Is your A/C failing?

[Eddie Eddie Eddie 1]

Freak storm delayed me at work today...Missed my chance, and the a/c guy didn't wanna head out with a tornado warning to boot...Will have to wait til next week... Though if I drive a little more...I could get my regular service done sooner, AND THEN... Finally have my dealership do it...Eddie

[smartMath 0]

Hello,

I'm from Quebec,

I just got my new Smart Passion yesterday from the dealership.

Today it was over 30 celcius outside, went to turn on the A/C after work. I left it on for a while but not much but HOT air coming out of the vents.

Even after my hour ride home I tried it on a few time but it is definitively not working.

And my car had 100 km on it...

I'll call Mercedes next monday and see what they can do.

I want cool air !

[MikeT 744]

A fair question to the dealer would be: "You didn't check the operation of the A/C before delivering the car? All right, then I want my PDI money back ($1300)! (and the A/C repairred NOW)."

[Cheese4 0]

I took my car in last night....got a loaner....a 2006 smart with working a/c! Got a call a little while ago....they are going to have to order parts from Germany and it will take a couple weeks. So I made another appointment for the 27th. Two more weeks of HOT AIR!! Hee Hee. But I did ask for anything but a smart for a loaner car...and he said he may hook me up with the SUV for kicks! (Thanks Bill, for the tip on requesting a different loaner!)At least I get a free car wash out of this appointment!!

[Eddie Eddie Eddie 1]

When my car goes in on the 28th for its regular service...I can FINALLY get my a/c vacuumed out...ABOUT FRIGGEN TIME!!!However, my dealership says once someone else works ok my a/c...They will not longer evacuate it for me... Which is ok... By the time I need to do it again... I'll just get my own damned pump, manifold set, and extraction tank...Eddie

[Dang 0]

However, my dealership says once someone else works ok my a/c...They will not longer evacuate it for me...

That's odd....How would they even know? The only issue would be mixing R-134a with other coolants, though actually you can mix Duracool and R-134a.Later! DangEdit:I guess one way they could know is if your A/C works, it must have been worked on....

[bilgladstone 13]

Once you get your car charged up with the full-meal kit you have - refrigerant, DC lubricating oil, and especially the leak sealer, one hopes your a/c won't need service for years. Except if the pipe retaining clip rivet or condenser gets badly holed with stones, etc.During your service, are they going to replace the pipe rivet as per the TSB repair? This would be a good time to get it done as a pre-emptive fix.B:sun:

[Eddie Eddie Eddie 1]

As far as use/consumption...R134a can be mixed with DuraCool, though DEFINATELY not recommended... For reclamation, I think all different refridgerants must be seperated...The above may be DMFC's worry... However, when I was looking up equipment to purchase a cheap (good luck) vacuum recovery setup... I read that sometimes certain sealants/oils gunk up and could possibly damage evacuation systems. I have seen devices that identify the contents of the refridgerant (only as far as type goes, r134a/r12a/r22/etc) and others that hookup to your evacuation system to seperate out the oil and sealant from the recovered refridgerant...Though this is all just a guess for me... It's 2am, can't sleep... And I haven't put any REAL thought into it... I'll just be happy that after almost 2 months from purchasing my DuraCool kit, I'll FINALLY have it installed... And just in time for my Grand Canyon trip... I think it was 41c in Pheonix last week...Eddie

[Duck 16]

Dave and I recharged Mattdaddy's system at the Niagara cruise... another happy Duracool customer me thinks... still working, right Matt?Michael went to look for Duracool last night (we're going to do his car next) but apparently it's not being stocked by Wal Mart anymore, anyone know if that's true? I'm going to go check out the Cambridge and Woodstock stores tonight to see.-Iain

[Diesel Dave 11]

Yes and I also recharged the A/C on another smart the night before and now he as cold A/C as well. I did that one right in the Mercedes Dealer parking lot. At least the owner can say "it was done at the dealer".

[Dang 0]

My Duracool fill job is now 6 weeks old, and still blowing cold as ever (which is colder than even when new.)I'd be curious if anybody has done the Duracool thing and lost their A/C. It would sort of prove the theory there is a very slow leak in the system.Later! Dang

[Eddie Eddie Eddie 1]

Which leads me to wonder...Why aren't the dealerships putting in a leak sealant from the get-go?Wouldn't that be cheaper and EASIER to deal with than ripping it all apart to swap out seals and blah blah blah???Eddie

[Diesel Dave 11]

In every car that I have charged with Duracool, there was a tiny, one second hiss while conecting the hose. This tells me that the system still had a trace amount of R-134a indicating that there is no big leak, yet all the rest of the refrigerant seeped out under pressure. "Seeped" is the key word here which tells me that the R-134a is the problem. The much larger molecules and lower pressure R-12a does not seep out. Our A/C systems are good enough to hold R-12a but not R-134a. BTW, Canadian Tire and Parts Source sell R-12a under the Red Tek brand. It's the same as Duracool. Remember. You need only one 6 ounce can.

[DropDeadRed 0]

Mine just came out of the shop... the long front to back pipes are "being shipped from Europe" something about a leak right where they connect to something at the front.DDR

[bilgladstone 13]

Mine just came out of the shop... the long front to back pipes are "being shipped from Europe" something about a leak right where they connect to something at the front.DDR

There is also a known fault with a retaining clip, halfway along that long pipe run, that commonly breaks and needs to be replaced with a new rivet fastener. One hopes that is on order from Germany along with your other bits. Elsewise you may be back visiting again in future for the very same reason...B:sun:

[DropDeadRed 0]

Mine just came out of the shop... the long front to back pipes are "being shipped from Europe" something about a leak right where they connect to something at the front.DDR

There is also a known fault with a retaining clip, halfway along that long pipe run, that commonly breaks and needs to be replaced with a new rivet fastener. One hopes that is on order from Germany along with your other bits. Elsewise you may be back visiting again in future for the very same reason...B:sun:

One might presume that the absence of said clip might be related to the leak where the pipe attaches? If that is the case one would hope they fix the root cause!DDR

[bilgladstone 13]

One might presume... ...one would hope...

Since the parts come from Germany and there is a two week delay to receive parts from there, it might be worth a phone call to see just what they are doing and what they have ordered. Bil

[42Kruiser 0]

And now we are on the pipes needed list.

[smartMath 0]

I just got my A/C repaired yesterday.It was apparantly empty at car delivery... The compressor wasn't even starting up. So they charged it up with some dye in the gaz. I hope it was just a omission from the factory and not that all the gaz escaped while the car was sitting in the parking waiting to be sold.

[bilgladstone 13]

I just got my A/C repaired yesterday.It was apparantly empty at car delivery... The compressor wasn't even starting up. So they charged it up with some dye in the gaz. I hope it was just a omission from the factory and not that all the gaz escaped while the car was sitting in the parking waiting to be sold.

Did you pay them for a Pre Delivery Inspection? ............ I'm just sayin' :devil:Bil

[mattdaddy 0]

Dave and I recharged Mattdaddy's system at the Niagara cruise... another happy Duracool customer me thinks... still working, right Matt?

Yep, all good. Thanks a bunch. I even get cool air at idle, which I never had.

[Dang 0]

Gang....It's interesting they seem to be repairing different things on different cars. You'd think if it were a real leak caused by a broken clip or a cracked pipe or something like that, those of us that have done the Duracool thing would be blowing warm a couple of days later. So far I haven't heard of anyone that's done the DuraCool thing and does not still have cold air. Some of us are a month and a half into it.....Maybe the technician was actually referring to his crack pipe rather than a cracked pipe. Later! Dang

[Speedie 4]

Could it be the stock refrigerant is a smaller molecule than propane - and more prone to finding a way out? This was true for a lot of the retrofitted cars where they changed out the R12 to the new stuff.Cheers,Cameron

[bilgladstone 13]

Could it be the stock refrigerant is a smaller molecule than propane - and more prone to finding a way out? This was true for a lot of the retrofitted cars where they changed out the R12 to the new stuff.

When r134a refrigerant was introduced to replace the old Freon CFC in the early 1990s, fittings, seals, compressor oils, etc. had to be replaced because the molecules were so much smaller that a/c systems would leak out almost immediately.

New composite materials and lubricating oils on various seals effectively reduce that leakage, but with the long tubing runs between the compressor and the condenser, together with the high-amplitude oscillation and vibration of the diesel engine, this makes our smart fortwo's a/c very prone to leaks.

We know they almost always arrive undercharged. Some car's a/c are reportedly good right "out of the box", and some never did work right from delivery at the dealership. If you have one of the latter, I think it's very safe to say that your system leaks, was leaking since it rolled off the boat, and needs to be repaired (for free) by the dealership.

The end/completion and testing of the car's a/c is obviously not being done at the factory end. If the North American smart Head Office is... well... smart, they will institute a policy of properly inspecting the a/c as part of each dealership's PDI. Test high/low pressure, properly torque all connectors, leak test, recharge, and trial run the system.

And - hey smart! - think of all the hundreds (thousands? millions worldwide?) of pounds of significant Global Warming gas you are (now knowingly) distributing to the atmosphere from all those leaky smart car a/c systems! What about using propane refrigerant right from the factory? A new GREEN initiative is born!

I'm just saying...

B:sun:

[F1 Whore 0]

I did that one right in the Mercedes Dealer parking lot.

At least the owner can say "it was done at the dealer".

Nice one, I actually LOL'd.