Sick air con improving

overfull will not work, there is nowhere for the gas to expand and cool, so maybe the regasser didn't know his stuff and overfilled it

Maybe also you are expecting way too much out of your aircon? The air from it is supposed to be chilled but in the current climate with sun blasting through all windows it's never going to feel like you are sitting in a fridge! My drive to work takes about 20 minutes and it takes probably half that for the ambient temperature to drop below what it is outside.

Dave

That sounds as if your's is not working too well either. I think mine could be better, but it does start blowing cold air within about a minute.

5 mins and the interior is comfortably cool. Especially if I put it on recirc. Mike.

Yours is knackered then.

What others have said. Mine cools the car nicely within about 5 minutes on a blazing hot day. That's on a 1998 Pug 406 so it's not exactly a new system either.

even with the high temperatures we have been having lately. Actually if I put mine on full blast it is like sitting in a fridge!

Honda would also have sold a lot of the Civics it's based on in Japan, and probably Australia too. But my point was that you'd expect the European model to have a higher capacity than the UK one if that was the reason, but it's the other way round.

I think you mean less effective.

Mine actually feels pokier with the aircon on! Having the aircon on makes it use a less frugal fuel mapping at low revs and it overcompensates, while it's still got plenty of torque to spare when it gets into its stride.

You're right. My post was badly worded. What I was trying to say, was that power consumption is normally relative to the output of an a/c system, so a system with a smaller output, or cooling capacity, should have less effect on performance. Ideally, regardless of the output, either system should be as efficient as possible. If only to save fuel. Mike.

Speak for yourself Dave - mine chills the car right down in a couple of minutes (indeed it often gets *too* cold).

Mathew

And to help it move! :)

If its really too cold mix turn the heat up a notch or 2

Have the windows open for a couple of minutes to get rid of the really hot air and then if its blazing outside switch to re-circ and ofcourse get iut serviced every couple of years

Last bit of advice for those who "never" use the air con and then when they switch it on it does.t work - it really should be used for 10mins every month to lubricate the system and to stop the seals drying out (If you are really consciencous have it on for full heat for 10 mins afterwards)

>

Just leave it running all year round.

Well you could do this, which is a bit lazy really... besides in some weather conditions it's nice to have ordinary fresh air rather than chilled and dehumidified.

Of course, or indeed turn the fan down (the solar gain in my Coupe is quite significant hence limiting the input flow of cold air soon balances things out).

I was just illustrating that the aircon doesn't just work sufficiently to get it comfortably cool even in this weather but also significantly beyond that hence plenty of spare capacity within it.

Mathew

Why? What is the point? If the system works to your satisfaction, a 'service' is not going to improve it, as there is nothing that can be 'serviced'. Apart from checking that the drive belt is OK, which you can check yourself, there are no parts of an a/c system that can be serviced as such. The only things that can go wrong with an a/c system itself, is that it develops a leak. Either because of a compressor seal failure, or a leaky pipe or union. Or a mechanical failure of the compressor or clutch. None of which can be prevented by servicing. IMO paying to have a working a/c system serviced is just a waste of money. You might just as well leave it alone, until it loses efficiency, or packs up altogether, and then get it fixed. They are all designed to fail safe. IOW if the pressure gets too low the compressor stops working which protects the seals and bearings from wear through lack of lubrication. Mike.

Sat in traffic with the outside temp reading 39 last week, air con on and had goose bumps and shivers within 5 minutes - maybe you expect too little? :-)

Id suspect the OPs was overfilled and a slight leak has brought it down to normal content level.

J

So are you saying that if it was overfilled I'd get the symptoms of it trying to come on but turning itself off again because of an overpressure sensor, before it has a chance to get cold? I can hear the compressor clutch clicking on and off every so often, but I haven't taken note of how often and wouldn't know what was normal anyway.

Maybe I've got nothing to lose by giving the valve a little poke again to let a little more gas out? For environmentalists: it would probably leak out eventually anyway, so no net harm to the atmosphere.

If the world was perfect that would be true, but given that all AC systems leak a bit in both directions vacuuming it down to get the water out & put new oil in every three years seems to make them last longer. Snag is it'll be a decade before I can give you an statistically significant answer to that