Is your A/C failing?

[Captain No Beard 0]

how do I take off the grill to get to the low pressure service port?

Evilution Site how to remove the front panel

Of course, you only need to follow first step, then remove the Passenger side turn signal.

NB

Edited May 8, 2009 by Captain No Beard

[ianjay 6]

When you use the Redtek, you will no longer have warranty on a/c parts. Good Luck,Ian

[ianjay 6]

Greetings:An update: the car is ready, but the extended Mercedes warranty does not cover seals! As a goodwill gesture, the a/c repair was no charge as it has been always been serviced by them and has been a recurring problem from the first time the car was driven in warm weather. This spring marks the fifth time the a/c has failed completely, venting all of its refrigerant into the atmosphere. We have covered just 36K! Look out planet, we're ba-a-a-ck!Ian

[darren 192]

My A/C is dead again (this is now the third failure... like clockwork every spring), and i'm 10,000 km out of warranty. Looks like it's time for DuraCool.

[Captain No Beard 0]

We need to establish a network of Duracool filling stations...everyone with the equipment posting city/nearest intersection, then smarts can come by with a can of cool and borrow the tool in a friendly driveway...

[Cheese4 0]

Mine too is going in for the fix...this will be my last time....as my warranty will be up in July. Have an appointment for Friday. Though when I was in there they told me they "think" they have a fix this year! Something about the filler cap is leaking. I guess we shall see next spring!! So far it's been fixed in the Spring of 2006, 2007, 2008 and now 2009.Great thing about having the service done is the loaner car for 24 hours and the clean car for the weekend!!

[bilgladstone 13]

... Something about the filler cap is leaking ...

You probably misheard their explanation. The cap is only a dust cover over the filler quick-connect nipple. Whether or not the cap holds pressure, the cap is not the problem.We'll be very interested to hear about this "new fix" they have for spring 2009!Bil

[MikeT 744]

Charlie Brown and the football come to mind.....

[frankie5string 0]

Mine too is going in for the fix...this will be my last time....as my warranty will be up in July. Have an appointment for Friday. Though when I was in there they told me they "think" they have a fix this year! Something about the filler cap is leaking. I guess we shall see next spring!! So far it's been fixed in the Spring of 2006, 2007, 2008 and now 2009.Great thing about having the service done is the loaner car for 24 hours and the clean car for the weekend!!

It's interesting you mention the "filler cap"... I don't have my work order near me but I'm pretty sure it mentioned replacing both the high and low pressure filler line. They also had to charge the system up for times over two days to figure out where the leak was... Twice with dye, once without, and finally to finish the job. In mode "1" it's blowing colder now than it ever did in mode "2"...So while I don't believe it had to do with the plastic caps, it's possible that the weak point is the filler tubes themselves...

[smartdriver 49]

Perhaps some of you with experience in this can answer.My smart air conditioning has been repaired twice under warranty.In each case, the red lights did not come on.This spring, the lights do come on, but there is very little cooling.Is there something else wrong, or do I just need a recharge?

[Captain No Beard 0]

In each case, the red lights did not come on.This spring, the lights do come on, but there is very little cooling.

My red lights always came on when broken or not.NB

[ianjay 6]

On the 450, the red lights do not come on unless the fan is on. Used to freak me out until I RTFM. I still think red is a dumb colour to indicate cooling.Just got back from a 5700 km jaunt into the states and the a/c is still working (of course it has only been a couple of weeks since the repair).Ian

[DJW 0]

I have a 03 European gas from G&K and have had no problems with the AC. I wounder if there is a difference in the AC system between the gas and Diesel models? Or if the gas engine has less vibration at the compressor?Dennis

[idahosmart 2]

Dennis, My 2003 G&K converted smart has had to have the A/C recharged each spring. I did it myself the first 2 times, this year I have opted to take it to a professional. He has the car now and still has not detected the leak with the dye and UV light or his "sniffer". I will update when I find out what he finds.Tom

[DJW 0]

TomSorry to hear of the AC problems. It's your AC and my key fob, other than that it's all been good.Dennis

[smartdriver 49]

Last Fall I bought a Red Tek kit in anticipation of needing it this Spring.Recharging is not quite as easy as this thread suggests.Removing the 7 clips from the front grill was fairly simple. Easier if you have some help.Removing the passenger side turn signal was also easy. There are 3 Philips screws, not the reported Torx screws.Attaching the hose was difficult to figure out. The large gauge wouldn't go through the turn signal hole and the hoses were too short to reach.I ended up dropping the hose through the top (where the windshield washer fluid is) and having someone else grab the end and apply the quick connect to the input valve.The valve on the can was then opened and the can quickly emptied. You couldn't see the pressure gauge because it was buried inside the car.Now that I know how to do it, a recharge should take only a few minutes.I was was wondering if anyone had any tricks to make the process easier.

Edited May 26, 2009 by smartdriver

[Captain No Beard 0]

I guess the Red Tek hose must be shorter than the duracool one, because mine fit through the turn signal hole just fine.NB

[NJV 1]

I think the Red Tek fill hose has a 90 degree end at the connector to the car. The Duracool one is straight on. We used my Duracool filler on a friends car because we couldn't manage to the the red tek one on through the signal hole.

[smartdriver 49]

Thanks for your responses.I guess that I'm going to have to get a Duracool hose, although my air conditioning is now working the best that it's ever been.

[NJV 1]

So I put in some Duracool yesterday. I didn't bother getting the system evacuated as the pressure gauge showed nothing at all when running the system (which was repaired last summer for the second time). So I filled it until the gauge read around 40psi, not guite to the top of the blue area on the Duracool gauge.Installation was easy, just reaching through the light opening in the grill. Now I have A/C that's nice and cold, which is good cuz this week is suppsed to be all +25C.We'll see how well this lasts, and I'll let you know if it fails any time this year or next spring.

[idahosmart 2]

My 2003 G&K converted smart has had to have the A/C recharged each spring. I did it myself the first 2 times, this year I have opted to take it to a professional. He has the car now and still has not detected the leak with the dye and UV light or his "sniffer". I will update when I find out what he finds.

The A/C technician found the leak in my smart car A/C system. There was a leaking connector on the high pressure line under the car. He removed the covers from under the car to check the lines from front to back and found the leak in the connector that is located about under the passenger seat. Now the system is recharged and blowing cold again and hopefully will last more than a couple months!Tom

[DJW 0]

TomGlad they found the leak. So it was just a loose fitting?Dennis

[smartmom 0]

My '06 is going in next week for its 4th air conditioning repair in 4 summers.I'm out of warrenty next September. -Smartmom

[idahosmart 2]

TomGlad they found the leak. So it was just a loose fitting?Dennis

The O-rings were replaced within the coupling on both the high and low pressure sides, even though only the high side was leaking (low side changed just-in-case). Perhaps the O-rings dried out when the car was in storage for a couple years at ZAP/G&K when they were working with the DOT/EPA on these imported 450 models. My 2003 was in the first lot of cars that G&K shipped out to ZAP dealers in March 2006.Tom

[Dang 0]

So I fired up my air conditioning for the first time this year, and was once again greeted with nice cold A/C better than when I bought the car.I just don't understand why this one little can of coolant seems to fix the A/C problems when Mercedes can't. Mine broke often, and didn't work all that well when it did work. The last time it quit I did no repairs at all to the A/C system, just added a can of Duracool and it's run longer than the stock system ever did.Someone can post to correct me, but I'm not aware that anyone that's switched to Duracool who's lost A/C.Cheers! Dang