2005 1.6 Noisy Air Conditioning - grahamw
Hi to you all,

About a minute after switching the air con on yesterday I noticed a high pitched whine/droning noise. This is louder inside the car than listening outside with or without the bonnet open. It seem to get louder with increased revs and is noticable stationary and when moving up to 40 mph where road noise drowns it out.
Up until now I would hardly notice if it was on or off.
Apart from this the air con is working well.
Could this be a warning that something like the compressor is about to fail?
The car is 10 days out of Ford warranty!

Many thanks

Regards

Graham
2005 1.6 Noisy Air Conditioning - MikeTorque
Does the noise reduce after a couple or so minutes ?
Has your Air Con been serviced ?

I've had a similar problem with my Focus II Air Con. It sounded like a bearing noise at first and then sometimes it whistled for a short time but then most of the noise reduced after a couple or so minutes. Since I had the Air Con serviced during the cars last service the noises have gone away and the Air Con runs quietly now.

Edited by MikeTorque on 23/06/2008 at 11:33

2005 1.6 Noisy Air Conditioning - grahamw
Thanks for reply Mike.
The noise does not reduce. I've run it for up to 10/15 mins.
It does sound very similar to your desciption; a kind of swishing/swirling sound similar to a dry bearing but higher pitched.
The a/c not been serviced, the car has covered 41,000, last Ford service at 37500.
My local dealer is offering a full a/c service for £69.99 inc VAT.
I will contact them for their opinion.