Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Hello All, Just wanted to know what the average time was for the air con to start to get cold cos mine takes quite a long time. I switch on the fan, switch on the AC the turn the switch to the blue mark from max. am i missing something here or would it just need a regas and service. thank you for your contributions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Is it manual air con (not climate) in a Focus? It's rubbish if so. Mine takes forever as well. Been regassed and made no difference to cooldown time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: Is it manual air con (not climate) in a Focus? It's rubbish if so. Mine takes forever as well. Been regassed and made no difference to cooldown time! how do i know the difference? not sure if it is manual. having it regassed and cleaned this weekend cos mrs suffers from hayfever so hopefully make it better for her and it works a bit Edit: just checked vin it is manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Easy to tell, manual you just have blue and red, climate you have degrees to choose. When it eventually cools down it seems to work ok, it just takes a while to get there. I've never had a car so slow to cool down before but there doesn't seem to be any reason for it so no fix. Only thing I can say is it cools down slightly more quickly with more engine revs, so driving faster seems to help, not sure that's a good enough excuse if caught speeding though lol. I would suggest having the pollen filter changed if it hasn't been done within the last year, I also suffer from hayfever but much less so with the windows up in the Focus, even with the AC off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 mine is definitely manual then. the car just had a full service in January before I got it this past weekend. for the speed what you said could be true cos while i was on the motor way i could feel the air con change instantly between temps when i played with and got cooler faster as well. i found this video will try it out and see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 3 hours ago, Ken.K said: mine takes quite a long time. It does seem a bit feeble compared to some other cars. Have you tried with the air direction control pointing down (fascia vents only). It seems to make it feel cooler. I have a temperature sensor on the a/c pipe returning from the evaporator, it is amazing how quickly the temperature in that pipe can drop, from 40C (it is under the bonnet) to 4C in about 30sec. And mine does work at idle speed, though it is a bit quicker at higher rpm, say 1200. Seems no advantage in going higher. A car that needs high revs is probably low on gas, or has a bad compressor, or some other fault. But even if the a/c is working well, on a warm day the air in the car does not feel that cold. I wonder if the evaporator fins are partly blocked with dust or mould or something. Not easy to get at, in the heater area. If you think the a/c is a little low on gas, see: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 i have it booked into halford fords for a free service, anti-bacterial clean and regas. let me see if that will do the trick, the previous owner said he rarely used it and i read if you do not use it, it can leak out cos the seal would break or something like that. I noticed on sunday when it was quite warm the ac was not as cold but last night it felt cooler faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Tbh Peter I think the evaporator itself is just too small for the size of the car in the Focus which gives the slow cool-down, I doubt it's anything to do with fins being blocked as some cars don't even have a pollen filter before the AC unit but cool down quicker (306s for example, on the rare occasion you find one with working AC lol). It would be interesting to see if theres a difference in evap size between climate and non-climate Focii, as well as other cars the same size, Golf, Astra etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: I think the evaporator itself is just too small for the size of the car Yeah, that sounds very likely. I have not seen the evaporator, as it is very well concealed, but it makes sense. The rate at which the outlet pipe from it cools down is a bit of a give-away. Not much thermal mass to cool. Matt (preecematt) had this to say about it a couple of hours ago: "Whats Aircon on a Ford Focus? I only get warm air, is this aircon you speak of easy & cheap to install " It works pretty well in Winter, as a de-mister, and tbh, I find it usually adequate for most British summers (?), but it would not be much use in Italy in summer, I suspect! Perhaps someone (with nothing better to do!) would like to trawl through the site archives to dig out just how many grumbles there have been each summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Interestingly it seems Ford have been consistent with poor air con as that's a Mk1, 2, 2.5 and 3 Focus with AC cooling complaints now! I don't bother using mine as a demister, I've got the heated screen which is far quicker than waiting for AC. I just use it once a month over winter to keep the system working. But I'll be honest, I don't really find it adequate on hot sunny days, even after a regas, I've had far better AC in 306s, Golfs, Vectras, 206, Avensis...pretty much every other car I've owned with working AC really lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 My neighbour has the same model car and his seems to be cooler faster than mine. Maybe it draws air from outside the slowly cools again not sure. Will have to monitor and see it, maybe after the regas and service it will be cooler Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 8 hours ago, Ken.K said: the previous owner said he rarely used it and i read if you do not use it, it can leak out cos the seal Make sure you try to find out how much gas they had to put in. If it has a bad leak, due to lack of use, then just re-gas is no good, and could do further damage. There is oil in an A/C system. The compressor needs it, both for its pistons, and its seals. When unused the oil settles out and can take some time to get mixed in again, possibly leading to compressor damage. Hopefully you will be ok, I don't think this happens often, but it is possible. It is generally recommended to use an A/C at least once a week, whether needed or not. Not for long, just enough to give the system a good stir. Though from various reports, I do wonder if the Focus A/C is more nuisance than it is worth! I never had this trouble when I had cars with sunroofs! They gave a pretty strong, cooling airflow at any decent speed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Hmmm i hope they do all these cos its Halfords autocentre my mate takes his audi there so they are pretty good. It works just odd how long it takes.. This should interesting to find out Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 ive got to agree , fords aircon systems are not the best , my suzuki and mazdas were far superior in the cooling effects. my suzuki had a evaporator sensor that fell out, and aircon kept running to the point that evaperator froze stopping air flow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 well, as my cars aircon is not the best, thought i would check the refridgerant amount, only half left.its lost that over 3 yrs which is about normal. now correct amount in, will see if its cooler on way home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 24, 2016 Author Share Posted June 24, 2016 34 minutes ago, iantt said: well, as my cars aircon is not the best, thought i would check the refridgerant amount, only half left.its lost that over 3 yrs which is about normal. now correct amount in, will see if its cooler on way home let me know if this made any difference mate, maybe i need to check mine as the car is 8yrs old probably it is very very low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 checked temp difference before top up, 9c drop(22c outside, at vents 13c) after is now 16c drop( 23c outside at vents 7c ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 24, 2016 Author Share Posted June 24, 2016 That is good then, that is 6c cooler already i will check mine tomorrow after the service and hopefully I get similar results. I reckon you used the same setting for before and after Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 yep, fan high, fresh air , take your outside temp in front of car, and inside in a centre vent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 24, 2016 Author Share Posted June 24, 2016 super will try mine tomorrow cannot wait, if i have the same results the mrs would be happy and i would be buzzing. cheers mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figgis41 Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 19 hours ago, TomsFocus said: Tbh Peter I think the evaporator itself is just too small for the size of the car in the Focus which gives the slow cool-down,. Could this have been an inherent fault in pre mk3's as mine works like a dream, turn it on and in less than 10 seconds its pumping out cool air. I do use it a lot in warm and hot weather as my grandson gets grumpy if he's too hot while in the car, bit like the wife really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iantt Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 drive home was alot cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 just thought I would update, AC regas done and what a difference this makes. the difference was instant even for a small drive. if anyone is having this problem I would suggest getting your gas and refrigerant topped up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 You're lucky then, mines still rubbish after a regas lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken.K Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 eerrmm not sure then. but mine changed considerably. had to switch it off after awhile or left just fan on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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