Air con problems

[__spc__]

Hi,

I've had my car from new (4yrs ago last December). In the third year of ownership, I noticed that the air con wasn't getting as cold as it should. During one of the several visits to the service department, I had this checked over and was told that it was cooling just fine. Ho-hum. (And since that time I've never really been convinced that this was the case...)

Still unhappy, I was told on a further visit to the dealer that the air con system needed re-gassing (because I hadn't used the system during the winter months blah blah).... so I parted with £100 for the pleasure of a re-gassing, and maybe if I convinced myself enough, the air con was now cooling a little better. Maybe...

I then got to thinking that sometimes the air con cooled, and that sometimes it didn't, and I almost got to proving that if the fan was set to zero, THEN the air con button was pressed (and the little orange light comes on), then the air con cooled; if the fan was running and the air con pushed on, it didn't cool. This was never a 100% correlation, so I gave up trying to convince myself of this being a repeatable demonstration of the air con problem....

These days, pushing the air con button seems to do nothing (apart from illuminate the little orange light)!

What can be the problem - I really want to go and see my new dealer (I've moved house) and have this sorted...

[robznet]

Hi there - simple question, do you hear a click/clunk when you press ths ac button? (you may have to open your window to try this). If no sound is present it may indicate that the pump is not cutting in.

Rob

[__spc__]

Thanks Rob,

I don't recall hearing anything, but I will check tomorrow. How much is a new pump do you know, or can they be fixed, or is there possibly some other reason why the pump might not be cutting on?

Cheers - Steven.

[robznet]

Hi Steven

I personally don't have a clue on price etc, but I'm sure someone on here will have had a replacement at some time. BTW - I said pump, it will be a compressor I think! Anyway listen for the sound I mentioned, if there is no click further investigation is required!

Rob

[__spc__]

My mistake yes, compressor.

Listened out for the sound tonight - absolutely silent. The orange light comes on, but nothing else happens...

[robznet]

In that case - I would say it isn't working! Have a search on the forums - I'm sure I have seen the same problem posted somewhere, can't remember what the solution was but well worth your while having a look. Sorry I (personally) can't help you more but you can be sure that someone on here will notice your post eventually!

Rob

[rencar12]

You may have the same problem I "still" have with my 2006 Grand Scenic with Climate Control. I know there are other reasons that your air con may be playing up, but its worth a comment.

After the injection computer recall last year, my air conditioning has packed up about 4 times. The air con comes on, but no click of the compressor. Each time the Renault dealer clears the fault code (df1070) and it works again. It is booked in again to be kick started.

My original posting on this forum is at:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5951&hilit=climate+control

There is still no official fix from Renault, other than taking it in to have the code cleared.

I managed to get to see the official word on this and someone on another forum commented it. The workaround doesn't entirely work, which is to leave the system on fan speeds below 4 or in Auto (for climate control):

The injection computer monitors the power consumed by the A/C compressor (in kw) and when it reaches a certain point, the computer believes the compressor is siezing and shuts it down (hence the df1070), this is a safety measure to prevent belt damage and an immobilising breakdown, this is a software problem introduced to the computer when reprogrammed and i believe Renault are working on a fix, they do advise in the meantime that the compressor is not loaded too much, i.e. keep the blower on 3 or lower, this should prevent the fault code recurring, (should).

[__spc__]

Thanks for that info.

Summer's approaching, so I'm going to have to book it into my dealer to try and get this sorted. However, the last two days I tried the A?C, it seemed to work perfectly (though still no audible click of the compressor).

Hmmmmm.

[AlexB]

I can hardly hear this click (manual control system), but it must exist by the logic of things. The aircon works fine.

One can find the algorithm of its control here:
https://meganedoksi.uw.hu/MEGANE_II/MR364MEGANE1.PDF

It is different for different engines.

[rencar12]

I got fed up with the situation and contacted another Renault garage. They said they'd had 2 or 3 cars in today with exactly this problem. The only solution was to leave the system in Auto and avoid blower positions over 3 (difficult on the Auto system!).

Anyway, rang Renault UK Customer Services and they were very helpful. They knew about it and could see my car was affected. The lady I spoke to said that a fix has now been released on the 28th April 2008 and dealers may need to check the Renault technical system to get the details - this is meant to finally deal with the issue.

In the meantime, she logged the details and gave me a reference number to give the Dealer if I get the brush off about an actual fix.

Hope this helps.

[rencar12]

Following a different software update applied 3 weeks ago, the climate control (a/c) once again failed.

On advice from Renault, they then called in Renault Technical people who visited the dealer and dealt with my car this week. They apparently are travelling across the country to sort this particular issue out.

All is now well after they completely replaced the air conditioning compressor and recoded the computer. The car was out of action for a day.

The air conditioning had been out of action (on and off) for around 8 months following the injection computer recall last year. Only time will tell if this problem reoccurs, but lets hope not!

[__spc__]

Well, after thinking my air-con doesn't work, it does! Very cold it is too.

Shame it doesn't work all the time! I can only imagine that it is a faulty switch somewhere in the process...

[terry_mccann]

I also had this problem that the aircon occasionally did not work. my dealer checked it and found that the magnetic switchthat connects the compressor has hung from time to time. they cleaned it and put some WD40 on it and up to now everything's fine....