claudiu

Claudiu

My car is booked in with a local garage to check over my A/C system, have read most of your details about

your A/C and what you have tried etc, can you let me know did it just stop working one day? also now that the system has be re-gassed, is the aircon really cold?

Phil

Dear Phil,

The aircon works as new again since yesterday afternoon but if it fails again before the expected 5 or 6 years, then it means that a more serious leak exists which needs fixing. As regards the other question, yes, I went from having to not having an efficient air con system within a day and the specialist said this can happen when the amount of gas drops below a minimal level...Good luck!

As promised, I am feeding back to you all what happened today when the Airconditioning Specialist from Bonair arrived to fix my air con system.

He has been in business since 1986 and he told me that it could well be that my 2000 Carrera 4 has been slowly losing the gas over the years, as all cars with air con do. He measured the pressure first and told me that I have about 10-15% of gas left in the system, then he created a vacuum for about 20 minutes and subsequently refilled the system. He added a green dye so that in case the system flops again, then we would at least know which parts are cracked and replace them. Today it all cost me only £70, and I am glad that I did not go to the Porsche garage for it, but if there is a crack in the pipes or radiators at the front, then it will cost hundreds of pounds sterling to repair...

Thanks again to all of you who've helped me with advice. :thumbup:

Some of those kits have sealant in them so you need to take care. When the sealant hits moisture it forms a solid. This can seal your leak, but can also wreck your expansion valve or compressor. Systems that have been open to atmosphere have a risk of this, as compared to those that are still holding some pressure.

Thanks Paul, and also thanks to Cannonball, for the latest pieces of advice. As I am lacking the DIY skills many of the colleagues in the Forum seem to possess, I will see on Thursday what the specialist in air conditioning will have to say and...watch this space!

Good luck but I suspect he'll either stop after the pressure test (because the system deosn't hold pressure) or fill it and it will be empty again in fairly short order... If he adds dye this won't be a complete loss.

Did you do a visual inspection of the condensers at the front of the car and the pipes under the rhs?

PS Thanks Loren for the screenshots, very informative.

Thanks again. The condensers and the pipes looked ok to me (hopeless DIY mechanic, me) but a non-Porsche mechanic also could not spot a leak. I am pretty sure that the air con guy from "Bonair" will use a dye and, once identifying the area of the leak will try to solder it somehow before recharging the gas...that would cost me in the region of £100, but you might well be right and I will end up eventually spending a few hundred quid in a Porsche garage...I'll feed back after next Thursday...promise!

Checked fuses again this morning (including E7), all ok, also the compressor, that clicks into spinning as it should. A week on Thursday an air conditioning specialist will have a look at the system and hopefully fix it, most likely by filling it up with gas. Weird however that the gas could have disappeared within 8 hours, so maybe it's not that...I promise I will feed back anyway...

Looking at the engine from the rear, the compressor is the top, right pulley that the serpentine belt goes around. When the A/C is off, the center of the pulley should not be turning. When it is on, the center should be spinning. You can also check from inside the car by turning off and on the A/C. You should notice a change in idle between ON/OFF.

Thanks a lot, the feedback to follow as soon as I sort it out...

The pipes underneath the car cost about £100-110 and would probably take 2-3 hours labour. A condenser can be got for £110 each if you use Eurocarparts Leeds (they do a Porsche Club Forum discount, just ask), although you'll probably need a new receiver dryer as well, £45, and o-rings, £10. A garage/OPC will quote £150-200 for a condenser and probably another 2-3 hours labour for that -- same length of time to do both, or not more than 15 minutes more. Regas another £50-100.

But you need to find out what it is first: might be worth taking it in for a high pressure nitrogen test if the fuses/compressor check out. On both of mine I could hear the gas hissing out. Better, get them to put some dye in the system and this will show leaks under black light.

PS I believe the idle speed can change even if the compressor is not working. My aircon guy told me that the aircon switch sends a signal to the DME which increases the revs; this is independent of whether the compressor is actually working...

Thanks a lot. I'll make sure I feed back to all of you nice people once I get it fixed...have to rush to work now...at least it's not a hot day today in Chelmsford, Essex...

Before you do that you might check the fuse E7.

That would be the 5th row down from the top and 7th fuse from the left.

It should be 7.5A.

I've already checked all the relevant fuses, or at least I think I did, but I'll have another look. Thanks dear Loren.

Check to see if the compressor clicks on when the air is turned on. Have someone push the A/C button while you watch the compressor on the engine.

Thanks for this. I do not seem to hear any click, and unfortunately I do not know exactly where to ask my son to look for the compressor... I'll have to take her to a specialist...

As you live in sunny Britain (sound of rain p*ssing down in background) it is going to be one of two things I'll wager:

1. either the condensers at the front of the car have corroded (shine a light through the bumper vents into the corners and see if you can spot the tell-tale dark stain at the corner of the aircon condenser/radiator.

2. the pipes on the right hand underside of the car have corroded. See if you can see any fluid/staining on the pipes, usually at the plastic supports.

Had both these problems on my 97 Boxster and 97 996, repaired both two months ago. (Background sound of till opening, emptying and closing.)

Thanks, and how much did it cost to fix this?

Hi Porsche lovers!

Got into my lovely 2000 Carrera 4 today and noticed that the air conditioning system simply did not cool down the interior anymore, although the fan was at the max as if trying to bring the temperature down to 22 degrees. I've tried with lower temperatures as well. I've checked all the 4 fuses and, sadly, they are ok...

What do you think is wrong, please?

My guess is that the computer is right and it should still get repaired under warranty as the fault had first occured and had been witnessed by the garage staff when still in the warranty period...good luck!

What about getting another quote from a different garage?

This is the price we pay to have a different car from our neighbours...

Definitely a battery charger, they are really cheap and worthwhile having in the garage. I'm a bit surprised however that the sound alarm did not remind you to switch off the lights when you opened the door to get out of the car with the engine switched off.

In one of my previous Mercedes cars I did the mistake to recharge the freon unnecessarily only to realise that what I really needed to have done to improve the air-con system's cooling efficacy was simply to replace the clogged-up pollen-filter...

I sounds very dodgy to me, but I am no expert...

My 2000 C4 goes two or three bars down after a 1,000 mile journey and I believe this is to be expected...

Make sure however that you always check with the car in the same position and when the engine has not been started for a good while, say first thing in the morning.

Never lend your Porsche to your wife ever again...(just joking...)

I thought it might be illegal to have Xenon headlights without electronic levelling system which protects the other road-users...but I'm not sure.

Isn't that typical of any air conditioned car?

Wouln't it be nice if we could afford a brand new 911...It's too late to become a footballer but I do play the lottery twice a week...

Mine (Carrera 4 2000) smells "hot" as well, especially after a longer drive; I initially thought it was coming from the tyres, now I believe it's just normal for a 911 and it comes from the hot exhaust...

Sorry to butt in, but is it then true that owning an automatic/tiptronic Porsche means you will not face the danger of over-revving your engine?

You are real lucky in the States. Over here in England the prices are the "same", but in £ (pounds sterling) not $ for an equivalent 911...

As regards reliability, it is probably still more reliable than other super-cars, plus one can drive it to work without fear of braking down, or cause too much of a shock to the less fortunate colleagues. Moreover, you can squeeze a small child or two in the back and go on a nice holiday, overtaking quite a few cars during the very enjoyable journey...

Before threatening with legal action, I would suggest that you speak to the garage manager, if necessary his line manager, the line manager's line manager and so forth till one of them gives you satisfaction. Legal action should be the last resort...It is obvious to me that the garage and not you should pay for the fault incurred during installation. Good luck!

Whilst I admire you and many others in this forum for the courage and skill to service your own Porsche 911, I can't help thinking that going to a garage saves one a lot of stress (with the exception of the stressful moment of having to pay the bill...)

Claudiu

:renntech: