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Air con regassed but not icy cold.

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Old 19 April 2018, 08:00 PM
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the shreksta
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Default Air con regassed but not icy cold.

So I took my Hawkeye to the local ats for an aircon regas and anti-bacterial clean, they checked for leaks and filled it up and it seemed fine.

I had it on full whack today and it just didn't seem icy cold. Other than having no gas ( which it does have) what else could cause it to not freeze my ******* off?
Old 19 April 2018, 08:19 PM
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madwrx
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stupid question but you did have recircualate on? without it its just hot air your pulling in and adding a bit of cool air. mine takes ages to cool the interior down if its been cooking in the sun. then i have to keep turning it off as too cold lol
Old 19 April 2018, 08:40 PM
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the shreksta
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Originally Posted by madwrx
stupid question but you did have recircualate on? without it its just hot air your pulling in and adding a bit of cool air. mine takes ages to cool the interior down if its been cooking in the sun. then i have to keep turning it off as too cold lol
No I didn't have that on, I will re-try tomorrow.
Old 19 April 2018, 08:44 PM
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merlin24
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Was the pollen filter checked ?
Old 19 April 2018, 08:49 PM
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the shreksta
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Originally Posted by merlin24
Was the pollen filter checked ?
Don't think so
Old 19 April 2018, 09:19 PM
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jazzyjembreaze
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Without a clean pollen filter re circ won’t function correct .pull the glove box out & take the pollen filter out of the white plastic rectangle slot
Old 19 April 2018, 11:40 PM
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Reminds me to change mine.
Old 20 April 2018, 12:02 AM
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Croney
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My air con is off but think i might need a new condencer and seals. Judging from my soft rad that I just replaced and hopefully not a HG issue aswell (coolant loss)
Old 20 April 2018, 12:22 PM
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Is the compressor triggering - do you actually have working AC? I had my Bug re-gassed and the levels turned out to be very low.

Worked great for a few days and then stopped. The increased pressure of a full re-gas had basically been too much for the old seals. The Compressor has a low level sensor which stops it working if insufficient gas pressure - this can easily be bridged with a paper clip to determine whether you have a gas or compressor fault.
Old 20 April 2018, 04:49 PM
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the shreksta
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Originally Posted by TECHNOPUG
Is the compressor triggering - do you actually have working AC? I had my Bug re-gassed and the levels turned out to be very low.

Worked great for a few days and then stopped. The increased pressure of a full re-gas had basically been too much for the old seals. The Compressor has a low level sensor which stops it working if insufficient gas pressure - this can easily be bridged with a paper clip to determine whether you have a gas or compressor fault.
it is cold just not really cold, I will change my cabin filter and try it with the recirculate button pressed and report back.

when the aircon is activated the engine revs increase slightly if that means anything
Old 20 April 2018, 06:25 PM
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Hawkeye D
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I think it's because on Hawks the a/c only works in such short blasts of 4 to 5 seconds.
Pull the bonnet up and you'll see / hear the a/c fan and pulley clutch clicking on and off.



I'm sure my Blob didn't do this, I think it's a Hawk thing.

It's some rubbish to do with emissions. I don't know how to keep my a/c compressor running all the time. Worst a/c I 've ever had in that respect, it's so annoying.


My air is cold, just the blasts are way too short......for me anyway. Always been like it, even after a full re-gas 6 years ago, and another re-gas a few months back.
It certainly takes the edge of the heat in the cabin, but no way a fridge like my 54 plate Passat....no way near.


My Hawk is the same : when the aircon is activated the engine revs increase slightly if that means anything
It's just the drive by wire throttle compensating for extra load on an aux belt that's all.


I suspect your a/c is working fine, it's just silly short blasts of cold air. I could be wrong, but that's how mine has always been.

Last edited by Hawkeye D; 20 April 2018 at 06:54 PM.
Old 20 April 2018, 06:44 PM
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just been out in it and its certainly a lot colder with the recirc button pressed in.
Old 20 April 2018, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Hawkeye D
I think it's because on Hawks the a/c only works in such short blasts of 3 to 4 seconds.
Pull the bonnet up and you'll see / hear the a/c fan and pulley clutch clicking on and off.


It's some rubbish to do with emissions. I don't know how to keep my a/c compressor running all the time. Worst a/c I 've ever had in that respect, it's so annoying.


My air is cold, just the blasts are way too short......for me anyway. Always been like it, even after a full re-gas 6 years ago, and another re-gas a few months back.


My Hawk is the same : when the aircon is activated the engine revs increase slightly if that means anything
yeah ive kinda noticed that aswell, its almost like somebody is switching it on and off
Old 20 April 2018, 07:07 PM
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Could be slightly over-gassed. This results in this symptom as the compressor cuts out prematurely.

Or, it is leaking, despite the 'leak test', as low gas also gives poor cooling. If it is leaking it will get worse to point it stops working again. Look for oily patches on the condenser, as that usually goes porous and suffers a tiny-pinhole. Especially if the car is used in winter on salted roads (saltwater eats aluminium for breakfast).


Recirc always gives better cooling in hot weather.

Last edited by ALi-B; 20 April 2018 at 07:08 PM.
Old 20 April 2018, 11:30 PM
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My 2004 jdm legacy is icy cold.
best air con I've had .
Old 05 May 2018, 01:50 PM
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EddieMunster
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Originally Posted by Hawkeye D
I'm sure my Blob didn't do this, I think it's a Hawk thing.

It's some rubbish to do with emissions. I don't know how to keep my a/c compressor running all the time. Worst a/c I 've ever had in that respect, it's so annoying.
My Newage does the same thing: the compressor is linked to engine speed by the looks of it, on idle the compressor is off and you'll get warm air. Once it's moving, I get various blasts of cold air, down to about 10 degrees, so I know the system and compressor is working properly, but clearly it has been designed this way. Put it on re-circ and it's cooler when idle, but still not ice-cold.

It's a ****-poor design if that is the case, but having had my mate look at it (an AC specialist), he said it's very common for older cars/compressors to have this "feature"!!
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