Air-con question

Engines, Transmissions & Final Drive questions and answers

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ASE05
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Postby ASE05 » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:32 pm

You're not alone! My SE don't have very good air.

It's OK in cooler weather and when the car is moving but sit in traffic or at a big set o lights and the air coming out just aint cold. Mine also makes a chirp from the engine bay when being enthusiastic with the throttle/shifts, IE: redline change and foot to the floor with the air on.

I've got NO chance of getting anything fixed under warranty and it hasn't been hot for aaaages but with summer coming up, I guess I'll have to look at it sooner rather than later.

I would suggest back to Mazda to get it looked at. If they fob you off, take it to an air-con place for a check/quote and take that back to your friendly dealer and get 'em to fix it! I'd like to hear how ya go.
Sing that song, puff all night long.......

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SuperMazdaKart
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Postby SuperMazdaKart » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:25 pm

how was it when new?

a/c compressors have seals in them which need to be maintained & lubricated so they don't dry & deteriorate leaking out the gas.

easily done by using the a/c once a fortnight at least for 10 minutes at a time so the a/c gas lubricates the seals.

maybe thats your problem, do you almost never use the a/c?

my last car got affected by a leaking compressor, i didn't know about the having to it use it once a fortnight to keep it working. thought i was conserving it by almost never using it :?
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rjr666
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Postby rjr666 » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:26 pm

possibly causes:

short on Refrigerant (ie you have a leak somewhere)

Is your air con acctully kicking in? (cause once u are short on refrigerant, there are usualy 2 pressure switchs a high and low side that will make the air con not kick in)

Fuse has blown not allowing the air con to kick in? I assume it would prob effect other things like radio or guages orsomething???

Check around any of the joins (where the pipe work is bolted together) for any sourse of Oily susbstance. That will tell you where the leak is coming from if you find the joins oily.

If the air con guy says \" mate all it needed was a top up\" mean you have a leak somewhere, could be on the service ports, or condensor or evaporator, pipe work joins, or if he says \"yeah you have to gas them regulary\" its a total lie, because the refrigerant never \"goes off\" unless it is contaminated with moisture, or the eletric motor burns out (but your air con pump is belt drivin)

The air con guys will have 2 methods of deteking leaks, 1) is a sniffing device that well smell any refrigerant leak from a pipes, condensors, airvents, and be able to pin point the area. 2) is pressure testing the system charging the system with nitrogen to around 1000kpa and waiting for the pressure to drop on the guages.

Also are you doing this while your roof is off? because your loosing the effectiveness/efficancey of the actully refrigeration cycle. The idea is to take the hot air from inside and remove it to the outside...

and yes im a refrigeration mechanic :D need any work done in the Geelong area, aircon split systems, domestic refrigerators... :D Cash rates applys :P
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a_guy73
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lousy air

Postby a_guy73 » Thu Oct 19, 2006 1:20 am

Hi Ase05 and C+C,
I have exactly the same problems as u mention with the chirping sound after accelerating hard as the engine drops revs. I managed to see it was coming from some sorta disengaging clutch mechanism on the air con pulley thingy.. Is This normal?
Also similarly my air con kicks in nicely when its cold.. but on a warm day its barely noticeable apart from the performance loss. :( Its very strange since it works when cold, so it doesnt have a leak..

Any other ideas to this problem? :cry:

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PT
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Postby PT » Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:44 am

Mine chirps too, took it back to Mazda and they said it's because the A/C cuts out under load and when you remove your foot it kicks back in and the chirp is the sound of the belt gripping... or something like that.

Didn't bother me as I don't get into it when in traffic with the air con on.
2001 Mazda MX-5 NB8B- http://www.mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=61506

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ASE05
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Postby ASE05 » Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:32 pm

hmmmmm, so some make the chirp hey!?!?

My aircon still sucks when at a standstill for any length of time but within 200ms or so of forward movement it comes good again.
Sing that song, puff all night long.......

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Andy Wana
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Postby Andy Wana » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:18 pm

Bumping up an old thread
I am having issues with the A/C

It is basically not blowing cool air anymore lately
And this is especially punishing with sydney's recent hot weather

Went to an A/C guy and got it regassed (with the dye/oil thingamajic)
A/C blows cold for a while before going out again

He suspected it might be a faulty pressure switch, but it turns out OK
Everything in the engine bay side of things checks out fine

The next suspicion is the A/C button on the dash itself
I am hoping it is just a simple fault in the wiring/button itself
Anyone had similar experiences?
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sabretooth
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Postby sabretooth » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:48 pm

It could just be the thermostat - it probably just needs to be set to be cold, again.

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Andy Wana
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Re:

Postby Andy Wana » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:42 pm

sabretooth wrote:It could just be the thermostat - it probably just needs to be set to be cold, again.


Any idea how that is done?
Is this something that I could do myself with little or no tools involved?
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jules
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Postby jules » Mon Jan 22, 2007 2:26 pm

In Malibu this adjuster was a knob behind the dash attached to the evaporator/ cooler box. I turned mine down and all is good.

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hot rod
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Re:

Postby hot rod » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:43 pm

Andy Wana wrote:Bumping up an old thread
I am having issues with the A/C

It is basically not blowing cool air anymore lately
And this is especially punishing with sydney's recent hot weather

Went to an A/C guy and got it regassed (with the dye/oil thingamajic)
A/C blows cold for a while before going out again

He suspected it might be a faulty pressure switch, but it turns out OK
Everything in the engine bay side of things checks out fine

The next suspicion is the A/C button on the dash itself
I am hoping it is just a simple fault in the wiring/button itself
Anyone had similar experiences?


I had a similar problem in mine which got worse and worse (the cool air would come and go) until finally I saw smoke coming from the bonnet :oops: Turns out the A/C clutch was on the way out and eventually it died and melted everything in the process. I ended up sourcing another second hand condenser and getting the whole thing rebuilt. Cost a bit of money but now with Summer in full swing it was the best money I ever spent.

a_guy73
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Postby a_guy73 » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:56 pm

thought I'd add to my post previously.. my problem ended up being a duff relay on the drivers side engine fan.. Im suprised that the car coped well with only one fan in most circumstances over one year. I also had a my number plate in my \"mouth\" causing the air con to being starved of cool air.. No wonder it'd only work on cool days.

At the end it was a lousy relay and repositioning the number plate.. and wasting money on a needless regas.


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