I was wondering how people in the hotter parts of the world find the air con strength of their cars? Mine blows cold but slowly loses the battle with the sun as I've got a dark colour. Would that just be another Italian build quality thing, or does it just need to be gassed?
Air Con Strength
lambertius
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I was wondering how people in the hotter parts of the world find the air con strength of their cars? Mine blows cold but slowly loses the battle with the sun as I've got a dark colour. Would that just be another Italian build quality thing, or does it just need to be gassed?
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Mine has it's moments during Atlanta's 95/35 F/C temperature. Stop and go is the worse but once i'm rolling for a bit, it is more than adequate. Not nearly as good as my other vehicles though, another Italian quirk, me thinks
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It is a closed system, so it shouldn't need to be "gassed up" unless there is a leak. If it is low on refrigerant, it won't stay cool as the outside temperature rises.
This is a helpful link for checking temperatures etc.:
https://www.waynesgarage.com/tips/more-tip/car_air_conditioning
This is a helpful link for checking temperatures etc.:
https://www.waynesgarage.com/tips/more-tip/car_air_conditioning
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I'm in QLD so its pretty hot here, my air con had a few problems when i first got my car, the compressor seized, then when i had the compressor replaced I had the loose wire conections to the fan. [dose your fan cut in and out] , I am beginning to think this is what might have killed the compressor in my car.
Every time the fan would cut out, even for only a second it disengages the clutch on the compressor for a few seconds causing the air-con to turn off for a bit.
This could be happening to you everytime you hit even a little bump in the road. One way to check if the wiring to the fan isn't a tight conection is run the air-con and fan on high for a while, reach under the passenger side of the dash the wiring to the fan is about 10 to 15cm from outer side kick pannel and runs back from the glove box towards the firewall, it's made up of 5 wires 2 thicker and 3 thinner wires, run your fingers along the wiring loom the wires go into a rubber boot, if these wires are really hot like really hot to the point you can't keep your hand there you might have a bad conection, it will be one of the thicker wires conectioning to the fan you will know which one it is it will be all melted. Don't pull anything apart there untill your sure thats it, its a real pain in the neck to get the wires conected back on the fan.
Once i fixed the loose conection the air con keeps up pretty well it's 100% better than it was. Other than that you might need a bit more gas, any good air-con guy can sort it, these cars are really easy to work on so there shouldn't be any reason for ridiculous cost for labour.
If you have poor air flow it could be a blocked pollen filter, its located under the plastic cover at base of windscreen you will need to remove windscreen wipers it get in there.
Cheers Chris.
Every time the fan would cut out, even for only a second it disengages the clutch on the compressor for a few seconds causing the air-con to turn off for a bit.
This could be happening to you everytime you hit even a little bump in the road. One way to check if the wiring to the fan isn't a tight conection is run the air-con and fan on high for a while, reach under the passenger side of the dash the wiring to the fan is about 10 to 15cm from outer side kick pannel and runs back from the glove box towards the firewall, it's made up of 5 wires 2 thicker and 3 thinner wires, run your fingers along the wiring loom the wires go into a rubber boot, if these wires are really hot like really hot to the point you can't keep your hand there you might have a bad conection, it will be one of the thicker wires conectioning to the fan you will know which one it is it will be all melted. Don't pull anything apart there untill your sure thats it, its a real pain in the neck to get the wires conected back on the fan.
Once i fixed the loose conection the air con keeps up pretty well it's 100% better than it was. Other than that you might need a bit more gas, any good air-con guy can sort it, these cars are really easy to work on so there shouldn't be any reason for ridiculous cost for labour.
If you have poor air flow it could be a blocked pollen filter, its located under the plastic cover at base of windscreen you will need to remove windscreen wipers it get in there.
Cheers Chris.
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Cheers, this sounds like it might actually be related!
The fan strength appears to very very briefly lose a bit of strength, and when it comes back on the air is a bit colder. I'll be away until the new year but I'll definitely have a play with it when I'm home!
Nothing is blocked, it does blow with a lot of force when its running, and I can feel it blowing cold air - its just like sometimes the air isn't as cold, and that it just isn't keeping up with the heat overall.
The fan strength appears to very very briefly lose a bit of strength, and when it comes back on the air is a bit colder. I'll be away until the new year but I'll definitely have a play with it when I'm home!
Nothing is blocked, it does blow with a lot of force when its running, and I can feel it blowing cold air - its just like sometimes the air isn't as cold, and that it just isn't keeping up with the heat overall.
Here in Hong Kong it can get hot n humid. Stop start traffic it's not that strong but highway it's fine. I don't get much airflow through the rear seat and front side vents, just high flow through the front middle vents. I can't expect much from a 14 year old car!
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This is the same in my car. The heater core was changed out before I got the car, Is it possible that that something wasn't put back together properly or is this normal on everyone's car. I have good airflow to center vents and windscreen, Poor airflow to the rear and footwell vents and almost nothing at all from the side vents.
Chris.
Chris.
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That one I'm willing to bet is a design issue - Normally when you're designing a HVAC system you would restrict the diameter on early outlets and narrow the supply pipes as they extend to maintain velocity. The placement of the centre vents and their size pretty much means all the flow would just come out of those. Plus, a blower motor doesn't create a lot of pressure to supply the rear seats.
My car behaves the same - 80% of the flow is coming out through the centre vents, unless I close them the other vents are an asthmatic cough!
I feel it should at least be able to keep the car cool - after a while, its definitely hotter in my car than it is outside because it is black, even though the air coming out of the vents feels cold.
I just wanted to know other people's air con can actually defeat the sun before I go chasing my tail on an unsolvable problem!
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Up over 40c when I was driving mine the other day here in Melbourne and it was like an ice box inside.
My heater core is leaking so has been bypassed for the moment but the AC is absolutely excellent for cooling capability.
Definitely doesn't sound like yours is working 100% if dropping off, although I do notice I get more airflow through the centre vents than the outer ones the outers still get decent flow.
![128914]( "128914")
My heater core is leaking so has been bypassed for the moment but the AC is absolutely excellent for cooling capability.
Definitely doesn't sound like yours is working 100% if dropping off, although I do notice I get more airflow through the centre vents than the outer ones the outers still get decent flow.
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Cheers guys!
It does sound like a solvable problem now!
It does sound like a solvable problem now!
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I think the spec is for 750g if using r134a so that does sound low.
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Made an interesting discovery today! It turns out the AC condenser is a different size in the USA/CDN cars compared to the Euro spec cars. I know nothing about air-conditioning systems, so hopefully someone who knows a bit more about it can chime in and explain what is going on. The images would seems to indicate the condenser is larger which might explain why the Australian cars seem to have lower refrigerant levels.
I don't know how much of an affect that has on the strength of the system either, so I'm hoping someone else explain what is going on! It might be upgrade that us Aussie boys might be able to make use of.
![129128]( "129128")
I don't know how much of an affect that has on the strength of the system either, so I'm hoping someone else explain what is going on! It might be upgrade that us Aussie boys might be able to make use of.
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So I spoke to a mechanic friend who does AC, and the short version is that yes, a larger condenser is going to be more efficient (as logic would dictate). I'm going to look at getting all the parts to install the larger US system.
Why Maserati would've done that is bewildering to me - they would've only saved a few dollars per car at best, and considering the low volume I'm certain they would've lost that value in needing to organise a separate supplier.
Once its in I'll report back!
Why Maserati would've done that is bewildering to me - they would've only saved a few dollars per car at best, and considering the low volume I'm certain they would've lost that value in needing to organise a separate supplier.
Once its in I'll report back!
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If the system is working properly it shouldn't be needed to change anything out.
Ok the cabin of my Spyder is probably marginally smaller volume of air to keep cool than a coupe, offset by the roof probably letting more heat through, but even on 40+ degree days the Aussie spec AC is powerful enough to cool inside highly effectively without any issue whatsoever.
Ok the cabin of my Spyder is probably marginally smaller volume of air to keep cool than a coupe, offset by the roof probably letting more heat through, but even on 40+ degree days the Aussie spec AC is powerful enough to cool inside highly effectively without any issue whatsoever.
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You're probably right, but mine just isn't strong enough so I have to do some trouble shooting regadless. I figured if I have to chase down issues I might as well just spend the labour on swapping out the larger condenser as well.
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I've had a chat with the guys at Eurospares and a wrecker in the US, and so far as any of us can tell, the only difference is the larger condenser which does have the ports on the opposite side as in the drawings.
The parts 7/44 join the common dryer to the different condenser and the rest of the lines seem to be common through the LHD and RHD cars as well as the NA and EUR cars. There are a bunch of brackets to mount the condenser as well. 7 runs into part 10 and the system should be common from that point.
Either way I'll find out and report back. The US wrecker is going to pull out the whole system up to the compressor for me and send it over, and was super helpful when I explained that I needed all the small fittings to get it installed and what the goal was. Eurospares are getting me all the o-rings and fiddly bits new so that the system seals properly. I'm hopeful that as long as I get the right lines it should just be a bolt in, and if it is I'll put up a full list of part numbers to get it to work for anyone else.
The parts 7/44 join the common dryer to the different condenser and the rest of the lines seem to be common through the LHD and RHD cars as well as the NA and EUR cars. There are a bunch of brackets to mount the condenser as well. 7 runs into part 10 and the system should be common from that point.
Either way I'll find out and report back. The US wrecker is going to pull out the whole system up to the compressor for me and send it over, and was super helpful when I explained that I needed all the small fittings to get it installed and what the goal was. Eurospares are getting me all the o-rings and fiddly bits new so that the system seals properly. I'm hopeful that as long as I get the right lines it should just be a bolt in, and if it is I'll put up a full list of part numbers to get it to work for anyone else.
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