Here’s the problem, on a long drive (eg down to Singapore, approximately 4 hours each way, same kind of distance as Leeds to London), my air-con will give up the ghost about three quarters of the way, each leg of the trip.
After about three hours of driving (including a couple of stops for a fag and a coffee) I will begin to feel that the air-con starts to blow warm air through the vents. I don’t alter the temp, it’s always at 21 degrees and the fan is always at its lowest setting, but like I mentioned above, it just seems as though it’s decided enough is enough and it doesn’t want to blow any more cold air.
This of course, makes it murderously hot in the car and it becomes utterly miserable to drive.
I’ve noticed that the foam coating on coil under the passenger foot well is very wet to the touch and so what I’ve done, as my own kind of troubleshooting on these long drives, is to pull into a service station, shut the car down for a while and let things calm down.
After a ten minute break, I’ll set off again and the air-con will work quite well for a bit but seems to be struggling to cool the car, the air is definitely not ‘cold’ and after perhaps another thirty minutes or so, the air will be warm again so I’ll pull in and rest it for a while.
So there’s my problem guys, it’s this magical ‘three hour’ mark of pleasant cabin temperatures then an hour (actually more than an hour, as I have to keep stopping) of greenhouse temperatures making for a miserable drive in these temperatures. What’s happening?
More background, late last year we fitted a new cooling coil and a couple of months ago, we fitted a new compressor and alternator.
Here's the compressor
The new old stock alternator
The new cooling coil
The problem is the just the same as it was before we fitted these new parts to the car. Every time I’ve been on a long drive, the air-con decides to blow hot air after approximately three hours or so.
Are there any air-con gurus that can shed light on this horrible problem and suggest a remedy or even a list of troubleshooting options Jason and I could work through in an effort to resolve it?
Again, I apologise for this being so long winded but if anyone could help, I’d be very, very grateful for your direction and assistance. Thanks for taking the time to read this, Si.
Forgot to add the obvious but just to let you know the gas pressure is as it should be.
