This may sound like a silly question, but how do I know if my air con is working? I have the new shape Scenic with Climate Control. Today I put it down to min temp, which appears as 15 degrees and the AC indicator comes on.
But it didn't feel as cold as I remember it was last summer. Outside it was only 11 degrees but car had been sitting in direct sunlight. Could it be that the air con was working ok, its just that there wasn't the big differential in internal / external temp that you get in the summer?
I even overrode the climate and put the fan on to full speed but although it blew cold, I don't know if it was that cold.
Is there an easy foolproof way to check?
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You could check the temperature of the air coming out of the vents, it should be about 4 - 5 degrees Celsius, but I think up to seven degrees would be OK - more experts will correct that figure if it wrong.
An infrared thermometer would give you instant reading but any thermometer will eventually get down to the valid reading.
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JohnM52 is correct. Run the fan at mid speed with engine at 1500rpm and measure temp.
It's true though,that when it isn't very warm out, it can feel 'not too cold'.
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Cant get the Tourvan to blow a perceived "icy chill" either. Cant really tell till its warm outside, but it may be a climate control thing.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Was warm inside and out today up in Bonny Scotland, and the air con is definitely not working.
My dealer says it is not covered under warranty if it is a regas or if the unit has been damaged, say by a stone chip.
He quoted me 90 odd quid for a regas and "inspection". Does this sound about right? Are independent air-con specialists cheaper? How quick a job is it, is it turn up and wait?
I have never needed this to be done before as you can tell!
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If it's a regas, then it has a leak. If the leak is caused by a stone chip, then it's down to you. If it's leak from somewhere else, then it's down to them. Where would they think the gas went to? Ha, maybe someone stole it.
But Renault won't pay for diagnosis, so in theory a regas is a diagnosis, ie you've got to have gas in there to diagnose a leak. Catch 22 really.
If I were you, I'd get them to diagnose it first, if necessary paying the money. When you and they are sure what the problem is, bearing in mind they may well have trouble finding the leak if it's not a big stone hole. If it's a warranty claim on a part, and they won't reimburse you for the recharge, simply write them a letter saying you'll take them to a small claims court in 14 days.
I only takes about an hour to do, and I would stick with the dealer as it could be a warranty issue.
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And what if it turns out the problem is caused by a loose clip allowing the pipe to chafe and then leak. Who is responsible then? Renault of course.
Tread very carefully here. To find out whats wrong with it they need to regass it (with dye) They no be able to do this but will call in a man who can. YOu want as much of this done under warranty as possible, so dont get fobbed off with excuses. Any parts changed you want to see.
Its far to easy to claim it was a "stone damage"
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Update on this so far:
Car went into Renault dealer who said that the unit was short of gas and it would be £90 or so to re-gas. I asked them why it was short of gas and they said "sometimes they do this through lack of use" blah blah. I told them I would take it elsewhere to get re-gassed.
Took it to an air con place today and immediately he was confused as to why compressor wasn't coming on. Even if short on gas, it should still come on unless there are switches to prevent this. Anyway , he topped gas up (was at 560 and should be 750g) but this made no difference, the compressor still wasn't coming on. He said this could be due to a number of things, faulty switch, fuse or something more electrical linked to ECU etc. He said on some cars he has seen a totally unrelated fault logging on the ECU which meant that the car shut down non - essential items like the compressor. I don't think he was trying to palm me off with excuses, he worked on it for an hour and refused to take any money as he hadn't got it going (although I did force him to take some eventually)
So its back to Renault tomorrow. Any advice on what I should be looking for here (other than to get the blinkin thing fixed!) I think when it first went into the dealer, they have just assumed that the lack of gas has caused the problem without actually checking whether the compressor was physically coming on! Obviously at the end of the day, I want this fixed under warranty as car is less than 2 years old!
Also the air con guy reckoned the pressure on the vents would suggest that the pollen filter hadn't been changed, although this should have been done as part of the last service. Anyone know where it is on a Scenic II and how to check it?
To make matters worse, the dealer is the same one that I had the run in with regarding the astonomical price for a set of wipers! But there aren't any others nearby!
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Well, I'm not expert on Renaults (thank God) but from what I remember of them I think you'll find that there's an ECU, and a triple-pressure switch to control the electromagnetic clutch and under-bonnet fans.
When you switch the A/C on the fan should come on low speed and the clutch engage. If the fan doesn't come on then you have a fault 'upstream' of the clutch - i.e. ECU failure or triple-pressure switch faulty. If the fan *does* come on then it sounds like the electromagnetic clutch is faulty. Renaults suffer from very ropey electrics (IMHO) so the dealer might need a day or two to fault-find this.
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Aprilia, don't know if this is what you mean but the fan does come on blowing hot / coldish air. However, I don't get COLD air which I believe is due to the air-con compressor not coming on.
Or if this isn't what you are meaning I apologise?
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I mean the fan that cools the condensor - i.e. the big fan at the front of the car, under the bonnet.
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He means that the Radiator fans should come on. Any time the air con is running (compressor engaged) the Radiator fans(s) normally come on at high speed to draw air over the evaporater.
Renault compressors come on with a distinct "clunk" and a slight momentary drop in revs.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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>>fans(s) normally come on at high speed to draw air over the evaporater.
[Pedant mode on]
I think you mean that the large fans at the front of the engine bay switch on to draw air to cool the condensor. The evaporator runs quite cool naturally.
[Pedant mode off] - thankfully!
You're always technically safe, albeit a little vague, if you call every radiator, cooler, matrix, evaporator, or condensor a heat exchanger!
Number_Cruncher
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Ok Ok OK CON DEN SOR
Jeez!
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Jeez!
I just knew I wasn't going to get away with that particular piece of technical pedantry!
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"Well I'm not an expert on Renault(thank God)"
Aprilia just think of the money you could earn if you were and of course you would one amongst millions unique in fact.
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Car now booked in for Monday morning. At the same time they will replace the pollen filter as it wasn't done at the 18,000 mile service even though the service book says that it should be!!
I will let you know what excuses they come up with this time for trying to make me pay for the air conditioning!
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The dealer I use always ask me if I want the pollen filter changed. Unless you do a lot of urban driving, it rarely needs doing at 18K.
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Aprilia, they don't use triple pressure switches any more. It's all gone the way of everything else with either pressure transducers or temperature transducers (pressure and temperature are always related). So of course, they can't be jumped any more, and you need a scope to see what the output is. But no-one will tell you what the output should be for a given temp/pressure, Ha, so even if you have a scope, it's no use.
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Hmm.. I remember looking at a fairly recent (post 2002-) Scenic that had a triple-pressure switch. When did they change then?
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Car went in on the Monday and they spent all day stripping bits, inc removing the dash etc down but couldn't find the problem.
Car then got booked in for another day (Friday) and they have now diagnosed it needs a "switch" which is now on order. It will then go back in again to get this done! The car got returned to me with the radio on the "CODE" function and 2 of the electric windows not working!
I hate Renault dealers! This will be its 4th day in to try and get the air con fixed. The first time, it said that because it was short of gas, then this was the reason for it not working but when I took it to the air-con specialist to get the gas filled, he immediately said the compressor wasn't coming on at all!
Once this latest warranty claim gets sorted I will try a new dealer even though it inconveniences me.
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Just an update for this thread - car went into dealer today and air con was fixed. Don't know which of your educated guesses the problem was, they have said
"found no operation of air con and no operation of compressor clutch. One fault stored. Carried out wiring test between UCH and sensor. All okay. Traced fault to internal short inside switch. Replace switch and regas.
Many thanks for all your help and suggestions.
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And is the sunroof fixed?
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Well in true style for my dealer, they forgot to look at it! When I asked them if they had, they said sorry it doesnt appear to have been done.
Have you had the modification done?
What Modification replied I.
So apparently there is a known problem and hopefully known cure. I asked them if it was also normal for the sunroof to judder as it closed over and they said no. It has shuddered like this since the day I got it, I assumed it was normal!
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I suggest you find another dealer.
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