Air con troubles

[Mardi120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mardi120]

G'day guys.
Please forgive me, for I haven't been around for a while. Although this was the first place I thought of when my new found problem started.

For some reason my air con is only cool on one side of the car. Ie the drivers side vents blow cold air, the passenger side vents blow room temperature. I'm not sure when it started because my wife complains about a lot of things, so I just ignored her when she said that air con wasn't cool enough.

Another problem I've noticed is that after a little use I think it's starting to freeze up because it blows no cold air at all. Then after stopping the car for half an hour it works again an their I'd usually a pool of water on the road under the front of the car.

Any ideas what's happening? I did have it re gassed about a month ago because it wasn't getting as cold as it used to. The guy said the gas was low and that he vacuumed it all out and put in a different gas which is cheaper than the original.

Don't make me go to air con specialist,

[VXWesty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close VXWesty]

In my unprofessional opinion it sounds like a blockage in the aircon pipes (could simply be ice building up in the pipes). I had a similar problem recently with the entire aircon system blowing warm air for a few minutes then it was all good again after stopping for a while.

I had it re-gassed but the aircon guy suggested if it happens again I would need either a new receiver/drier (there may have been moisture inside the pipes) or possibly pull the system apart to find the blockage. So far so good, it's been working great for about a month in very hot conditions.


VXWesty

[wes Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wes]

G'day guys.
Please forgive me, for I haven't been around for a while. Although this was the first place I thought of when my new found problem started.

For some reason my air con is only cool on one side of the car. Ie the drivers side vents blow cold air, the passenger side vents blow room temperature. I'm not sure when it started because my wife complains about a lot of things, so I just ignored her when she said that air con wasn't cool enough.

Another problem I've noticed is that after a little use I think it's starting to freeze up because it blows no cold air at all. Then after stopping the car for half an hour it works again an their I'd usually a pool of water on the road under the front of the car.

Any ideas what's happening? I did have it re gassed about a month ago because it wasn't getting as cold as it used to. The guy said the gas was low and that he vacuumed it all out and put in a different gas which is cheaper than the original.

Don't make me go to air con specialist,

Hey Mardi 120 use the search function up the top right corner of the page and type in air cond issues.
Better industry practice is to replace receiver drier any time the refrigerant system is worked on however there are some people who will offer to recover existing refrigerant and just recharge system without identifying cause of leak.

Other info we would need is variant of 120:ie vx, grande or gxl.Climate control?
Many others have had this issue in the past and the topic has had replies on what others had done to rectify.
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-control-issue
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...03-Cold-Aircon

Hope these 2 links help you

Wes

[Mardi120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mardi120]

Thanks guys. That's a great start. I'm driving a 2003 GXL with the old twisty knobs air con.
I'm starting to think that I have a combination of problems which includes an over gassed system. Might go back to the mechanic who did it and see what he says.

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

Did he gas it by weight or sight glass ,How much gas did he remove?(it needs to be weighed and recovered you are not allowed to just dump it) you also said he used different gas than normal,so how did he figure out how much to put in?

[Mardi120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mardi120]

Good questions Bear. Didn't see him do the work because I dropped it off and went to work, but he is a prett reputable bloke. Havi g a good look today with my old man, we found that the compressor doesn't cut in and out like it should. It stays on the whole timethe /c is switched on and the cold out flow hose doesn't get very cold. It used to frost up immediately. Also the return hose gets so hot that you can't touch it.
Plans are to go back to the mechanic this week and see what he thinks. I suspect he put in to much gas and it causing the whole system problems. Either that or the compressor shit itself, but I bloody hope not.

[Mardi120 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mardi120]

Also, he told me that to regas with the right stuff would cost about $300 because of the carbon tax, which is why he uses the other stuff. Sounded about right to me, any thoughts? He'd already done the job when he told me that.

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

We charge the R134A for $110.00 a KG which includes the carbon tax which is collected at the wholesale level

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

An aircon service around our area is $140-$180 depending who u get to do it. With the right gas :-)
$300 sounds like a rip off system.

[state50 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close state50]

If its cold through one vent and not through another vent then it could be that one of our temp mixer flaps aren't working correctly. I'm not sure on the actual Prado 120 system, but first thing is be doing is checking that as you operate the knobs (either air flow direction or temp) that the appropriate doors/gates are opening and closing fully. Also checking your recirc/fresh one aswell. I've had cars in at my workshop that were blowing warmer air than another vent purely because the foam around the tubes was missing/falling out.

Freezing up can be due to a faulty temp sensor in the evaporator under the dash. Like any automotive temp sensor they are prone to failing in some models and then if its reading wrong the evaporator can freeze up which could also be affecting the previously mentioned doors/gates

[state50 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close state50]

Also, the air con guy we use rarely replaces the receiver drier on newer cars when doing a/c service work but when doing compressors & general repairs on older stuff he will usually replace them. I can't recall the last time we had any issues with a/c resulting from not replacing the receiver drier.

[wes Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wes]

Also, he told me that to regas with the right stuff would cost about $300 because of the carbon tax, which is why he uses the other stuff. Sounded about right to me, any thoughts? He'd already done the job when he told me that.

Sounds like he has recharged with the replacement Hy-chill refrigerant http://www.hychill.com.au/products/
have not used this but seems as though lots of auto guys are substituting R134a with the hychill minus 30
there are guidelines and charge rates for this refrigerant compared to the original amount(ie it takes less aparently)
As mentioned earlier by others sounds like it may be overcharged.

My 2006 gxl with same controls hasnt missed a beat currentlyexcept for a slipping clutch on the compressor that i will repair 1 day when i get around to it...

Wes