Air Con works for 10 mins then stops

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parina

New Member
Posts
9
Location
Ruse, Bulgaria
Hi, looking for pointers.
4.6 p38, start from cold, air con starts, some issue with the blending, so turned to low, cool air comes out of the centre vents, after 10 mins air con shuts off and will not come on again until the engine is cold again, any ideas please?
 
Could be cutting out because the system is freezing, and it's thawing when the car is turned off. If there was no gas it wouldn't work at all.
 
I strongly suggest you get this done properly. For a few years I had my gas topped up whenever the A/C temp started to get a little less cool, and eventually the system ran almost dry of oil due to it leaking out with the gas. I've just replaced everything apart from the evaporator which I thoroughly flushed out, and the compressor had less than a teaspoon of oil left inside. If you have the system evacuated professionally, they will be able to tell the quantity of oil they have pulled with the gas, and add the necessary amount to bring it back to spec. Total should be 150ml for a Sedan compressor.
 
have you or anyone else put one of those halfrauds ac gas canisters in?if the system is not vacuumed properly you get moisture in the system which when it reaches the expansion valve freezes, and blocks it,your scenario sounds very similiar to this
 
sassanach said:
have you or anyone else put one of those halfrauds ac gas canisters in?if the system is not vacuumed properly you get moisture in the system which when it reaches the expansion valve freezes, and blocks it,your scenario sounds very similiar to this
Click to expand...
I re-filled mine with a canister from the USA 5 years ago as a temporary measure, it's still going strong:)
 
Moisture in the system mixes with the oil and becomes corrosive. Bye bye A/C! You should have seen the s**t that came from my evaporator when I flushed it through. Took 5 gallons of white spirit to clean out all the crud.
 
sassanach said:
are your ac fans working? if they are not, then the system will over pressurize and shut down.
Click to expand...
If the viscous fan is working, the electric fans are unlikely to operate in typical UK summer temperatures unless in a queue of traffic with the outside air temperature in the mid to high twenties, they rarely ran on mine until I used them to replace the viscous fan.
 
Hi, the car is in Bulgaria, so its hot :), with just 10 mins operation, have not seen the fans come on, fuses are ok, fans are free, as have read, it would appear to ice up, when on its good, booked in for regas, so will see what happens then, as a first step.
 
In my experience, when this happens it is almost always the compressor shutting off, and the reason for that is often low refrigerant levels. But it could also be sensing excessive pressures or excessive heat and shutting itself off, too. Is the cooling system working correctly? If the coolant temperature climbs, the compressor will shut itself off. If the pressure in the system climbs too high (due to a clogged expansion valve or something) the compressor will shut itself off.

It could also be a bad clutch (although those tend to be less consistent, and if it's happening after 10 minutes every time, a clutch issue is less likely) or the compressor itself could just be failing.

Let us know what happens. I'm curious.
 
Regarding the cooling, with high ambient temp, the cooling gauge sits a bit over centre, I use the car for long distance heavy towing across europe, and its always been steady, except on very long hills when it will reach one division over centre in summer, but no loss of coolant, but keep a close eye on it, will keep you posted
 
parina said:
Regarding the cooling, with high ambient temp, the cooling gauge sits a bit over centre, I use the car for long distance heavy towing across europe, and its always been steady, except on very long hills when it will reach one division over centre in summer, but no loss of coolant, but keep a close eye on it, will keep you posted
Click to expand...
Should be just to the left of centre at all times, maybe your viscous fan is on the way out, do the rolled up newspaper test.
 
update, before a regas, disconnected the two pressure switches, shorted the 2 wire one fans run at low speed, shorted the other plug, fans run at high speed. Shotred compressor feed, nothing. Ran a 12v feed direct to the compressor, kicked in fine, any clues?
 
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