[shovett]

Hello all,

I just read everyones glowing reports of their Tourer aircon...made me happy and sad, as that is why I am here. Sad because mine is rubbish anad happy that everone elses is good..so must be something that can be fixed..right?

My i30 is about 14 months old, and I find the aircon terrible. Today being 29 in Sydney I have to put the fan at three and keep it there to feel cold air at all, with the knob on the far end of blue. If I have it at one or two the car warms up quickly, especially with all the family in it.

I did mention it at a service a while back, but they reported back it was operating as normal. I think they thought I was just moaning. Our previous '94 Corolla had far better aircon., which you had to turn down.

Is there anything I can check or do to prove its not me as I would expect it to be nice cold air.

Thanks for your time.

[TheReaper]

Might need to check for a freon leak. Has it been getting worse slowly or just stayed the same?

[TheReaper]

It could not have been filled completely as well

[cruiserfied]

Take a temperature reading

[shovett]

Hello..its always been the same...I just thought that was normal. But if Hyundai say its okay I feel a bit stuck.

[shovett]

what temp should I see coming from the vents...I am looking a gauge now on ebay.

Typically when a aircon doesn't get down to cold temperatures its usually because there is to much refrigerant in the system and the evaporator cannot function correctly, hence if there is to little refrigerant the system will over perform and start to freeze up.

You can also get different reactions occur if air was not evacuated from the system properly before the refrigerant was added.

Best way to test at home is to have the engine running - aircon on full cold with the bonnet open and you should be getting icy cold sweat beads forming on the pipes connected to the compressor and condensation should also drip from the evaporator hose beneath the car, if not there is a problem.

[Phil №❶]

I've had my i30 for about 15 months now and I'm still yet to use the aircon, we've had no hot weather might get a chance tomorrow though as it's supposed to be 36

Recommend you use the air cond weekly for at least 5 minutes. There are internal seals which need to be kept lubricated, which happens when used. If it's cold you can run your heater at the same time to keep comfortable.

I run ours as we roll down the hills into the city. The speed limit has been reduced from 100 to 90, so the air cond acts as a brake and doesn't affect fuel consumption.

[shovett]

thank you for the reply. I will run that test and see. I notice that it goes from blowing what seems like cold air to then blowing cool air, but never what I would expect and it nevers makes the car cold..my wife has never said turn it down it's too cold..

We do use the aircon a lot in our car as we have two young kids, and the car is used daily. Its either on warm or cold.

[Phil №❶]

Might need to check for a freon leak. Has it been getting worse slowly or just stayed the same?

Freon 

Stopped using that stuff in the 70's due to Ozone depletion, it's  R134-A now. 

I've had my i30 for about 15 months now and I'm still yet to use the aircon, we've had no hot weather might get a chance tomorrow though as it's supposed to be 36

Recommend you use the air cond weekly for at least 5 minutes. There are internal seals which need to be kept lubricated, which happens when used. If it's cold you can run your heater at the same time to keep comfortable.

I run ours as we roll down the hills into the city. The speed limit has been reduced from 100 to 90, so the air cond acts as a brake and doesn't affect fuel consumption.

Yeah it does regularly get run on a fortnightly basis for 10 minutes, I just haven't had to use it for cooling reasons

[Phil №❶]

Good 

[Surferdude]

I'd take it to an aircon specialist and ask their advice.

Might need to check for a freon leak. Has it been getting worse slowly or just stayed the same?

Freon 

Stopped using that stuff in the 70's due to Ozone depletion, it's  R134-A now. 

From memory it was R-22 that was the last refrigerant to contain HCFC's and we stopped installing those aircons around 1995 in Australia, I could be out a few years there but was roughly around that time.

Edited: actually it must have been around 2003 was the last R-22 system I installed and cars were banned from using R-12 in 1995.

[TheReaper]

Edit: Ozone safe freon

Edit: Ozone safe freon

Correct they now use Tetrafluoroethane instead of dichlorodifluoromethane.

[Phil №❶]

Not quite as good as a refrigerant and operates under high pressure too I believe, but the Ozone layer is very important.

Not quite as good as a refrigerant and operates under high pressure too I believe, but the Ozone layer is very important.

Yes the R-134a is a much higher pressure, I finished up doing aircons when the 134's were being introduced so I never had to re-tool.

I think the life span of the R-12 and R-22 was about 120 years in the atmosphere before breaking down so we still have many years to go before it's rid from our airspace, I can remember some discussions where there were hundreds of thousands of barrels of refrigerant on shipping docks somewhere and someone needed the barrels so they popped the lids of on all the barrels to evaporate the gas out so they could be used elswhere glad this doesn't happen anymore but the damage has been done unfortunately

[Phil №❶]

Fortunately, lightning creates Ozone.

[eye30]

I have found a big difference between the fd and gd air con.

The fd was loads better.

I find the gd does not cool the car down as much and was told it is due to the type of refrigerant they use in the gd which is to do with environmental thingy..

Can't recall name but was discussed on here a long time ago.

[The Gonz]

I run ours as we roll down the hills into the city. The speed limit has been reduced from 100 to 90, so the air cond acts as a brake and doesn't affect fuel consumption.

I like your thinking, Phil.

[The Gonz]

Fortunately, lightning creates Ozone.

So does office equipment.

[cruiserfied]

A good system will read, at the vents, below 10*c sitting in the driveway and cycle between 5-9*c cruising with the airflow through the condenser.

Your dealer should have a licensed a/c operator (if not they are operating illegally if doing a/c work) get them to check the pressures of the high and low to see what the readings are.

Take your new thermometer with you and test one on the lot to compare with yours.

[Phil №❶]

The service manual says FD 500g of R-134A

GD can have the same as FD OR R-1234yf  (whatever that is). I'm guessing R-1234yf is not as efficient.

[Asterix]

Some info about R-1234yf

Latest Refrigerant 1234yf for Car Air Conditioning and Climate Control in Kent UK Auto Aircon

[Phil №❶]

The EU are a bunch no hopers IMO. 

[TheReaper]

My GD has been my coldest car yet.

[shovett]

thanks for the replies.I am waiting for the temperature gauge to arrive, and then I will test it out uisng the gauge. Its designed for that purpose so can't be argued with.

today..25 in Sydney..aircon on one, full cold temp, and it just wasn't cold in the car at all after 40 minutes of city driving.

[shovett]

Hello all,

I thought I would update the post. I got the gauge and with the cooling on max and the fan at max I get a temperture of 50f (10c) from the centre vent.

I think this is too warm, only 26 in Sydney today and it still wont cool the car down.

[Phil №❶]

The fact that you are getting 10 Deg C only proves that the air conditioner is regulating itself ok. A 26 Deg day is not overly hot so the AC will not work too hard to bring down the temp. If the car was left in sunshine and AC run with windows up, that would work the AC a lot harder and then a measurement should be taken at the vent to see what it is capable of producing.

If it was 0 Deg on a 26 Deg day, you could complain that it is too cold.