Air Conditioning

[guest3897]

Hi all.

I've just purchased an 02 Jazz 1.4dsi sport. There is an air conditioning button on the dash but does not seem to work. The light does not even come on. All the piping seems to be there under the bonnet but I'm stumped. Has anyone else had this problem.

Cheers

[guest2662]

whats the point of a poll asking if you have aircon or not ??

[chrisc]

Well, it is either (in order of likelyhood) fuse, switch, relay.  And as a last resort, finger trouble, although I doubt the latter 

[Pine]

The air con gas naturally leaks away at about 10% per year. If the system has never been re-gassed it will eventually get to such a low level that it will not work at all.  Your first step is to take it to a workshop for a regas.

[culzean]

pine is correct,  if the gas (pressure) in the system gets too low the system will not even try to run,  worse still if all the gas leaks out and the system gets moisture in and corrodes inside then it can be pretty costly to fix up.

Best thing with aircon is to run it for at least 10 minutes once a week even in winter - that will actually reduce rate of gas leakage and keep the lubricant flowing around to where it is needed.

you can get kits from motor shops to re-gas the system yourself,  but the thing to remember is that too much gas is worse than too little, and it can damage the pump (gas turns from liquid to gas and back again  during the cooling cycle,  and if liquid gets into the pump it can do damage).

[stiggysawdust]

The only sure way to tell if it is working or not in winter or cold weather, is to turn on engine and turn on ac, run for a minute or two, lift bonnet and feel the ac pipes (usually near the front of engine bay and radiator). If it is working correctly they will be cold. If one of the pipes is slightly cool then it is likely that the system is low on gas, but your compressor is still ok. If the pipes are not cool then it could be that there is very low or no gas and the compressor will not have been working for a while, which probably means a new compressor.
As in previous post, you must use ac regularly to keep it working properly and be prepared to have it regassed every few years if the  performance falls off. Luckily with the Jazz's climate control it is hard to see any increase in fuel consumption, so I always leave mine on auto at the required temperature and it looks after itself and as a bonus it de-humidifies the car interior and very rarely mists up inside.

Bye the way, the poll does not make sense to me. But yes I have aicon (climate control) and it works perfectly.

[uovouvou]

The only sure way to tell if it is working or not in winter or cold weather, is to turn on engine and turn on ac, run for a minute or two, lift bonnet and feel the ac pipes (usually near the front of engine bay and radiator). If it is working correctly they will be cold. If one of the pipes is slightly cool then it is likely that the system is low on gas, but your compressor is still ok. If the pipes are not cool then it could be that there is very low or no gas and the compressor will not have been working for a while, which probably means a new compressor.
As in previous post, you must use ac regularly to keep it working properly and be prepared to have it regassed every few years if the  performance falls off. Luckily with the Jazz's climate control it is hard to see any increase in fuel consumption, so I always leave mine on auto at the required temperature and it looks after itself and as a bonus it de-humidifies the car interior and very rarely mists up inside.

Useful advice that when looking to buy a car.  Thanks!