Air-conditioning

[declanc]

Iv'e only just discovered last week that the air conditioning doesn't work, anyone any ideas why
Nothing happen's at all when I put it on, I checked the 2 fans at the front of the engine bay, but they don't move an inch when I put it on.

Cheers.

[macspratt]

Hi declan, im guesing that you have looked to see if ther are any bubbles visable in the small viewing eye just at the back of your battery?
Like any air con units if they dont get used enough,even through the winter months , once a week or so just turn on the air con or they can loose there gas,i have had the same problems many times before not just on the FTO
Fingers crossed you just need gasing up.

HOPE THIS HELPED YOU OUT!!!

AIDAN..
PASSION RED GR!!!!!!!!

[Mustang]

Declanc,
The fans at the front of the engine bay are the engine cooling fans.
When you say the a/c is not working do you mean the air cooling function or the whole ventillation system?
The a/c ventillation fan is located in the passanger footwell area behind the glovebox. Does the unit blow any air at all? Hot or cold. If the unit is blowing air then the fan is working.
If not check fuses. Also their is a simple electrical connection to the fan, check this is not loose.
If it is just a case that you are not getting any cold air, then like ms said most likely needs regassing.
With the engine on at idle. turn on the a/c (cold air) do you here the clutch engage and the engine note change? If so the mechanicals are probably ok.

You'll need to define the problem a bit more clearly

Mustang

[declanc]

mascpratt

im guesing that you have looked to see if ther are any bubbles visable in the small viewing eye just at the back of your battery?

I had a look around the battery but couldn't find that viewing eye anywhere (it's probabbly looking at me)

The ventillation system seems to be working fine, its just when I put on air con nothing happens, it just stays the same, no colder, all connections seem to be in place, well as far as I can see. Where can I check if the fuse is faulty?

Cheers lads.[/b]

[Mustang]

Declanc wrote

I had a look around the battery but couldn't find that viewing eye anywhere (it's probabbly looking at me)

Just behind the battery their is a grey coloured filter-dryer unit, It has a cylindrical shape, with 2 (I think) tubes going into it. On the top of the cylinder there is a small looking glass, about 1/2 inch in diameter (probably dirty!) Clean it off. Run the a/c. a few bubbles -ok, lots of bubbles -gas running low, nothing happening -no gas.
Like I said before can you hear the clutch engaging when you turn on the a/c?
Run the a/c on full have a look in under the passanger footwell, centre dashboard area.
See link

http://www.fto-ireland.com/forum/phpBB2 ... 80&start=0
Above the passanger footwell there is a black box, (can be seen in the 2nd picture on this link, it's the black box with the silver sticker, also no need to pull the dash apart to get at it!)
With the a/c running have a feel of this box (that sounds all wrong ) if it's cold, and with condensation on the outside, then the a/c is working. -likely then that you have some loose piping.

[declanc]

Yeah, found it, it was filthy alright. No action out of it at all, not even a bubble!

Mustang wrote

can you hear the clutch engaging when you turn on the a/c?

the clutch doesn't sound any different, not a peep out of it when I knock it on.

have a feel of this box

had a feel of the box , i wouldn't say its cold, more cool.

[Mustang]

Declanc wrote

the clutch doesn't sound any different, not a peep out of it when I knock it on.

Just so as we are clear on this. I'm not referring to the clutch pedal!
The a/c system has it's own clutch. When you turn on the a/c, the clutch automatically engages to drive the compressor. You can usually hear the mechanism engaging and the engine note and revs will change as it compensates for the extra load.



Declanc wrote

Yeah, found it, it was filthy alright. No action out of it at all, not even a bubble!

You need to run it for a while, to get a good idea, but if nothing appears to be happening, then more than likely the gas is gone. Not a huge job to get it regassed. Do a search on the forum, I'm sure theres a few recommendations for people,who can regas the system. Sometimes if the gas is low, the a/c won't work at idle, but once you're out on the open road (up to speed) it starts to work..or so the manuals say!. If there is no gas in the system, best not to run the a/c unit. No problem using the fan though.

[CJ]

Neil, check out the Services page and refer to the info for Autoair, they're based in Dunshauglin are come highly recommended. To get some background details, contact Speedyboy and ask him had he any work done on the a/c system prior to you purchasing it.

CJ