittedly for its looks mainly but it'll also resist impact from anything large enough to damage the radiator or condensor. Even in our hot weather it has no appreciable effect on airflow.
I suspect that most of the cars you buy these days, because they are designed to cope with conditions encountered in a wide variety of countries, have a lot in reserve for our "temperate climate" so are probably easily able to tolerate small reductions in airflow like this. Must say though, having looked at a number of different manufacturer's products of late before settling on a Scala, that I really don't like the trend towards fitting a temperature warning light instead of having a gauge or digital display of actual coolant temperature on the dash.
vexorg
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It was more the fabric solution being mentioned, no problem with mesh, this kind of stuff I fitted: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/c...y-black-aluminium-mesh-1m-x-0.25m-190698.html
If you turn the aircon off, the system will still try to achieve the temp requested. On a cool day, that's fine as it uses heat, but on a warm day, if the outside temp is close to, or above the desired temp, the system will flash the temp display to warn that it cannot achieve it. As already said, best to just leave it on.
The little round grille, bottom centre, contains a temp sensor. When you vacuum the car, run the brush gently over that, to remove dust. It will help it sense better. When I got mine, at 4 years old, it was insensitive, taking too long to react to temp changes, allowing me to shiver before adding heat, or sweat before cooling. First vac, and it was great. Been fine for the 14 years since too.
My condenser is original 2006, looking a little scruffy, but not leaking.
OP
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Ok, played with it today. I CAN turn AC off and still get heating, so my new setup is AC off, temp set to 24 degs and turn fan up or down to suit 
TBH, I chop and change to suit, but at least now I am learning what my options are, and they've just been expanded. So thank you peeps
Will put condenser & mesh on my shopping list.
TBH, I chop and change to suit, but at least now I am learning what my options are, and they've just been expanded. So thank you peeps
Will put condenser & mesh on my shopping list.
The aircon system has oil in the gas. This lubricates the pump, and keeps the seals moist. You need to run the aircon for at least ten minutes, every month, all year, minimum, to keep the seals from drying out. If the seals dry, they shrink, and the gas escapes. The pump can also destroy itself on next use. There are usually 6-8 seals in the system, costing a few pounds each, or less, but a lot of labour to replace. This is why so many older cars have non-working aircon, owners have turned it off over winter, it loses its gas, and the repair estimate is too much.Ok, played with it today. I CAN turn AC off and still get heating, so my new setup is AC off, temp set to 24 degs and turn fan up or down to suit
TBH, I chop and change to suit, but at least now I am learning what my options are, and they've just been expanded. So thank you peeps
Will put condenser & mesh on my shopping list.
On a cold day, the aircon does not work much, so it does not really delay warm-up by much. The cooling of the air does reduce the moisture content, which helps a lot with keeping the windows dry inside. With the aircon working, then adding heat, it is possible to have a comfortable interior temp, whilst keeping windows clear. With aircon off, we're back to using more heat to keep the windows dry, so you cook inside.
I'd recommend keeping the aircon on all the time. An alternative, is to turn it off only to help warm-up in winter, then turn it back on again.
OP
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Why would it work at all? If the temp setting calls for heat why would the aircon need to kick in?
IMO, if the light is on in the dash switch, it doesn't mean the AC clutch is engaged to drive the pump. To get it to work you'd have to set the dash control temp setting, cooler than current cabin temp, which would cause the AC clutch to engage drive the pump and hence cool the cabin.
Running the A/C and heater together is an excellent way to dehumidify the car - it's particularly effective on damp days when the outside air temperature is around 10C or so.
Next time you're driving on one of those soggy days when the windscreen is hard to keep unfogged, just try putting the A/C on and you'll be surprised at just how much faster the screen demists.
Just be sure the A/C drains are clear, as you'll be condensing a fair bit of water onto the evaporator matrix. You don't want this water ending up in the footwell!
The ac works to dehumidify the incoming air so in winter it has dry hot air to clear the screen and prevent further steaming up it will click on about 10 seconds in a minute in winter
Because it does turn on
It cools the air first drying it then it oases over the heater element to warm it back up
The final air temp is controlled by a mixer valve/baffer in air box that controls how much air goes though the heater or Aircon
If only ran when you turned the temp down it would take too long to start cooling as it would take time for the evaporator to cool down
The air con pump is turned on and off according to the gas temp, not the temp you demand inside. On a cold day, the gas will warm up very slowly, so as John says above, it only cycles a little. On a warmer day, it will cycle more frequently.
