Bloody Air-Con!

[canfordcliffs]

New 172 (well one month old now)....this morning after my drive to work (15 mins) my air-con/CC had failed to demist my windows....have already taken it back once to get re-gassed but seems now weak at best...if not non-existent.

How do you know if your air-con is working or not?

How long does it take you to demist your windows?

 

[D-CUP]

I dont think you need gas to demist the windows. Are you sure youre pressing the right button?

 

[canfordcliffs]

Having the air-con on should de-mist all interior windows in seconds so my work colleague tells me.....in my previous Clio dci it worked very well...especially if it was raining outside...but with the CC in this 172 it just seems pants...will take it back in to the dealer anyway :-(

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

I dont think the Clios have CC do they? Mine doesnt, it just has air con. Air con wont heat BTW, but CC will. My colleagues laguna has CC and demists in no time.

Not quite the same in my clio. Its even worse because its a diesel do takes ages to warm up.

 

[KDF]

If you do have CC like the 172s then just press that oh so famous "Demist Button" the air conditiner unit acts like a dehumidifier wipping the moisture out the air.

Thats why if you have your air-con on a long drive then get out and come back later your windows steam up really quickly (cause your re-introducing a lot of humidity)

 

[canfordcliffs]

Yeah I hit the demist button once I saw the windows starting to steam up, it very slowly started to clear the mist on the front screen, after 10 minutes of driving half the screen was clear, I was having to duck down to look through the clear bit , must have looked like a dwarf driving or something.

 

[RobFenn]

What ones the demist one? I just press the button on the right which blasts air..that it?

My car steams up all the time...very annoying..

-Rob

 

[D-CUP]

I press the demist button but I dont have the AC switched on. It clears it pretty quick.

 

[KDF]

Er, The demist button switches the aircon on.

canfordcliffs, sounds like you still have a problem with your aircon. It has never taken longer than 15 seconds to clear my windscreen when using the demist button.

Rob, yes its the button top right of the CC panel.

 

[D-CUP]

What was the temp reading yo had the CC set at when you pressed the demist button?

 

[canfordcliffs]

22....I have heard it works better cold than hot?...but the whole point of air con is that it takes the moisture out of the air, even makes my contact lenses uncomfortable when it worked in the old Clio!....so I dont think temp should matter...it should get rid of misting if the temp is high or low.

 

[RobFenn]

Yeah is there an ideal temp to keep it at for demisting? maybe i need a physics lesson!

 

[chris_leic172]

The Climate Control on my 172 was playing up in that selecting the various air outlet buttons was not redirecting the air flow, may be worth trying out. The fix on mine was to fit a new Climate control computer.

 

[Mondial172]

Quote: Originally posted by mike8579 on 27 November 2003


I dont think the Clios have CC do they? Mine doesnt, it just has air con. Air con wont heat BTW, but CC will. My colleagues laguna has CC and demists in no time.

Not quite the same in my clio. Its even worse because its a diesel do takes ages to warm up.

Yeah the 172 mk2 does and it was an option on the CUP during 2003. THink CC is an option on most of the range isnt it.

 

[D-CUP]

15 minutes might not have been long enough to heat up. It was pretty cold this morning.

 

[RobFenn]

You dont have air con mike its just a normal heater isnt it? Or is that a seperate option? I have Climate as an option.

-Rob

 

[Pete]

Should be pretty good, my 172 is about 1 month old aswell, all iced up this morning, put the cc on to clear the window went inside to get the scraper (45 seconds) and it had melted the ice already.

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

Mines air con Rob (dynamique +). I didnt realise they had CC on the 172/cups

 

[Mike@Rentech]

I got climate control on my 172 it works great, I press the demist button and it does its job very quickly.

Sounds like yours may be faulty, the AC system has a sensor in the pipes that will shut off the AC if the pressure of the gas in the pipes drops to low.
An easy test to do is to open your bonnet, start the car up and turn the AC on, then have a listen under the bonnet , you should hear the cooling fan cutting in and out every few seconds and also you may notice a click as well(This is the AC compressor running).

If you dont hear anything then you may have lost the gas again. The most common cause of this is usually a stone in the AC condensor rad, have a look at the botton part of your front bumper, you will see a it then, then get a light and check for a stone stuck in it.


If you have a stone then you will need a new condensor rad and a regas.

 

[JAY172]

make sure your dealer puts tracer dye in the gas so if it leaks again they will be able to find out where its leaking from.every normal 172 mk2 i have seen has got climate control.the aircon dries the air so will clear the windscreen a lot quicker than just having normal heating.If you can get hold of a tempurature probe then put it in your centre dash vents,direct the air to the centre vents and put the blower fan/aircon on full.most aircon systems get down to 10c or below.you can get tempurature probes for use with multimeters.

 

[JonC]

I think the A/C doesnt work when its very cold. Since A/C makes cold air, it wont activate since its already bringing cold air from outside even though the A/C light is lit.

 

[spirez]

so will normal A/C clear my windows quicker if i switch it on from a cold start, setting it at full heat? its on a dynamique not a 172 and im not aware of a de-mist button

 

[The Big Yin]

Agree with JonC a/c will not work if the ambient temp is low

I get a funny smell when i put my a/c on like rotten eggs been back twice but they cant smell it may have to take it back again anyone had this problem?

 

[clio__chris]

if uve got the same sort as me then there is 3 knobs and 2 buttons? ones got A/C and the other has arrows going in a circle

my car steams up all the time - the blowers slowly de-mist it but not all that great!

 

[Turkish]

Quote: Originally posted by pooch92 on 27 November 2003


Agree with JonC a/c will not work if the ambient temp is low

I get a funny smell when i put my a/c on like rotten eggs been back twice but they cant smell it may have to take it back again anyone had this problem?


that will be bacteria in the airbox caused by moisture in it going stagnant, you can get airsept as it is sometimes called from either renault not sure of the price or from an air con specialist it comes in aerosol can with a long plastic nozzle which you poke into the air vents and spray, its an antibacterial spray some types have a slight fragrance to them so it doesnt smell like a hospital when you turn your heater on, get yourself a tin and youll get rid of the smell no problems

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

Spirez, normal air-con will not heat the air, it only cools it, so wont clear your screen. (well actually cold air clears the screen just as well in some situations)

Only the CC equipped cars can heat the air and dry it out, which is why they must have a de-mist button.

 

[threegrandtofix]

the CC works a dream, i never have the auto button on, just have one bar on the 17 setting, un-less its the summer, when i have the windows open or cold as booming out, i like it cold if you are wondering. yeah the top right buttom makes a lot of noise, but works a dream.

 

[KDF]

why never on auto ? i just leave it on 20-22 degrees on auto and never have to adjust it.

 

[Monkey636]

RIGHT! to get the aircon on permanently whilst on auto you need to be on auto, then press demist, then auto, then demist, then auto, and the aircon light should stay on for the journey.

I suppose this tells the computer that you definately need it on!!

 

[Monkey636]

whilst on auto you need to be on auto sorry about that, I confuse myself sometimes!