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Air Con Issue?
13 Jul 2026 10:06 - 13 Jul 2026 10:09 #264923
by facade
If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
Replied by facade on topic Air Con Issue?
Mine didn't have aircon, and I thought that the compressor was at the top.
See the two metal pipes coming out of the bulkhead? The wider one is the low pressure pipe and should go straight to the suction side of the compressor (it is the one that gets cold when the aircon is running).
The thin pipe should go to the condenser radiator in front of the main water radiator via a cylindrical drier unit, then a thin pipe from there goes back to the outlet of the compressor.
You may have to look up from underneath, the fan belt has to drive it, so it must be on the front of the engine somewhere!
It is probably low down on the passenger side of the engine underneath the power steering pump.
You are trying to see if you can turn the very front face of the pulley with the ignition off. If you can, the clutch isn't seized.
Then with the engine running and the air con off you should see that the front face of the pulley is standing still while the pulley rim is turning, if it is turning then the aircon is on, despite what the switch says.
When the aircon is first switched on with the engine running there should be an almighty CLANG! as that clutch operates and the compressor starts up, then when it is running on medium ish there should be an alarming CLANG! every half a minute or so as the aircon cuts in and out. (It is quite frightening, but doesn't seem to break anything- except I've never got more than 5000 hours out of an aircon.....)
The engine should try and speed up a touch by itself with the aircon switched on so that it doesn't stall.
See the two metal pipes coming out of the bulkhead? The wider one is the low pressure pipe and should go straight to the suction side of the compressor (it is the one that gets cold when the aircon is running).
The thin pipe should go to the condenser radiator in front of the main water radiator via a cylindrical drier unit, then a thin pipe from there goes back to the outlet of the compressor.
You may have to look up from underneath, the fan belt has to drive it, so it must be on the front of the engine somewhere!
It is probably low down on the passenger side of the engine underneath the power steering pump.
You are trying to see if you can turn the very front face of the pulley with the ignition off. If you can, the clutch isn't seized.
Then with the engine running and the air con off you should see that the front face of the pulley is standing still while the pulley rim is turning, if it is turning then the aircon is on, despite what the switch says.
When the aircon is first switched on with the engine running there should be an almighty CLANG! as that clutch operates and the compressor starts up, then when it is running on medium ish there should be an alarming CLANG! every half a minute or so as the aircon cuts in and out. (It is quite frightening, but doesn't seem to break anything- except I've never got more than 5000 hours out of an aircon.....)
The engine should try and speed up a touch by itself with the aircon switched on so that it doesn't stall.
If it suddenly breaks, go back to the last thing that you did before it broke and start looking there
Last edit: 13 Jul 2026 10:09 by facade.
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