2007 1.5i Vtec aircon problem

[JimJazz]

Hi Everyone

I own a 2007 Jazz. I've had it for a bit more than 7 years, and it has 182000km (~113000 miles in imperial) on the clock. Great car overall, very reliable and I'll drive it as long as it will keep on going.

Recently however, the aircon started acting up.  I'm in South Africa, and it is summer now. Over here the summers are hot and the winters mild. In winter I have the aircon somewhere between its coldest setting and the middle, and the fan setting on 1. In summer I turn the fan to between 2 and 4. So the aircon runs pretty much nonstop.

At first, it wasn't cooling as effectively at it used to. But one could still notice a difference vs when the aircon is switched off. The aircon fan makes a distinctive sound when running, and that hasn't changed. I took it in to have the aircon checked. Not to the Honda service center, but a "reputable" 3rd party aircon "specialist". The Honda service centers charge an arm and a leg (and sometimes your firstborn), so ever since the warranty expired, I've taken it to 3rd party mechanics for regular services.

Anyway, said "aircon specialist" could not find anything wrong, but he said the gas was a bit low, so he topped it off. He suspects there is a minor leak. And he charged me R450 for it. Over here R450 buys dinner for two at a good restaurant. Needless to say, I'm not going back there. At least not before I know a thing or two about aircons myself. Afterwards I read that aircons loose gas anyway, so after 7 years one can expect it to be a bit low.

So after I got my car back, and parted with my money, the aircon seemed to work fine. For a week or so. Now it has a different hiccup. When switched on, it seems to cool rather effectively, but then, for no reason at all, the cool air would stop, and it will blast you with nice 30C air (or whatever the outside air temperature is, some days it climbs north of 35C). Then it will kick in again, and cool me down just before I start to sweat. This lasts anything between 1 and 5 minutes. This happens on the coldest aircon setting and on any of the fan settings (1-4). Also, the light on the A/C switch stopped working 3 or 4 years ago, I don't know if that is related.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[VicW]

Aircon systems should be serviced at least every three years and, if not in use, should be switched on for at least 10 minutes every week to ensure that the lubricant in the gas is circulated throughout the system to keep all the seals supple.

A 'proper' service will evacuate the system to determine how much gas is left. This will be compared with the manufacturers figure for a full system and the lost gas will give a clue as to whether there is a leak. If OK the system will be recharged with the correct quantity of gas and lubricant and possibly a dye if a leak is suspected.

The lowest temperature an aircon system will get down to at the fresh air vents is about 3 or 4 degrees C, quite cool.

The clue to whether your aircon is actually on is the noise from the condenser cooling fan in front of the engine, which cuts in and out at roughly 8 second intervals.

Your problem sounds as though the compressor isn't cutting in all the time, which could be due to an electronic selection problem or a drive clutch problem. In this country aircon compressors can be overhauled.

You do need access to a reputable aircon firm, which shouldn't be difficult where you live, as it is an obvious source of ripoffs because aircon is a bit of a grey area.

Vic.