Talking to a friend yesterday who has a Toyota Estate about 40 months old (24 in his possession) and he happened to mention that he has not used the air conditioning on the vehicle AT ALL. Not having had the luxury of such a goodie (and really don't want it in future) I am aware that through this site he will encounter problems when he switches it on.
Please enumerate them for me.
Thanks
DVD
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Actually, I think there might be a chance it will be OK if truly not used at all. After all, fridge & freezers sit in warehouses for months/years and nobody runs them up for an hour once a week.
Unless I've missed something.
PS Your comment in another thread (forgotten which one) - sending Mark 200 fags a month might help, but mainly bracket the command with < and > on this site.
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Please enumerate them for me.
I thought HJ already had ;o)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14
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Cars have rubber seals and hoses, most notably the shaft seal on the compressor, whereas fridges etc. have copper pipes, brazed joints and hermetically sealed compressors.
Having said that, I can't remember ever seeing a leak I could attribute to seals drying out from lack of use. O rings virtually never leak if they're fitted properly, but quite often corrosion creeps under the O ring causing a leak. Or corrosion creeps along the compressor shaft causing the same. More often than not, when a compressor shaft seal is leaking it turns out that the seal looks ok but the shaft is worn. ALso, I have boxes and boxes of model specific O rings kits, and despite some of them being in my toolbox for many years, none have shrivelled.
You mate will be OK having never used the a/c.
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Cars have rubber seals and hoses, most notably the shaft seal on the compressor, whereas fridges etc. have copper pipes, brazed joints and hermetically sealed compressors. Having said that, I can't remember ever seeing a leak I could attribute to seals drying out from lack of use. O rings virtually never leak if they're fitted properly, but quite often corrosion creeps under the O ring causing a leak. Or corrosion creeps along the compressor shaft causing the same. More often than not, when a compressor shaft seal is leaking it turns out that the seal looks ok but the shaft is worn. ALso, I have boxes and boxes of model specific O rings kits, and despite some of them being in my toolbox for many years, none have shrivelled. You mate will be OK having never used the a/c.
An interesting reply Dave N.
The air-con 'expert' at my friends' garage told me the same. They have an air-con 'bay' which he runs and they always seem to be busy. He told me that he's never seen an a/c system that's failed through lack of use and that its a myth that lack of use kills the system. Apparently the nearest thing to it he's seen was on an old Ford Ka (about 5-6 years old) where there was a wiring fault from new. The elderly lady owner didn't realise and so the air-con had NEVER been used from new. The clutch assembly was siezed, but he managed to free it up and then the system worked OK!
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There are many myths concerning A/C. e.g. lack of use kills them, they need to be "serviced" regularly, etc.
From my experience, the main problems with A/C in cars are poor quality components, poor design or caused by garages messing about with them ("servicing") If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Fortunately for you, Toyota cars are some of the most reliable around and that includes their a/c systems!
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Thanks gentlemen - your tops (but you already knew that..)
Me still think dfg dfgsdf sdfgdtr cannot be beaten for sweet air.....
DVD
I\'m not that far asleep ! Mark.
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Bad design is a big problem with Peugeot a/c systems.
The alloy a/c pipes are held in place by a series of rubber lined clips - the corrosion that happens around these clips is the #1 cause of a/c malfunction on 306's.
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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I have boxes and boxes of model specific O rings kits, and despite some of them being in my toolbox for many years, none have shrivelled.
Dave are you actually an air-con engineer? I am looking for someone who can fix my Toyota Camry's air-con. The dealers all make very heavy weather of the fact that, as a 1992 model, it uses the eco-hostile R12 gas. They say they can't do a thing with it.
I actually found a thread on a US Toyota enthusiasts' site suggesting a likely diagnosis:
Q: My 92 Camry A/C system keeps losing it's freon and will not cool, the dealer cannot find a leak?
A: Toyota had a problem with the Expansion valve in these models and most likely the cause is in this part. It is almost impossible to find this leak with a leak detector. There is a campaign for the expansion valve for 92-93 Camry, Previa, Truck, 4Runner, Supra and Land Cruiser (although most have been completed). The other cause is the front seal for the A/C compressor. This only leaks when the compressor is turning and "blows away" the leaking freon, the seal is not difficult to change.
I have discovered that the compressor unit is made by Dentsu, so I would have thought these parts, even as old as they are, would be readily available? Sometimes it seems to me that garages just don't work the problem hard enough.
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