Jump to content
SAU Community

Aircon Compressor Doesn't Stay On

Richie33

By Richie33,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

Richie33 Contributor

Richie33

Posted
Posted

Hey guys, I need some help with the air con in my R33, I saw some other threads about air con but not this specific problem.

When I turn my air con on, the compressor turn on, idle goes up 800rpm, then a few seconds later the compressor switches itself off and idle drops to normal again. This happens driving as well, but obviously not as noticeable, except for the air not being cold. Thing is sometimes the air con works fine, esp. on the open road, and sometimes it won't stay on for a whole trip. When the compressor is on, the air is cold. It is really frustrating, on hot days I find myself playing with the controls all the time as I'm driving trying to trick the compressor into turning on.

Is it a sensor, if so which one and how can I fix it?

Is it a lack of gas?

Thanks

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/159596-aircon-compressor-doesnt-stay-on/
Share on other sites
buggor34 Proficient

buggor34

Posted
Posted
Hey guys, I need some help with the air con in my R33, I saw some other threads about air con but not this specific problem.

When I turn my air con on, the compressor turn on, idle goes up 800rpm, then a few seconds later the compressor switches itself off and idle drops to normal again. This happens driving as well, but obviously not as noticeable, except for the air not being cold. Thing is sometimes the air con works fine, esp. on the open road, and sometimes it won't stay on for a whole trip. When the compressor is on, the air is cold. It is really frustrating, on hot days I find myself playing with the controls all the time as I'm driving trying to trick the compressor into turning on.

Is it a sensor, if so which one and how can I fix it?

Is it a lack of gas?

Thanks

I had the same problem in my 32, turned out being my compressor shorting out. It started off as you describe then only got worse untill it would only stay on for a minute or 2 then blow the fuse. I had to get a new second hand compressor installed. Not cheap unless you can do it yourself

Richie33 Contributor

Richie33

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I had the same problem in my 32, turned out being my compressor shorting out. It started off as you describe then only got worse untill it would only stay on for a minute or 2 then blow the fuse. I had to get a new second hand compressor installed. Not cheap unless you can do it yourself

That's not what I wanna hear :P

Dunno if it's a fuse blowing, some days it works fine. But yeah it is getting worse... or is it just cause it's summer?

tek_01 Proficient

tek_01

Posted
Posted

mine has the same problem, not as severe i think as yours but same symptoms. AC will switch off before its time and than switch back on randomly (usually after about 30seconds or so) you can feel it while driving aswell

when i got mine re-gassed the guy said it is a sensor of some description thats behind the dash/glovebox area that senses the temperature and turns off the compressor because it thinks its reached the right temp

best to get an a/c to check it out.. he will tell u better than anyone on a forum

btw cost me approx 150 for a re-gas and new filter/dryer

Jdfnq Proficient

Jdfnq

Posted
Posted

try putting it in diagnostics mode.....

this will give you an indication of what is wrong....

turn car on

hold the off button for 5 secs staright away.

this should put you into teh diagnostics mode.....

check the sensore by pressing the HOT switch (red triangle)

the readout will tell you if you have a problem

20= all is ok

21= outside air sensor

22= inside air sensor

23= water temp sens

24=intake temp sens

25= sunload sens

26=PBR

27= refridgerant temp sens.

hope that helps :D

blind_elk Grand Master

blind_elk

Posted
Posted
just did mine and found that my sunload sensor is f**ked....... :)

Oh well

It's only f****d if you were parked out of direct sunlight. Try shining a torch on the sensor (little "button" on the passenger side of the dashboard, near the base of the windscreen).
Jdfnq Proficient

Jdfnq

Posted
Posted
It's only f****d if you were parked out of direct sunlight. Try shining a torch on the sensor (little "button" on the passenger side of the dashboard, near the base of the windscreen).

was parked in the garage.....

that was what i was told to do as otherwise ^^^^

migt clean it though and see if that makes i difference :)

noone Experienced

noone

Posted
Posted

even a cloudy overcast day will bring up the error code for the sun sensor I doubt that is what is causing your drama though almost sounds like it might just be a loose connector if the rest of the diagnostic check is okay is it or isnt it blowing the fuse? If it is could be the clutch coil on the compressor

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      Borg Warner EFR Series Turbo's V 2.0

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      Either the WG is reaching full opening, or it is not. The "it is not" case could only occur if there was not enough time available to swing the valve fully open during that boost event. I would consider that to be unlikely, as this is a commercial product that is in use elsewhere, so it really should work. But in your case, because there is definitely SOMETHING wrong, it should not be assumed that things like that are working as they should. You should put a video camera where it can see the actuator (if at all possible) during a run to see how far it is moving.
    • GTSBoy
      Borg Warner EFR Series Turbo's V 2.0

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I think you're mostly on the ball there. With the straight gate, I suspect the weight of the spring will determine how quickly the gate can close, when not run with active pressure drive on both sides of the diaphragm. Otherwise, with drive on both sides of the diaphragm, you could almost go without a spring at all, only needing one to make sure that the thing was actually closed while completely off boost and not having pressure available to drive it closed. Butterfly valves have mostly symmetric loading when there is flow going through them, meaning that the gas hitting the upstream part of the blade is balanced by the gas hitting the downstream part of the blade, which means you don't need actuator torque to overcome any non-symmetric flow induced loads. But the gas flow does impart a purely normal load against the shaft, which transfers into the bush/bearing at each end of the shaft and does increase the torque required to make the shaft turn. Only a little, but it is there. I have no feeling for the amount of force involved in a WG application, but it certainly could make an argument for a decent spring weight being required. But all of this is just peripheral to the actual problem here.
    • Borci88
      Borg Warner EFR Series Turbo's V 2.0

      By Borci88 · Posted

      The answer to this would be I followed the documentation from Turbosmart which said each spring pressure could achieve a maximum of 5x it's rated pressure so the included smallest spring being the 6psi had a range up to 30psi. I went with the 12 because I figured it'd likely hover around 15psi as a base pressure however I was obviously wrong.    I have a log here that I'll dig out that is purely wastegate and no Mac valve controlling anything.   If it can't hold anywhere near 12psi, does that mean the straight gate is virtually wide open during a run? Or am I thinking about this all wrong.   I could Tee Piece into the cooler pipe pre intercooler where the wastegate gets its feed, and send that to the ecu and see how that reads, I just don't have a spare pressure sensor currently that's all.
    • Murray_Calavera
      Steps to DIY sanding car back ready for respray....

      By Murray_Calavera · Posted

      lol nice, I wouldn't worry about sanding back the filler to check for rust then. Yep very much a thing. Personally I don't do the panel beating, its very easy to have a panel beater sort that out for you. If they aren't doing any prep work the actual panel beating generally doesn't take long at all.  Have you taken before pictures before you started this project? I'd be keen to see the before and afters when you're done.
    • Lithium
      Borg Warner EFR Series Turbo's V 2.0

      By Lithium · Posted

      Some good discussion in here, for the most part I can't really add too much to it - thought I'd add some notes to the datalog screen shot that probably aren't news to anyone but a good prop... this is assuming 25psi-ish should be the boost ceiling given the first post refers to 23psi.   To state the obvious, this issue seems super weird.  Turbo speed seems pretty lethagic to build, like the turbo isn't getting as much drive as it needs - and it doesn't help that wgdc keeps rising AFTER boost target then completely shuts duty at a point, which in theory should have the straight gate dump heaps past the turbo and funnily enough causes the huge drop off.  It seems like pretty blunt boost control tuning but I'd not call that the primary issue, so much as possibly not helping the situation. I'm curious, what does a pull look like with purely mechanical boost control?  Like purely wastegate?   There are things in this log and story that make it sound like there could be a significant restriction in the intercooler piping or something - but then it's also overshooting boost target which is NOT what you'd expect with a restriction.   I can see where people are coming from with the non-linear wastegate bypass (not that any valves are linear for this kind of thing), but it still doesn't make sense that it can't hold <20psi on a 12psi spring.    Have you, or can you try measuring pressure pre-intercooler?  Be pretty interesting to see what's happening there vs in the intake manifold - sorry if I've repeated old ground, I've kinda skimmed over but I could have missed something.  In terms of comments regarding the wg spring being closer to boost target, I haven't used a straight gate but part of the reason for having close to wg target is about fighting backpressure as well - I might be wrong, but I'd have thought that part of the point of using a butterfly valve like the straight gate does you actually don't have to resist pressure at all, on EITHER side of the gate.   It shouldn't need too much leverage to start opening, the spring being more to do with where it triggers opening as opposed to resisting boost & EMAP, though smarter people can correct me if I'm wrong there.  
×
×
  • Create New...