Air Conditioning

[scoule]

I'm not convinced my A/C is working well, if at all!

On a cool day, does it make much difference if you turn the A/C on? Or is it some kind of snazzy system whereby it only really cools when the weather is hot? Is there a thermocouple on the air outlet that prevents it cooling too much?

When I turn it on I can hear the engine revs rise briefly, the compressor cut in and some hissing from the evaporator behind the dash, but it has virtually no effect on the air temperature from the vents.

My old Excel that used to run on R12 would freeze the blood in your hands and on hot humid days would generate small clouds of freezing fog from the vents.

How good is your A/C?

[neal]

The left hand knob is a thermostat so the AC is either off or on but on my V8 at least the adjustment is rubbish. 3 o'clock is off even you were in the Antarctic but 5 o'clock where it hits the stop is fully on. Somewhat wasteful of the available range so a tad too fine grained!

But since you hearing the rpm blip, etc., your AC is defintely switching on.

When you say vents - which ones? The Esprit has the wonderful idiosyncasy that they're not all equal! You only get heat from the floor and windscreen and cooling from the dash centre and sides.

Maybe your plumbing is a bit amiss - it's say cooling the floor but blowing elsewhere.

Neal

98 V8-GT

[scoule]

On mine, the left hand knob is the heater temperature, I had this set to cold, the right hand knob is the AC on/off/setting, fully clockwise *should* be the coldest setting as I understand it.

The knob which selects screen/floor/vents whatever seems to direct air correctly!

For the A/C, I was testing it on the centre and side vents ... it was hard to tell if the AC was chilling at all.

Is yours the later style dash?

[neal]

On mine, the left hand knob is the heater temperature, I had this set to cold, the right hand knob is the AC on/off/setting, fully clockwise *should* be the coldest setting as I understand it.

# Whoops, I meant the RH knob.

The knob which selects screen/floor/vents whatever seems to direct air correctly!

For the A/C, I was testing it on the centre and side vents ... it was hard to tell if the AC was chilling at all.

Is yours the later style dash?

# Yep. I think the mechanics are a bit different to the early cars but the vent routing is still the same.

# Try keeping the fans on face vents and switch the AC on and off to see if it makes any difference...

Neal

[andyblackman777]

there should be a sight glass on the drier canister under the bonnet you should be able to see the fluid/gas moving if not then you could have a leak! Mine was leaking slowly from the pipe from the drier to the evaporator in the cabin.

If you need it recharging you could take it to Merrow tyres in Farnham, i think there near you they can recharge it for you plus they add some dye so you can check for leaks under UV lamp. Martin is a mate of mine so hopefully he'll do you a deal!

cheers Andy

[scoule]

Thanks Andy, I'll take a look under the bonnet and also drop a thermometer in the air flow from the vents!

[scoule]

The car is now officially COOL :-)

Had the A/C vac'd out, tested and recharged ... there was less than half the gas pressure in there that was supposed to be there. It seems that while it was standing for 18 months it probably escaped past the compressor seals.

[andyblackman777]

Hi,

My a/c stoped working again the other day. I noticed it leaking from the low pressure hose joint under the engine. I put a new o ring in and charged it with a charging kit i got of ebay for

[MGFCrasher]

Mine on the sport 350 needed regassing after a year standing.I had this done last july for

[Backmarker]

Spooky..............I was just about to start searching through all the V8 technical threads to try and find the whereabouts of the A/C charge point when Richard pops along and posts it for me

Is the charge point obvious to the un-trained eye? I hear what you say about being under the engine on the passanger side but I'm thinking there might be lots of possibles in that area.

Went through the Service Book last night and couldn't find anything. Anyone got a diagram showing just where the charge point is?

Cheers,

Graham.

[andyblackman777]

Graham,

Its obvious, plus the fill and drain are different sizes so u cant connect up to the wrong one. The valve is about a foot infront of the nearside rear wheel where the a/c pipe goes into the body (sill)

cheers Andy

[Backmarker]

Thanks Andy. I'll have a look this weekend.

Graham.

[MGFCrasher]

Andy's right you cant miss it,It also should have a little plastic dist cap on it!

.Just remember to have the A/C on max and the engine running whilst you charge it.

Heres to a Cool summer for little cost !!

[Backmarker]

Thanks boys. Had a gawp between showers today and as you say, it is quite obvious.

Graham.

[Pred247]

Hi,

Do you need to jack the car up to get under and re-gas? If I discharge the system, wouldone can from halfords be enough foa full charge?

Thnks,

John

[Backmarker]

Got mine done today at my friendly garage for

[Pred247]

Woo hoo, I did mine today. It's bloody cold!

I hate to admit it, but I managed to give my self a headache from the cold lol!

John

[jayden13]

Hello to all, just got a 98 V8 delivered today!!! Brand new motor form LotusUSA!! However, A/c not blowing cold, is the charge point on the left or right hand side in the engine for us model?? Importantly, Can i charge tosystem myself with an ultra synthetic refrigerenant 134 a??? thanks jay t.

[andyblackman777]

yes and yes

[jayden13]

yes and yes

thanks!!