Air Cond Low Gas affected Aux Fan?

[James Chun]

Dear All Brothers,I found out my air cond gas is empty due broken inlet valve.....my question is...will it cause Aux Fan stop turning????Thanks...

 

[jarance]

No lah.. It will be just like you OFF your air-con. can still drive the car.

For a peace of mine, just start the engine and warm it up. Standing in front and see whether the aux fan cut-in when the water temperature rises.

PS.. keep a look out for the water temp at the dash board.

 

[James Chun]

my aux fan is not turning on now....air cond keep blowing hot air....i can only confirm my gas tank is running out of gas due to broken valve..

so, i just go to refill the gas then everything will be fine???

 

[jarance]

my aux fan is not turning on now....air cond keep blowing hot air....i can only confirm my gas tank is running out of gas due to broken valve..

so, i just go to refill the gas then everything will be fine???

bro, your first post mentioned some thing was broken. get it fix first before you intend to refill the gas lar.

if there is a leak or broken part, all the filling of feron gas is not going to get your aircon to work. :stupid:

 

[James Chun]

ya ya...I will replace the broken valve before I refilling the gas of course...but I just want to confirm the aux fan will be fine after that???I worried the Aux fan rosak..

 

[James Chun]

Sorry Brother...I just want to confirm this statement , air cond gas low = Aux Fan Auto off when you turn on your air cond???

 

[jarance]

When you ON the aircon, it will automatically turn ON the aux fan. It will turm off when they aircon is cut out when the cabin temperature reaches the set point. However, the aux fan is also turn on by the thermostat in the cooling system when the water temperature is high.

For an E46, the aux fan is variable speed. The higher the temperature the higher the speed. That is why some people sometime notice that the noise of the aux fan when it spinning at maximum speed.

So dont worry.. just watch the water temperature on the dashboard.

 

[James Chun]

Thanks for your information....my water tank temperature rise to 90 degree++ max.....but the aux fan just not turning on although I switch on my air cond....the snowflake button is on....

 

[James Chun]

I just want to do rectifiy the problems myself before I send it to my mechanic...

 

[jarance]

Thanks for your information....my water tank temperature rise to 90 degree++ max.....but the aux fan just not turning on although I switch on my air cond....the snowflake button is on....

I think there is a pressure switch which will cut the power to clutch of the aircon when the gas pressure is low. can you check whether the clutch is engaged when the snowflake sw is ON. You can see it by opening the front bonnet and check whether the compressor is spinning or not.

btw, is your water temp gauge above the 50% mark.

 

[James Chun]

I didn't hear the "kick" in sound....where is the pressure switch? is it located at the reservoir tank?

 

[James Chun]

I can see the compressor is spinning...but not sure whether it is really engage to the clutch or not...

 

[jarance]

OK borrow picture from everybody (sorry !)

The pressure switch for low pressure should be located on the dryer of the aircon. see picture below

A close up picture of the pressure switch.

The function of the pressure switch is to protect the aircon compressor when there is insufficient gas.
Here is a schematic diagram of the aircon control. As you can see the pressure switch is before the compressor clutch & Aux fan so even though the snowflake light is on, the clutch will not engage if the gas pressure is LOW.

You can test the clutch by making a jumper as shown below. However, do not run it too long cos compressor will be damage due to "dry" running.

As you can see from the picture below, there are 2 circular rings on the front of the AC compressor. The outer ring is the pulley which is driven by the belt. The inner ring is the pulley which will drive the AC compressor when the magnetic clutch is engaged. So check whether the inner ring is rotating or not.

 

[sinjin]

faced similar prob. changed fan switch twice and changed termostat. wireman mentioned that maybe the air con not cold, the fan will not switch on.

filled gas and now the air con is colder than before. when switch off air con, the fan will kick in when reach certain temp. this was about a week ago thought prob solved.

now, the similar prob again. when air cond is switched off and idle for about 10 mins, the fan will not kick in and the temp rise again above half way mark. when air cond is on, temp needle rock solid at half way mark.

help pls. water pump? fan clutch? or change switch again? e36 m43

 

[jarance]

sinjin, just keep the aircon ON.

change fan clutch if you want but not necessary at the moment.

 

[sinjin]

thanks Jarance. but what could be the culprit?

is it the fan clutch which stops the fan from kicking in when the air cond is off?

and also will it result in top overhaul if not attend to quickly?

 

[jarance]

If your fan is not cutting in when the aircon is off, you problem could be the regulator or the temperature sensor.

The fan clutch work independent from the aux fan. It is controlled by the bi-metallic strip on the clutch fan. The hotter the air temperature thru the radiator, the faster it will spin. However, sometime the cooling effect is not enough when the car is stationary. This will cause the water temperature to rise and will cause the aux fan to cut-in to assist the overall cooling.

Top overhaul only is required when you faced an overheating. however, overheating does not mean that you will need to do overhaul. If you allow the engine to cool by itself you might avoid a top overhaul. A lot of people tends to fill the radiator with cold water when the engine temperature is very hot. This will cause the engine head to warp due to rapid cooling.

 

[affan66]

i have this problem too. Aircond fan not behaving well due to lack of gas. I know I need to do the dreaded cooling coil change but what I do I just top up every 3 months. Then, the aircond fan works fine.

 

[James Chun]

Dear All.....Thanks for all the feedback...My mechanic confirm my car cooling coil leaking...have to replace the whole unit....Now whole dashboard had been disassemble, heartache to see it.....

Hopefully can get it done it in these 2 weeks....

I just change the cooling coil unit 3 years ago.....

 

[bimmer73]

how about AUX FAN at high speed all the time even during cold start and idling. Anyone face this problem