Aircon Gas

A

alisiaoh

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How does one know when the gas is up in ur car's aircon? will the aircon make a funny noise? just not make cold air anymore?
 
oh ok my aircon still makes cold, it just makes a "zooming" sound when i have it on so its definately not the gas thats the problem. :( Darn!
 
What car do you have ?

In most cars have the aircon is opperated by a electric clutch that will either engage the compressor or disengage it. Some cars will also disengage the aircon temporarily when under full accellarion and the revs exceed a certain threshold.

It is normal if you can "hear" when you switch on the aircon, since compressors do make a noice when they are working - just like your fridge at home.

If the noise is louder than it usually is then it could mean that your compressor is on the brink (bearings or other mechanical issues).

The clutch of my aircon once went and I had a Bosch service centre replace the whole compressor for about R3k (luckily GMSA gave me half of that as a token of good will).

After your compressor is replaced you will have to revisit them for a brief inspection to see if anything is leaking (they fill it with a dye of sorts).

Lastly, worst case scenario for you would be that the belt driving the aircon is dodgy and if you engage the aircon it starts to slip or something. If other critical components like your alternator is also running off this belt then you are in for trouble if it breaks.
 
Rouxenator said:
What car do you have ?

In most cars have the aircon is opperated by a electric clutch that will either engage the compressor or disengage it. Some cars will also disengage the aircon temporarily when under full accellarion and the revs exceed a certain threshold.

It is normal if you can "hear" when you switch on the aircon, since compressors do make a noice when they are working - just like your fridge at home.

If the noise is louder than it usually is then it could mean that your compressor is on the brink (bearings or other mechanical issues).

The clutch of my aircon once went and I had a Bosch service centre replace the whole compressor for about R3k (luckily GMSA gave me half of that as a token of good will).

After your compressor is replaced you will have to revisit them for a brief inspection to see if anything is leaking (they fill it with a dye of sorts).

Lastly, worst case scenario for you would be that the belt driving the aircon is dodgy and if you engage the aircon it starts to slip or something. If other critical components like your alternator is also running off this belt then you are in for trouble if it breaks.
Click to expand...

I drive a Corsa 1.4(2003).

The noise is quite loud- never heard the aircon before when i used it but now its almost as load as the car's engine. I also noticed that the aircon's water thingy (or radiator thingy)needs to be filled up quite often, so im guessing there's a leak somewhere...just cant pinpoint where its leaking from.... Could this be causing the noise?

Is this bad???:confused:
 
alisiaoh said:
I drive a Corsa 1.4(2003).

The noise is quite loud- never heard the aircon before when i used it but now its almost as load as the car's engine. I also noticed that the aircon's water thingy (or radiator thingy)needs to be filled up quite often, so im guessing there's a leak somewhere...just cant pinpoint where its leaking from.... Could this be causing the noise?

Is this bad???:confused:
Click to expand...

Aircons leak water from the condensation and doesn't need topping up.

Radiators do leak water and do need topping up when necessary.

Best to do is to take the car in and ask them to check it out for you.
 
I have a 2001 Astra but I have never heard the aircon being noisier than normal. One time it did not work at all (the compressor was replaced) and apart from that I had it re gassed twice over the last 4 years when it did not cool effectively.

In your case I think the compressor is either going to break if you continue using it without having it fixed or it is already damaged beyond repair. Either way I think you need to take the car to a reputable Bosch service center.

The aircon does not have a reservoir so I think you are talking about the radiators reservoir - and that is very serious! You might notice that the car is running hotter than normal since it is leaking coolant.

My Astra recently went in for it's 150 000km service recently and days before it went in I also noticed a leak. It was a pretty expensive services (as the cam belt is replaced every 75 000km) but luckily this meant they could replace the water pump and leaky pipe in the same go. If you use only antifreeze (not water) your water pump can last 150 000km or more.

Also, since antifreeze is neon green in colour it is much easier to find out where the leak is. Remember the aircon (if working) drops the condensated water under the engine so it can be confussed for a water/coolant leak.

But either you need to have that checked out. Worst case is that the belt driving the aircon and water pump is in urgent need of replacement.
 
The_Librarian said:
Radiators do leak water and do need topping up when necessary.
Click to expand...

Modern radiators are a sealed system and does not need topping up. It needs to be flushed every 3 years and should preferably run on antifreeze only, not water.

If you do find that you are loosing coolant on a modern sealed system then you have to pray that it is a leak. Those are easy to detect and the spare parts are plentiful, fitment is also not too complex. If it is not a leak then you need to check your engine oil, it could be that your head gasket is blown somewhere and coolant is leaking into your oil. Needless to say this is much worse than a pipe leak.
 
yikes!!!! i will definetaly have it checked then. Asked my boss to just have a look and he reckons its the radiator's reservior thats the problem. i also think i've found the leak and it looks like its just clip around one of te pipes that might nt be tight enough otherwise the pipe has a crack in it.

but will take it in this weekend in anycase, just to make sure. Cause it really is a pain to drive around with a 2l bottle of water.

thanx for all your help!!
 
Opel's don't usually leak water, the system is sealed, after you rectify the problem take it back to the GM garage so they can do a coolant change OR buy the coolant from them and take it to a proper mechanic. After that your coolant change interval is every 5 years. If you do put some other coolant in, be forewarned, some of the spares places sell coolant that can damage your engine block and when that starts leaking you're in for serious headaches.

Also flushing a Corsa isn't easy, the thermostat sits under the inner cambelt cover, it's not easy to remove, but I'd flush the radiator and then flush the engine as well because it's possible that the constant topping up has resulted in either lower concentrations of anti-freeze or a mixture of different types of anti-freeze, neither really good. Your Opel MUST have 50/50 water/anti-freeze combination since the engine is made of different alloys and the anti-freeze prevents corrosion.
 
They open on Saturdays, that's new, make sure to get a quote beforehand tho, they can seriously rip you off, I would only go there if my car was still in warranty, there are plenty Opel mechanics that do better work and charge way better prices, check www.opelownersforum.co.za there's plenty of info there ;)
 
:D, I know the feeling. Actually I gained most of this knowledge about a month ago when I found my car was running too hot (the week before its service).

I was on a trip to our holiday house and half way found that there was no coolant in the reservoir. So I bought about 3L of antifreeze (about R80) and thought the problem was sorted.... Only thing is when I arrived at the holiday house and unpacked the car I noticed a stream of suspicious look neon green fluid coming from under the car.

So R80 of antifreeze was down the drain and for the trip back I also had a 2L Coke bottle filled with water in the car :p Luckily I never had to use it.

What you can do is maybe check for the part code on the pipe and have your service center order it in the meantime prior to your service. This helped in my case as I had my car serviced in late December. I hope for your part it is a small job, since mine was done as part of the cam belt service (a rather major service) it took 2 days.

BTW - here is what your part code will look like (and why I had to replace mine, see the neon green antifreeze oozing from the pipe) :
deadpipe.jpg
 
Thanks for the info Gnome, you seem to know your stuff. I service my Opel at a Bosch service center ran by a very precise (and somewhat expensive) German guy. I told him that I topped up with Midas branded antifreeze and he told me they are OK. I did not know you actually get coolants that can cause damage :O I guess the if they are bad they will probably damage the head gasket which is a bit of a disaster.

In my case I was actually lucky since they had to do the cam belt anyway and they found the waterpump was also well worn. If they did not pick it up and it failed I would have had a lot more trouble - plus to fix that on my Astra would mean the cam belt had to come off.

Sure, I had to part with R8k but the car is running as new again :p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIgjGuLdeWI
(I did get it up to its original top speed of 195 later on).
 
Rouxenator said:
Modern radiators are a sealed system and does not need topping up. It needs to be flushed every 3 years and should preferably run on antifreeze only, not water.
Click to expand...

Well...an antifreeze/water mixture, typically 40/60 or 50/50. Raw antifreeze on its own would not be good.
 
Rouxenator said:
Thanks for the info Gnome, you seem to know your stuff. I service my Opel at a Bosch service center ran by a very precise (and somewhat expensive) German guy. I told him that I topped up with Midas branded antifreeze and he told me they are OK. I did not know you actually get coolants that can cause damage :O I guess the if they are bad they will probably damage the head gasket which is a bit of a disaster.

In my case I was actually lucky since they had to do the cam belt anyway and they found the waterpump was also well worn. If they did not pick it up and it failed I would have had a lot more trouble - plus to fix that on my Astra would mean the cam belt had to come off.

Sure, I had to part with R8k but the car is running as new again :p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIgjGuLdeWI
(I did get it up to its original top speed of 195 later on).
Click to expand...

Cool will check that when i get home and write it down.
 
He meant 100% antifreeze is bad - and it turns out he is right :

Most commercial antifreeze formulations include corrosion inhibiting compounds, and a colored dye (commonly a green, red, or blue fluorescent) to aid in identification.[2] A 1:1 dilution with water is usually used, resulting in a freezing point in the range of −35 °C to −40 °C, depending on the formulation. In warmer or colder areas, weaker or stronger dilutions are used, respectively, but a range of 40%/60% to 60%/40% must be maintained to assure corrosion protection and optimum freezing prevention.

Glycol antifreeze solutions should generally be replaced with fresh mixture every two years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze
 
Rouxenator said:
He meant 100% antifreeze is bad - and it turns out he is right :

Most commercial antifreeze formulations include corrosion inhibiting compounds, and a colored dye (commonly a green, red, or blue fluorescent) to aid in identification.[2] A 1:1 dilution with water is usually used, resulting in a freezing point in the range of −35 °C to −40 °C, depending on the formulation. In warmer or colder areas, weaker or stronger dilutions are used, respectively, but a range of 40%/60% to 60%/40% must be maintained to assure corrosion protection and optimum freezing prevention.

Glycol antifreeze solutions should generally be replaced with fresh mixture every two years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze
Click to expand...

Every one knows you add water with antifreeze it says so on the bottle.

Gnome mentioned that some Antifreeze can damage your engine block. Can you provide proof please?
 
Amida said:
Every one knows you add water with antifreeze it says so on the bottle.

Gnome mentioned that some Antifreeze can damage your engine block. Can you provide proof please?
Click to expand...

Gnome actually said that some places sell *coolant* that could damage your engine - and that could be true, depending on what's in that coolant that they sell. Unlikely, though, to any significant degree.

Antifreeze is not designed to handle engine cooling; that's what the water's for, because water has a very high heat capacity. The antifreeze is added in order to reduce the freezing point of the mixture (preventing coolant from freezing up in the cold), to increase the boiling point, to reduce corrosion, and to reduce the surface tension slightly.
 
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