Air conditioning in cars

RJC said:
Do you run your compressor periodically during the winter months for a brief period, as the the shaft seal can dry out and start to leak.

They should hopefully weigh the charge out and pressure test to ensure system integrity, last year I come across a few cars with leaking condensers, mine being one of them.
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Generally wouldn't have it on during the winter. Regarding the leaking condenser, couple of things I've noticed in the past which made me think something was up but didn't give it much more thought. I noticed a puddle beneath the car a couple of times and maybe twice I've seen water in the passenger footwell and wondered where it came from.

Thing with me is I don't pay much attention to my car ('03 Focus) other than check the oil occasionally. Seems that water I'd seen in the past may have been related to the air con then. I'll maybe see how much it costs to get looked at, if it seems too expensive I can always wind the windows down as they still work. :p
 
My 182 has climate control it is amazing at clearing steamed up windows etc. But I find it has quite an effect on performace. The car feels so lazy on pickup with CC on.

Anybody else notice the same? Not sure how much MPG it zaps too. Never really looked into it.
 
Had similar on my old Omega. Despite 200 odd bhp the difference between aircon on/aircon off was like night a day. Suspect something wasn't quite right with the pump!

Ta

Alec
 
I've noticed on the two older cars I've had (Megane and Accord) that you can tell a slight difference in power with the pump engaged, but not with more modern stuff like my Mondeo, or any hire cars I've driven.
 
NathanE said:
Climate control is essentially some software that monitors a thermometer and then fiddles with the knobs so that you don't have to. Amirite?
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Thats rather over simplifying it - there are motors for all the vents and numerous additional sensors as well - it also monitors sun load, fogging, etc.
 
[TW]Fox;18294842 said:
Thats rather over simplifying it - there are motors for all the vents and numerous additional sensors as well - it also monitors sun load, fogging, etc.
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But essentially correct; climate control is a closed loop system, air con is open loop.
 
This has been quite an interesting read, as the car I own has air con and I leave it on all the time as I found the de-misting better and the air doesn't smell like it does without the conditioning on.

The question I have is how often should I get it cleaned? Does it even need cleaning?
 
If it has a stale kind of smell after a while then just buy some A/C cleaner from Halfords which you release in the car with recirc enabled and fans on max with AC on, it kills the bacteria causing the smell.

If that still doesn't work you may need to change your cabin filter. Both are cheap and cheerful ways to improve your air inside the car :p

If you use it regularly (like, all the time) it requires very little maintenance.
 
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