Ac Problem

[X Driver]

I have a problem with my car air conditioner temperature controlling mechanism.

The AC works fine. But it does not seem to do the on/off cycle to keep the temperature.

Basically the dashboard control for temperature does not work. The car gets cooled more and more and I have to manually switch on/off the ac to maintain the temp. now.

What could be wrong?

[porkster]

I have a problem with my car air conditioner temperature controlling mechanism.

The AC works fine. But it does not seem to do the on/off cycle to keep the temperature.

Basically the dashboard control for temperature does not work. The car gets cooled more and more and I have to manually switch on/off the ac to maintain the temp. now.

What could be wrong?

Hi,

It could be your AC expansion valve or your thermostat, why not take it to an AC joint and get it checked.

Cheers, Porky

[X Driver]

Hi,

It could be your AC expansion valve or your thermostat, why not take it to an AC joint and get it checked.

Cheers, Porky

Do you know how much would it cost to replace a thermostat or to repair the AC expansion valve? And how harmful is to the car if I drive with the problem for a while?

[harshansenadhir]

Do you know how much would it cost to replace a thermostat or to repair the AC expansion valve? And how harmful is to the car if I drive with the problem for a while?

price depends on the vehicle model. in January this year I bought a thermostat for 450/- dun know the price now. And harm is you'll unnecessarily cooling up your cabin 'n fuel wastage and A/C comp and engine wear will increase

[neXGen]

hmmm... what about the older cars which do not have a thermostat dude.. in the sense no temperature control.. would the wear and tear effect be the same?

Zz

[The Don]

Hi Nexgen,

I think all cars have a thermostat, which cuts the A/C off at a particular temperature leve,

What you are referring to is climate control which is a wee bit more advanced than a simple thermostat based cut off feature, because if there was no thermostat the A/C would go on and on (or the heater) and either there would be frost in on the evaporator etc and everybody inside would either free or prespire to their demise

[Hola]

hmmm... what about the older cars which do not have a thermostat dude.. in the sense no temperature control.. would the wear and tear effect be the same?

Zz

Thermostat doesnt have anything to do with AC? Does it

[neXGen]

Thanks for your reply Don... nah man.. what came to my mind first was the climate control is basically a newer feature integrated into the electronics of the car not recently but quite a while back.. the older cars which have A/C would probably cool down the car to a certain extent and not go beyond but has no capability of being specified the temperature at which the interior should be..

if my memory serves me right, my dad owned a Starlet Diesel which had its A/C serviced and man it was so cool you couldnt drive! so you d have to manually turn off the A/C once you feel satisfied. The same applies to my Sprinter which obviously has no climate control.. but not sure about the whether it could literally freeze the driver as I do not use the A/C much.. just for knowledges sake..

@ Hola - Basically a A/C requires a thermostat to calculate the flow of cool air required.. this is especially true in vehicles with climate control... i am not sure whether the same applies to the older models though.. or is there one? lol

Zz

[The Don]

Thanks for your reply Don... nah man.. what came to my mind first was the climate control is basically a newer feature integrated into the electronics of the car not recently but quite a while back.. the older cars which have A/C would probably cool down the car to a certain extent and not go beyond but has no capability of being specified the temperature at which the interior should be..

if my memory serves me right, my dad owned a Starlet Diesel which had its A/C serviced and man it was so cool you couldnt drive! so you d have to manually turn off the A/C once you feel satisfied. The same applies to my Sprinter which obviously has no climate control.. but not sure about the whether it could literally freeze the driver as I do not use the A/C much.. just for knowledges sake..

@ Hola - Basically a A/C requires a thermostat to calculate the flow of cool air required.. this is especially true in vehicles with climate control... i am not sure whether the same applies to the older models though.. or is there one? lol

Zz

Man dont worry you have a thermostat, i used to drive a car older than both cars and it had a thermostat, but you need to adjust the threshold in the thermostat also if adjusting it on the dashboard dials don't help. thats cos our well intending ac engineers set the threshold at a bare minimum to achieve maximum cooling which is very uncomfy i must admit.

[harshansenadhir]

hmmm... what about the older cars which do not have a thermostat dude.. in the sense no temperature control.. would the wear and tear effect be the same?

Zz

what are the older cars you mean? afaik all the cars which has a/c also have the thermostat. For example both of my 504 s ..

Thanks for your reply Don... nah man.. what came to my mind first was the climate control is basically a newer feature integrated into the electronics of the car not recently but quite a while back.. the older cars which have A/C would probably cool down the car to a certain extent and not go beyond but has no capability of being specified the temperature at which the interior should be..

if my memory serves me right, my dad owned a Starlet Diesel which had its A/C serviced and man it was so cool you couldnt drive! so you d have to manually turn off the A/C once you feel satisfied. The same applies to my Sprinter which obviously has no climate control.. but not sure about the whether it could literally freeze the driver as I do not use the A/C much.. just for knowledges sake..

@ Hola - Basically a A/C requires a thermostat to calculate the flow of cool air required.. this is especially true in vehicles with climate control... i am not sure whether the same applies to the older models though.. or is there one? lol

Zz

yo nexgen.. most of idiotic a/c guys does is set the cut off temp of the cutout as low as possible to increase the satisfaction level of the customer. if you know where this thermostat is you can simply adjust it but you need a temp gauge. When I redone my 1983 504, I specifically asked the bugger to set it to 7C .. coz with the other car he set it to 3C which means in the night drive you have to manually shut off the a/c using a/c on off switch which is hectic.

[neXGen]

I dont mean OLDER cars lol.. well a base car my assumptions based on would be 1995 Toyota Corolla... you asked him to set it to 7c??! isnt that a bit too on the frosty side? oh and also if you set the temp. lower would that mean that the car should work harder at cooling the air resulting in a loss of bhp?

Zz

Edited November 9, 2006 by neXGen

[The Don]

I dont mean OLDER cars lol.. well a base car my assumptions based on would be 1995 Toyota Corolla... you asked him to set it to 7c??! isnt that a bit too on the frosty side? oh and also if you set the temp. lower would that mean that the car should work harder at cooling the air resulting in a loss of bhp?

Zz

Nexgen its 7C at the evaporator, but the time the air comes through the pipes and hits you it shoud ideally be arround 20C which is the most comfortable setting for me,

thankfully my old Mirage (1993) has a climate control system believe it or not, I set the temperatur at 22C and it automatically adjusts it day or night so i dont have the frosty problems but with the old Mazda we did.

[neXGen]

interesting... would cooler A/C result in more engine power loss dude?

Zz

[Hola]

interesting... would cooler A/C result in more engine power loss dude?

Zz

Depends on the engine make

[neXGen]

eh.. most of the vehicles do lose little power when the A/C switched on.. just wanna know if therez a common power loss when it comes to cooler A/Cs.. the A/Cs driven by the engine so unless the manufacturers devise a way of implementing A/C without the engine doin any work den i suppose there could be no bhp loss...

Zz

[The Don]

When the compressor is engaged and is being driven by the engine obviously you would immediately feel a power loss. how much you feel it kind of depends on the size and power of the engine.

For example when the A/C cuts in in my old mazda you can really feel it, i mean sometimes when i want to overtake i take the A/C off and its like turbo boost, and thats kind of cos it was a 1300CC engine.

On my slightly newer mirage you feel it less though you still feel it.

So that means the more time the A/C is on the more the preiods of losses of power are if you get my drift.

I mean i have friends who go arround without A/C because they want to have maximum power out of their engines (and suffer in the heat, god knows why they do that)

Interesting on some buses the A/C units are driven by electric motors, so no apparent power loss but then again the electricity is generated by the alternator and that consumes power anyway.

Also something very important, some A/C dudes i have noticed undergasses A/C unitis by default, and i think its something to do with engine load (because the condensor can only take as much heat out of the gas, and my car has a particularly small condensor), but it makes A/C systems very inefficient in the heat, always make sure the A/C system is gassed properly and enough gas is in it.

Edited November 10, 2006 by The Don

[harshansenadhir]

I dont mean OLDER cars lol.. well a base car my assumptions based on would be 1995 Toyota Corolla... you asked him to set it to 7c??! isnt that a bit too on the frosty side? oh and also if you set the temp. lower would that mean that the car should work harder at cooling the air resulting in a loss of bhp?

Zz

quite late reply Nexgen .. don said it right.. 7C at the evaporator and cooler .... which is not that frosty and usually they set it to 5C according to them..