Air conditioning misbehaving šŸ™„

Technical Area Electrics & ICE
21

So, having jet blasted the condenser yesterday, been into garage, started car and reversed out. Connected refrigerant bottle up with gauge and checked levels, slightly down TBH. I switched aircon on and put a little more into system and let it settle. I now have ice cold air conditioning in the car, for the first time in my ownership, itā€™s wonderful! :white_check_mark:
Iā€™m wondering though, have I got a leak or is it just my playing about with it that now everything is circulating properly, has got it to a decent level of refrigerant? Not sure but Iā€™m typing this, sat inside the car (roof up) and itā€™s as good as the Audi in terms of cool interior :+1:
If I have a leak, I need to locate it but I know the system works correctly, so all parts functioning properly in terms of the system :+1:
Iā€™ll monitor the refrigerant up to going on holiday on Saturday to see if it drops low again, indicating a leak somewhere. Could be in a component, a pipe or seal and that may get left to a specialist :thinking:
Thanks again to everyone for posting and comments.

Barrie

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22

My Bro-in-Law just changed his condenser as he could see wet patches on it, so reckoned it was u/s. It wasnā€™t that expensive for the part and a full re-charge cost Ā£45. Sadly, he thinks one of the O rings has now let go, so bear that in mind if you do replace it. He has it booked in for another test (free) and presumably O ring replacement when they find the fault, then another re-gas.

The best thing to do is regularly use your air conā€¦.some people get fixated on not using it because ā€˜it costs more fuel to run itā€™ !! The old adage appliesā€¦Use it or lose it !!! :sunglasses:

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23

Thanks Davy :+1: always on in the cars that have working AC :nerd_face::white_check_mark: Iā€™ve just had a peak through the grill with a torch and after the blasting of the condenser yesterday, looking much cleaner and as dry as a bone on the front face. No indication of other issues but hard to see where the pipes disappear down around the engine :slightly_frowning_face: Iā€™m happier knowing that it actually works though. Will check and if thereā€™s losses again, will get it booked in somewhere.

Barrie

1 Like
24

Just a couple of pics;

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Barrie

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25

Morning all, just to report back about my A/C. Iā€™ve been away on holiday for just over a week, got back home Saturday afternoon. Carā€™s been parked in garage. Up early yesterday morning to attend a meet in N Wales. Iā€™d left the A/C controls set on auto and recirculating, started car to reverse out of garage and ice cold blasts of air almost straight away, from vents! Left it on for the entire 170+ mile journey and tried various settings, switching between manual and auto, hot and cold, face/screen/footwells etc. Happy to report the system is working perfectly!
This is not to say it wonā€™t deteriorate going forward (who knows?) but it does seem that the additional charge I put in before the hols, has held, and worked :+1:
Thanks to all for suggestions and ideas given :+1: Might still end up at a garage but for now, just enjoying the functionality of working A/C :nerd_face: In almost 20 years of Eunos/mx5 ownership, Iā€™ve never had working A/C! :cold_face:

Barrie

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26

I know itā€™s a bit different in an MX-5 Barrie but I suggest using it as much as possible, even in winter when you have heat on.
Use it or lose it the saying :roll_eyes: my daily drivers Aircon never off, 7 years old still nice and cold just kept on auto, never been regassed.
Well done Barrie, sorted, hope you had a good holiday.:+1:

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27

Hi Mick, yes will leave it on :+1: might be the reason it didnā€™t work before (didnā€™t work when I got it). Just pleased it works at all :nerd_face: Holiday was great, not sure the 5 would have suited the roads to our cottages though, very single track with high hedges. Overgrown as Council wonā€™t cut at this time of year due to nesting birds etc. Our Audi scratched to ribbons :slightly_frowning_face:

Barrie

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28

My farming cousin tells me hedge cutting is only allowed between 1st September and the last day of Feb. Also the same hedge canā€™t be cut every year, it has to be left for a year between cuts.

Richard.

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29

Hi Richard, thanks for that :+1: yes, there had been ā€˜someā€™ trimming by the Council but just enough to make the lanes passable! :grinning: itā€™s my daughter in laws Mum n Dads farm and cottages we were staying at. I asked about the hedges and thatā€™s what we were told.

EAST TRAYNE HOLIDAY COTTAGES

if anyone wants to have a look :nerd_face: we booked the whole row to fit my family in! :joy:

Barrie

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30

Coming back from Silverstone in the NC, suddenly the outside temp dropped and the storm hit and while the outside of the screen was crystal clear it began to mist inside, partly because we ourselves were slightly damp in patches.

I enabled the air-con pump and it cleared the screen again in a few seconds.

It was only off because we had been playing with the settings to compare manual choices with full auto climate control.

Moral; Leave it on full Auto, A/C enabled - Mazda Knows Best!

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31

I always leave the air con /climate control on, always have done.
These days it makes very little difference to fuel consumption, in fact Iā€™ve no idea why thereā€™s an off button.
Probably something to do with emissions testing.

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