Air Conditioning Worries!!!! check the pics

whiskers · 10-10-2008, 06:51 PM

For everyone that is having trouble with their Air Con or have had, especially in the cooling down and not much air coming out of the vents, this is what was found in my car yesterday. http://s471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/whiskey59/ after the auto elecs pulled the dash out.

I knew that this was the cause for all of my problems some 2 - 3 years ago but didn't have the money to get it done. It cost me all up some $900 as I had to purchase another compressor because I left it too long and the compressor just got locked up and the clutch let go, compressor was purchased from the local wrecker for $150 although I wish I lived in melb as I was quoted compressors for $110 delivered to my door

also the drier/receiver needed replacing (apparently every 2 years) the condenser I got from one of the members on here (thanks kcej) and then the labor was about $680 which I thought was pretty reasonable as the whole dash need to be pulled out and then put back again.

The auto elec's that done the job for anyone up here in brissy is Bashi's Caboolture.

anyway that's about the end of the saga its all fixed and going really good now.

**Jastel** · 11-10-2008, 09:52 PM

That is why the BA's have a filter built in, they keep a fair bit out

I used to fit my own filters to the AU's

To minimise this dont use fresh air and keep your passenger floor clean as this is where it sucks the air in from. Lambswool seat covers or pets are not good for the a/c either.

I pulled them out of my taxis and they had hairballs, fingernails clippings, dead skin, dust/dirt, leaves, sticks, small bits of plastic and all sorts of other crap in there and that was WITH filters.

Before you say clean the taxi, I do, but just think of how many people have sat there and if each one loses 1 hair.......it adds up

That is why the first bit of a/c air always stinks, spraying stinky stuff around wont remove any of the gunk, it just covers the smells and I think makes it worse

When they get blocked like this the air cant pass through easily so you get less airflow, also the pipes freeze up as the hot air is not taking the cold out of them because it cant get through, and when it freezes back to the TX valve the compressor cuts out so no more cold air which means you end up hot with little airflow.

JMO · 11-10-2008, 10:27 PM

Whereabouts is the item in the pic located? Is it possible to see what condition it's in without having to pull the dash out?

EDIT: Jastel, when you say don't use 'fresh air' what exactly do you mean?

ieatsports_cars · 11-10-2008, 10:33 PM

i had to get new compressor ,condensor , drier and receiver need to be repalced and my auto elec charged me $880 i thought that was good, on my el falcon

DaveTE · 11-10-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMO

Whereabouts is the item in the pic located? Is it possible to see what condition it's in without having to pull the dash out?

EDIT: Jastel, when you say don't use 'fresh air' what exactly do you mean?

Ditto first question.

You know the two settings for your air control that allow you to use your front dash vents. One has a arrowed circle (recirculated air from in the cabin) and the other shows an arrow coming through(fresh).

JMO · 11-10-2008, 11:10 PM

OK. So don't use fresh with aircon on (ie aircon with recirculated), or don't use fresh at all (ie freah air and only the fans running, aircon button off)?

**Jastel** · 11-10-2008, 11:16 PM

There is a button on AU1 I think for fresh or recirc, AU2 and 3 had some positions on the dial with fresh and some with recirc. BA's have a button again.

Using Fresh Air mode brings in hot air from outside the car, using recirculated air uses air from inside the car which is cooler
By taking in fresh air you have the risk of sucking in whatever else is outside the car too, dust leaves etc, if you have been parked under trees, blossoms and leaves, even dead lizards etc get into the grill in front of the windscreen and then fall inside the part in the picture clogging it up

Using recirculated air you suck crap off the floor, seatcover fluff, hair, papers

For AU's the fan sucks air in behind the glove box, I made a small mesh filter and put it just in front of where you can see the fan. Take the glove box out by undoing the stop catch piece and then squeezing the bits in at the side so it drops down, then pull back and up until it pops out of the clips.

As with any filter you have to clean it occasionally

The condensor (bit in the picture) is located behind the dashboard behind the glovebox in an AU, in a BA it is a bit different shape and more towards the middle of the car. It cant be removed or cleaned without taking the dash out and if removed you lose the aircon gas as well.

whiskers · 12-10-2008, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMO

Whereabouts is the item in the pic located? Is it possible to see what condition it's in without having to pull the dash out?

EDIT: Jastel, when you say don't use 'fresh air' what exactly do you mean?

it's located behind the glove box and it is encased in the black plastic box that you can see when you drop the glove box.

and no you can't see what condition it is in from there, it is a case of pulling it out.

wombat30x · 15-10-2008, 01:14 AM

Just a small point what your looking at is actually the evaporator core the condensor is the one located in front of the radiator.

**Jastel** · 15-10-2008, 10:48 PM

Yeah Wombat you're right, don't know why I wrote condenser???

Mr Hardware · 16-10-2008, 12:36 PM

Hi Whiskers
I just had a similar thing done to my AUII. Compressor/Condenser were fine, but one of the pipes was blocked apparently. Fan was stuffed too. Dash out, fan replaced, air con regassed, all works fine now. The only problem i have is i can hear the motor more. Why might this be? It sounds like there's a small hole near my feet now. Is that just because there's no crap blocking stuff up?

whiskers · 17-10-2008, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Hi Whiskers
I just had a similar thing done to my AUII. Compressor/Condenser were fine, but one of the pipes was blocked apparently. Fan was stuffed too. Dash out, fan replaced, air con regassed, all works fine now. The only problem i have is i can hear the motor more. Why might this be? It sounds like there's a small hole near my feet now. Is that just because there's no crap blocking stuff up?

This I don't know, as I have a similar thing happening like a (vacuum leak) on the right hand side I ended up taking the car back and they couldn't find anything. but they did suggest that seeing that everything has been moved it might take some time to "settle". May be the foam around the vents has deteriorated a lot.

So I suppose it's a wait and see and turn the radio up a bit

Mr Hardware · 17-10-2008, 10:53 AM

Yeah, same story for me. Right hand side, sounds like a vacuum leak. Yeah, might take time to settle, hopefully its something simple.