Air conditioner not as effective anymore

[TC.Barky]

Hey all,

When I first bought my car a couple years back I used to rave about how amazing the A/C was. Jump forward to today and it still works, but it's nowhere near as effective as it used to be. Still works, but the air is nowhere near as cold. Gradual change over the last year or thereabouts.

Anything I can look into to fix it? Is there a cabin filter somewhere that may be blocked? Would I best to just chuck it in to an A/C mob?

[nj swb]

Hey all,

When I first bought my car a couple years back I used to rave about how amazing the A/C was. Jump forward to today and it still works, but it's nowhere near as effective as it used to be. Still works, but the air is nowhere near as cold. Gradual change over the last year or thereabouts.

Anything I can look into to fix it? Is there a cabin filter somewhere that may be blocked? Would I best to just chuck it in to an A/C mob?

Most likely it's running low on gas, but not enough to cause it to drop out on low pressure.

I would start with an A/C mob. I believe that, by law, they should find the leak before re-gassing it, but not all of them are diligent.

[Pauly Faulkner]

inspect the sight glass on the receiver.
If it's got enough gas, working pressure and condensor temp is normal you should see a few little bubbles. If any of those three are not good you'll see just foam. It's more then likey just lost a little gas over the years which is not unusual due to the moving parts involved in Auto A/C.
I'm ordering some more Cans of synthetic 134a gas next month if you want a can. it's around $60 and inc the gauge, connector and has oil+UV dye.
I've had to do a few cars over the last 6mths inc mine. Performance test on mine gets around 4c vent temperature when cruizing at 3k rpm and 9c at idle

[TC.Barky]

inspect the sight glass on the receiver.
If it's got enough gas, working pressure and condensor temp is normal you should see a few little bubbles. If any of those three are not good you'll see just foam. It's more then likey just lost a little gas over the years which is not unusual due to the moving parts involved in Auto A/C.
I'm ordering some more Cans of synthetic 134a gas next month if you want a can. it's around $60 and inc the gauge, connector and has oil+UV dye.
I've had to do a few cars over the last 6mths inc mine. Performance test on mine gets around 4c vent temperature when cruizing at 3k rpm and 9c at idle

If I were to take you up on your kind offer, is it an easy job to regas them? Cheers for that, I'll have a squiz tomorrow if I have time. I miss having those kinds of temps haha

[Pauly Faulkner]

As easy as taking a in bed and kicking it out with your feet.
Screw gauge on can, start car and run A/C on A/C mode(not Economy), wait a minute, connect the hose from can to low side service port(the compressor), adjust dial on gauge to the ambient temp and shake the can a little as you fill untill you're inbetween the lines

[TC.Barky]

As easy as taking a in bed and kicking it out with your feet.
Screw gauge on can, start car and run A/C on A/C mode(not Economy), wait a minute, connect the hose from can to low side service port(the compressor), adjust dial on gauge to the ambient temp and shake the can a little as you fill untill you're inbetween the lines

Well damn that does sound easy lol. I'll post back here after I've had a look at it. When were you looking to order it?

[Pauly Faulkner]

Easter coming in a few weeks so it will be between the 1st-3rd of next month i'll be re-ordering some more.

[Valiant81]

Air conditioner not as effective anymore

Hi TC Barkly;
Had the same problem with my A/C in my pajero last year, had the unit serviced ( low gas ), Any way in the service they draned the old gas, presure tested the lines and ran a die to see were and if there were any leaks.

Also changed the oil in the compressor and this had not been serviced in it's life.Then had the system recharged and now works like it did when new.

Not cheap as the new gas very exspencive. Total cost .....$260.00 and also had the pajero for 1/2 day.

[my.paj]

Could it be the ozone ? lol or could it be we having the hottest summer, I'd try the gas.
Rick

[GHendo]

Hey all,

When I first bought my car a couple years back I used to rave about how amazing the A/C was. Jump forward to today and it still works, but it's nowhere near as effective as it used to be. Still works, but the air is nowhere near as cold. Gradual change over the last year or thereabouts.

Anything I can look into to fix it? Is there a cabin filter somewhere that may be blocked? Would I best to just chuck it in to an A/C mob?

Mate I'm not a fridge mechanic but I used to manage an air conditioning company and I know lots of problems are caused by dirty filters. Now, it only seems that filters have been introduced to auto a/cond in recent years - there is a thread here on the forum about how to install a filter into an NP - something I have to get around to doing sometime. I believe the later model Pajeros have cabin filters that can be changed.

I bet if you could get to your evaporator (the radiator like bit the air goes through under the dash) you would find it full of crap. This dramatically restricts the flow of the air and cuts down the efficiency of the unit very noticeably.

Cheers

Geoff

[Downunder35m]

My aircon still works ok, but not when we get over the 35°.
I would not mind jumpin on the aircon wagon and order a can for me too.
Could someone please do a temp check on one of the outlets so I know how bad mine is?
Currently on a hot day I get it down to about 14° but only on full and after driving for about 20 min...

[captain_paj]

This might be a silly question but - have you checked to see your thermo fan is working?

[Pauly Faulkner]

It always wise to check the thermo fan is operating haha.
It's also a good idea to take rad off and blow the fins on the condenser out with the hose(engine bay side blowing out the front) every couple of years. Just like the engine fan, the condenser fan doesn't do all that much once your at highway speeds.

What you describe downunder is typical low gas or poor condenser cooling behaviour. Takes a long time for a/c to build up enough working pressure in the condenser to provide an adequate flow of liquid to the evap. 14c on full isn't very good although I've seen worse.
Temp checks need to be done on fresh air setting, a/c set to full fan speed and switched to a/c(not Eco) and thermometer on the upper middle vents.

[TC.Barky]

Whelp, just checked mine. Looks nice and clear (green colour) with the A/C off but as soon as I turn it on it goes really choppy, bubbly and foamy. Symptoms are exactly as Downunder said. Takes a bit longer to cool down and feels a bit lackluster. Count me in for some of your gas fo sho Pauly, unless I buy some sooner - this freakin heat is driving me bonkers!

[Downunder35m]

Second that - I'm over that weather now.
Also count me in for a set as it seems I need that refill.
Checked the glass and bubbles here too in the beginning, after a few minutes basically only foam
Got qouted over 250 for a refill as they claim I would need specail stuff, new seals and maybe a pump rebuilt on top of it - another rip off joint trying to make more money than necessary...
Will do the full radiator clean in a few weeks when I install the remot for the winch, after that it is only a re-gassing