How Do You Test A/c Working In Winter.

[neiluk]

Hello all,

I have read a lot on this Forum about the importance of testing the air conditioning of Galaxy's before buying as it has a habbit of breaking down. Having never used air conditioning before I was wondering how do you test if it is working in cold weather? If the fan is normally blowing cold air and you switch on the A/C, i'm guessing it would still just blow cold air (I'm assuming there's a minimum temperature that the A/C can be set to in the car eg 16C). This wouldn't show if the system is capable of cooling the car down in Hot weather. How do I test for this please.

 

Thanks,

 

Neil.

[mumble_bee]

hi neil welcome to the board..

 

my guess would be to see how much faster it dissipates condensation, I assume when aircon is on the air coming out is dry, just a guess...

 

altho its always a good idea to pretend you dropped your pen under the passenger seat, so you can feel the carpet in the passenger footwell... :lol:

[gregers]

altho its always a good idea to pretend you dropped your pen under the passenger seat, so you can feel the carpet in the passenger footwell... ohmy.gif

 

why pretend,if its your hard earned dough,then do it in front of the dealer,lets them think you might know what your doing :)

[scrote]

The air con coolant is pumped through the system by a pully which runs off the belt (on the left side of the engine on a tdi) The pully is idle until you press the air con button.

 

Start the car without air con and look down the side of the engine - you may need a torch - you will see the idle pully. Then turn the air con on - you may well feel a slight change in revs - and the pully should be revolving. This will show you the air con is ok as if there is a problem anywhere in the system it will not rotate.

 

This test MUST be done when the air temp is at leat 6 degrees as the air con will not operate below these temperatures.

 

Good luck

[Dave-G]

The air con coolant is pumped through the system by a pully which runs off the belt (on the left side of the engine on a tdi) The pully is idle until you press the air con button.

 

Start the car without air con and look down the side of the engine - you may need a torch - you will see the idle pully. Then turn the air con on - you may well feel a slight change in revs - and the pully should be revolving. This will show you the air con is ok as if there is a problem anywhere in the system it will not rotate.

 

This test MUST be done when the air temp is at leat 6 degrees as the air con will not operate below these temperatures.

 

Good luck

 

I don't think that proves a no fault AC. There could be a leak in a few pipes. mine is currently in a Ford dealers for a replacement pipes and a cannister of some sort in the off side wing below the lights. They have jusr called to say that has been replaced - but when they refilled they found another split pipe :)

 

My AC clutch was engaging prior to this.

[Biscuit]

Hi Neil

the best way to the air con is if the outside temp is above

6 degrees C turn the air con on and go under the bonnet and hold

the two pipes that are connected to the condenser.

one should be warm and the other should be ice cold if this is the case hey presto! air con working

hope this helps

[davec]

run mine every month and last month it actually came out warm took it in under warranty and they found a leak,fixed and refilled under warranty.I put mine on recirculate so you can tell the difference,as it would recirculate warm air from the cabin.

[neiluk]

Thank you very much all. I would never have thought of some of those! I will try out your suggestions as soon as I find the right car :-)

 

Neil.

[TWJ]

Thank you very much all. I would never have thought of some of those! I will try out your suggestions as soon as I find the right car :-)

 

Neil.

 

This reply may be a little late, but I don't think you can properly test the a/c in cold weather. Sure you can check that it kicks in, but the only real test is to buy a stick-on thermometer from Halfords and attach it to one of the vents, then compare the temp of the air leaving the vent to the outside air temp. In my MkII the difference was only about 2 degrees, so I took the car in to get it looked at. Ford replaced some large and expensive component (thankfully under warranty!) and after that a typical temp reading would be as low as 7C when the outside temp (July) was 25C, an 18 degree drop! Obviously you are not going to get anything like this temp difference if the external air is already only 10C or less.

 

TWJ