Evora Air conditioning failure

[Breeze]

My 2015 Evora has air conditioning failure. The system has gas, it was checked last week, so that is not the problem. The orange spanner lights up on the dash for 30 seconds on start-up, indicating an electrical fault, which I'd guess is the air-con. My local dealer was unable to do anything about it ( Lotus agent, but mine is the only Evora they've ever seen! ) . They have now told me to take the car to the main Lotus agent in Firenze, where I'm going tomorrow morning. Any Ideas what this could be? My thought is a fuse or a relay perhaps.

[21gg]

Just a point to note, if it's the compressor don't buy one from lotus! They can be had from USA a lot cheaper as they are from the rav 4.

Gav 

[Breeze]

Thanks Gav. 

Always useful to know just in case a replacement is not available from lotus. Do you happen to know which model of RAV it comes from?

[trcm]

@Breeze New ECU code 'R' revision - "Updated air conditioning compressor diagnostic to prevent the false trigger of B1422 air conditioning compressor drop-out fault code."

Worth trying!

 

 

Edited April 21, 2017 by trcm

[21gg]

2 hours ago, Breeze said:

Thanks Gav. 

Always useful to know just in case a replacement is not available from lotus. Do you happen to know which model of RAV it comes from?

Its all in the sel0c techwiki. Part numbers for louts/toyota/3rd party

 

LOTUS EVORA REPLACEMENT AC COMPRESSOR DETAILS,.

Lotus Part Number A132E6349S

Toyota/DENSO Part Number 8832042120

UAC Part number UAC CO 10856C

FROM A USA TOYOTA RAV 4 3.5L V6 2006-2012

The non oem one was $160 + p&p + duty, in all £240 (FROM USA EBAY JUNE 2014). The lotus unit is £1500!

 

 

Gav

[CocoPops]

@LazyDonkey had compressor failure previously.

[LazyDonkey]

Yup mine had similar sounding fault.....only when investigating it we found that my condenser went just before / at the same time.   So whether it was conicidence of whether it was as a result of "running dry" we arne't sure.

Oh and i might have been trying quite hard on track at the time. 

[Brendonian]

I had compressor failure a couple of years ago. Had the original reconditioned rather than pay the Lotus price for a new one.

I've also had multiple failures due to an the system throwing an error code. I guess it's B1422 code mentioned above. Apparently, it looks for a discrepancy between the engine rpm, and the measured compressor speed. Last I heard was Lotus were considering allowing a larger error margin for triggering that code. I guess that's what they've now done.

Mine has been working faultlessly for 6 months now, but I'll ask about the update next time the car goes into Silverstone.

[Breeze]

Many thanks for all your help and advice. I'm still trying to point the garage in the right direction. The B1422 code is interesting, I didn't know there was an historical problem with the A/C. When this code rings up, does it cut the compressor?

The other current problem is trying to convince the garage that my June 2015 Evora is still under warranty. They say that they can find no record of it being covered by warranty!!  I had the 3 year warranty and service deal when I bought the car, so I'll give Lotus a call on Monday and ask them to speak directly with the garage.  It's Italy...The place where nothing is ever clear, simple or easy!

[blueg33]

Mine had a similar fault, Lotus Silverstone sorted it.  They cleared the error code.  The compressor was fine, but sometimes if the belt slips it reports a different speed from the engine speed and locks the compressor out.  Silverstone unlocked the fault

[Breeze]

Thanks Nick.  I'm pretty sure that's what it is...But trying to explain that to an Italian mechanic who has his own ideas is not easy. They are not very good at taking any advice, despite having been sent emails notifying them of this known fault.  

[Local Gardener]

Hi all

Heres a list of warranty issues that I have had with my 400 (2015) early (has the LOTUS letters on the dash)

• follow me home lights not working
• gear stick gater came off
• instrument cluster dimmer not working
• new starter motor
• seat bolts rusting
• rear screen demister connection broken off (new screen)
• all the engine sensors replaced
• DS headlamp indicator stopped working
• Alpine head unit replaced
• mic stopped working
• rear camera
• AC controls changed

at present the windows rub when going up and down & the car keeps stalling at odd times.

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

There's a running thread for this, if you wish to contribute ...

 

[A K]

FYI I reset the error codes on mine and the AC came straight back to life!

[Local Gardener]

Ak got it sorted under warranty. Gets it's first service in about 4 weeks. With another load of faults 

DS Headlight indicator not working 

Stalls on pull away 

Window rubbers rubbing 

 

Another 2 weeks of sitting myself thinking what will they find or break when at the dealers 

[Brendonian]

I have the error code again. Yellow spanner warning lamp comes on for 30 seconds after starting the car. I'd like to just reset the code for now until I can get the car back to Silverstone. Does anybody know if it's possible to reset the code myself without any fancy OBD tool?

Maybe just disconnecting the battery will do it, but it's a pain sorting out the radio settings etc, so I'd like to know in advance if that would do it.

[Colin P]

My OBD wouldn't show this error so had to go to dealer. theirs did so updated software and reset. Don't think it can be done another way.

[Brendonian]

2 minutes ago, Colin P said:

My OBD wouldn't show this error so had to go to dealer. theirs did so updated software and reset. Don't think it can be done another way.

I take it you didn't try disconnecting the battery? 

[Breeze]

I had an air-conditioning failure on my car. It was found to be a software problem. If the ECU detects a difference in revs between the Air-con unit and the crankshaft, it switches off the Air-con as a run dry safety measure. When this happened on my Evora, I also had the little yellow spanner showing as well. In the event it was an easy fix of a software update. I'd guess your problem could well be the same thing.

[Colin P]

12 minutes ago, Brendonian said:

I take it you didn't try disconnecting the battery? 

I didn't, but it happened a couple of days before  our trip to the IOM and because I was trying to clear up at work it was a pain in the bum to get to the dealer to get it sorted. We had a discussion about options, so I'd have thought he'd mention it if it would have worked (but we all know what assumption is!)

Issue exactly as per Breeze - worth taking it in to get the software upgrade done or to will likely repeat.

[Brendonian]

I'm told Lotus have not yet issued an update for my car. Maybe they consider the early cars obsolete, and they won't update it all

The car's booked in to Silverstone, but not until late next month. I'm just looking for a quick, temporary fix until they can have a proper look into it.

[esseye]

So I have this problem going on with my MY11 USA Evora S.

Worth noting is that you absolutely can reset it yourself.  Any ELM327 OBD dongle will let you do it.  You won't be able to read any codes, but if you send a DTC clear, it will reset the fault and it will return working again.  I'm beginning to think this happens because the belt slips slightly at low rpm/low speed while turning.  I don't know if anyone else experiences that, but I seem to notice a slight belt squeak if I'm backing out of tight parking/etc and turning slowly.  I figured that small amount of slip was normal for the vehicle, but of course could trip this sort of sensor logic.  

Obviously be careful with using this as a solution if you are unsure what the problem is.  I'm guessing that the reason this protection exists is that if the compressor is seizing up, it tries to prevent engaging the clutch and damaging the accessory belt.

I'm hoping I can figure out how to actually read this code, but all the information I've read so far makes it seem pretty hopeless.  Wish Lotus would throw us a bone on how to at least query faults from the vehicle.

[Brendonian]

I do actually have a (very) cheap OBD dongle that I've never dared actually plug in! Maybe I'll try that this weekend.

[Brendonian]

I finally got round to trying out my OBD dongle. I sent the reset code, and hey presto! No spanner light. 

Then I switched on the air con, and the warning light came on again ?

I guess that means I have a genuine problem this time.

[esseye]

Entirely possible - you may not have B1422, or you may have an ECU detecting belt slippage.  Do you hear belt slipping sounds from the rear right side?

I do hear slipping on mine, but it happens when the vehicle is starting up or dips below 1000rpm intermittently in both cases.  Checking the belts, I can't see any reason for it -and they seem in normal shape and tensioned.  It happens with both the AC on and off - but if it happens with the AC on, it disables it immediately, with it off, it seems to not*.

Yours could also be disabling itself from signals from the trinary switch up front for pressure.  You'd have to know the code for that, which of course - only able to get via TechCentre.

Wish someone could go buy the guys at Lotus a couple beers and get them to release the comms to at least retrieve codes to us.