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Technical Panda 2012+ Air Con Help.

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Technical Panda 2012+ Air Con Help.

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Graham GB

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Joined
Oct 29, 2014
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Location
Warrington
Hi can anyone help me with what could possibly be the problem with our Panda Air Con please.
The air con blows correctly for about 10/15 minutes then the flow virtually stops, even with the fan on number 4 speed.
It has been re gassed in the last month or so because I assumed this was the problem, but the re-gas has made no difference.
Thanks, Graham.
 
Could be a dirty interior sensor by dust collection, if you have climate control. ;)

Use a air spray can to clean.
 

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Possible it's a heater resistor fault, that generally is responsible for most fan speed related issues.

The fan would still run if no a/c gas, it would just blow warmer air.
 
lunchbeers said:
Possible it's a heater resistor fault, that generally is responsible for most fan speed related issues.

The fan would still run if no a/c gas, it would just blow warmer air.
Click to expand...

The Fan itself is working correctly on all 4 speeds all the time(or it seems to be),what appears to happen is after a few miles or 10/15 mins, the output from the vents stops flowing as though a vent or vents have been closed.

Thanks.
 
Graham GB said:
The Fan itself is working correctly on all 4 speeds all the time(or it seems to be),what appears to happen is after a few miles or 10/15 mins, the output from the vents stops flowing as though a vent or vents have been closed.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I see, that's quite unusual... Does it do the same if you direct the vents to demist or by your feet?

I can't think of anything that would suddenly change the vent position, or block airflow.

I wonder could your fan impeller be loose?
 
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Ah, so it blows cold air for a short time, and you can hear the fan working in its various settings, but after a while there's no flow at all through any of the vents? That's very odd. Can you tell if the a/c compressor is still working when this happens? If it is, but your vents are closed/blocked, all the cold that's being generated by the condenser must surely be going somewhere...

More likely the a/c is overheating for some reason, and triggering a thermal cut-out, but that doesn't explain why the airflow through the vents stops even though the fan is running.

Life was much simpler when we just opened a window when it got hot.
 
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varesecrazy said:
Has the filter been removed.?.as a test
Click to expand...

varesecrazy, as far as I know a filter has not been removed,which filter would that be ?
Thanks.

gar074 said:
Ah, so it blows cold air for a short time, and you can hear the fan working in its various settings, but after a while there's no flow at all through any of the vents? That's very odd. Can you tell if the a/c compressor is still working when this happens? If it is, but your vents are closed/blocked, all the cold that's being generated by the condenser must surely be going somewhere...

More likely the a/c is overheating for some reason, and triggering a thermal cut-out, but that doesn't explain why the airflow through the vents stops even though the fan is running.

Life was much simpler when we just opened a window when it got hot.
Click to expand...

gar074, yes that is correct, I've been doing more "investigation" & can add the following.

If the recirculating control is set to "recirculate" the flow goes much sooner than if the switch is set to "direct in"(hope that's the correct terminology),also it sounds like the flow is being trapped behind the dashboard ?
The top upward firing window vents are still outputting & there are 2 patches of condensation ? forming on the outside of the windscreen.
I'll also add that the whole heating/air con system has always been weak & is the worst feature of the car, since we bought it new in 2012
Cheers & thanks for the help,:)
Graham.
 
That's really bizarre... What happens if you turn the A/C off after the airflow stops, but leave the fan running? Does the airflow eventually come back?

Like another user said, the system could be working "too well" and icing up something that restricts airflow.
 
Alternate thought: as was mentioned earlier, the chiller ‘radiator’ inside the heater box could be icing over. There is a small thermostat on that that turns the air con compressor on and off to prevent this (ice forming) happening, but if that’s faulty in some way, the chiller will ice over and effectively block airflow through it. To remove the cabin air filter (that keeps pollen off that air con chiller) means moving the wiring to that sensor out of the way, so maybe it’s been damaged during a filter change?
 
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This photo shows the air con chilled matrix (radiator) inside the heater box, after the pollen filter has been taken out. Air from the fan comes from the right of the view (so from the front of the car since the photo is looking across from the drivers footwell) and passes through the filter and then the chiller on the left, then is directed through or around the heater matrix inside the heater box, and then sent to the vents selected by the dial on the dash. It sounds like the air is struggling to get through this first chiller matrix, especially if you say it’s always been bad. On mine, the airflow is good on slow fan speeds, and a real Gale on number 4. It’s possible in your case the filter is clogged, or, if missing, that fluff/dirt has clogged that chiller matrix. Also, if the scuttle drains are blocked, water gets into the heater and that filter will be wet. That could make ice form too. Search this forum for ‘scuttle drains’ or ‘duckbills’ for further answered to that issue. If they are blocked and the scuttles full of water, change the (wet) pollen filter after clearing the water drains. (The photo was taken to show how grass seed found its way into the heater - and completely blocked my pollen filter — after a long journey across a hay meadow!)
(Grrr - the photo thumbnail is sideways, but it shows the right way round if you click on it to see the full size version)
 

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Graham GB said:
varesecrazy, as far as I know a filter has not been removed,which filter would that be ?

I'll also add that the whole heating/air con system has always been weak & is the worst feature of the car, since we bought it new in 2012
Cheers & thanks for the help,:)
Graham.
Click to expand...


Yes.. the Pollen filter A.K.A. cabin filter

Our 2013 TA also has poor ventilation.. probably not aided by the dash being an expanse of BLACK plastic a fantastic 'heat soak' with biggest glased panel right above it :eek:

TBH.. the panda 169 wasnt great either..
The Grande's seemed to do better.

A direct fresh air feed at the bottom of the screen seemed such a simple and effective solutione... like the Uno and earlier pandas
 
varesecrazy said:
My question was regarding a DAMP filter
icing..so air cannot pass
Click to expand...

thanks varesecrazy, where is this Filter located ?

Herts Hillhopper said:
Alternate thought: as was mentioned earlier, the chiller ‘radiator’ inside the heater box could be icing over. There is a small thermostat on that that turns the air con compressor on and off to prevent this (ice forming) happening, but if that’s faulty in some way, the chiller will ice over and effectively block airflow through it. To remove the cabin air filter (that keeps pollen off that air con chiller) means moving the wiring to that sensor out of the way, so maybe it’s been damaged during a filter change?
Click to expand...

Herts Hillhopper said:
This photo shows the air con chilled matrix (radiator) inside the heater box, after the pollen filter has been taken out. Air from the fan comes from the right of the view (so from the front of the car since the photo is looking across from the drivers footwell) and passes through the filter and then the chiller on the left, then is directed through or around the heater matrix inside the heater box, and then sent to the vents selected by the dial on the dash. It sounds like the air is struggling to get through this first chiller matrix, especially if you say it’s always been bad. On mine, the airflow is good on slow fan speeds, and a real Gale on number 4. It’s possible in your case the filter is clogged, or, if missing, that fluff/dirt has clogged that chiller matrix. Also, if the scuttle drains are blocked, water gets into the heater and that filter will be wet. That could make ice form too. Search this forum for ‘scuttle drains’ or ‘duckbills’ for further answered to that issue. If they are blocked and the scuttles full of water, change the (wet) pollen filter after clearing the water drains. (The photo was taken to show how grass seed found its way into the heater - and completely blocked my pollen filter — after a long journey across a hay meadow!)
(Grrr - the photo thumbnail is sideways, but it shows the right way round if you click on it to see the full size version)
Click to expand...

Thanks Herts Hillhopper, where is this radiator located ?,it looks like I may have to tackle these jobs myself :rolleyes:.

Cheers, Graham.
 
Graham GB

Older next month? Only if you feel older! Push the drivers (RHD) seat back as far as it will go and go for it!

There's various comments about having to remove the steering column in some posts on here, while that's an option it really isn't necessary.

Good luck
 
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