|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
OP
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399 |
Then you bought it illegally. You have to be able to present your certification to buy the stuff.
I looked into that kit for my other car, I can assure you (although they seem to want to hide the fact on their site), that it is a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant.
Besides, it's just as bad to overfill the refrigerant. I don't know what the levels are as of yet. Overfilling and mixing would be a bad combination.
98 Silver Frost SVT
97 BMW 540I Sport, six speed
"Blue is for sky, black is for soil, and white is for simplicity, purity and hope for the future"
"A coveted car should never stunt your life, but should make it more rich and interesting."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14
New CEG\'er
|
|
New CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14 |
I had the same problem, cold air until the car got hot and then no cold air again until some time had passed. I fixed this problem two days ago. First I had the the system evacuated and recharged which did not fix the problem but was probably money well spent considering my A/C had never been serviced at all - 1998 Contour SVT with 108k miles.
To fix the problem I simply had to adjust the air gap between the clutch and the pulley. As the clutch wears the gap gets larger than spec and when hot the coil cannot pull the clutch in to engage the compressor. A simple test is to bang on the clutch with something when the A/C switch is on and the revs are elevated because the ECU thinks the compressor should be running. When I did this my clutch immediately sprang into action and the compressor ran.
This guy put up a nice how-to (for a Saab but the Contour A/C clutch looks exactly the same but with smaller shims) with good pictures and an explanation.
http://www.saab9000.com/procedures/ventilation/airconclutch.html
On my car there was only one shim on the compressor shaft so I filed it until it was about half its orginal thickness and the gap was in spec. Spec is .014 - .033 I have run my car for hours with the A/C on in the last couple of days and it works perfectly.
I searched the forums for a solution to this problem and the closest I found was someone who replaced the clutch (in doing so he corrected the air gap which is probably all he needed to do in the first place, my clutch has plenty of meat left on it after 108k miles), I really think this should be a sticky because a lot of users seem to have this same issue. It can be fixed easily for free and about 45 minutes of your time.
Last edited by JTod; 06/01/06 02:12 AM.
1998 CSVT
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
OP
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399 |
OK, this sounds like my kind of solution: essentially free!
And geez does that ever look like the same a/c compressor.
How hard is it to get at the compressor on the Contour from below the car?
98 Silver Frost SVT
97 BMW 540I Sport, six speed
"Blue is for sky, black is for soil, and white is for simplicity, purity and hope for the future"
"A coveted car should never stunt your life, but should make it more rich and interesting."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14
New CEG\'er
|
|
New CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14 |
Originally posted by Phil Rohtla:
How hard is it to get at the compressor on the Contour from below the car?
It's easy. Pull the passenger wheel off and remove the fender liner behind the strut. You can reach the A/C clutch from underneath to hold it in place while you remove the 8mm nut from the side.
1998 CSVT
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,456
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,456 |
My Dad just did this on my sister's Mystique, after I read about that Saab clutch last night. She said the A/C wasn't working a few days ago when it was hot weather. It worked fine at idle when I checked it, but I heard an odd squeal when the clutch cycled once. The gap was much more than specifcation, so a thinner washer was installed (made one!) and now the clutch gap is in spec. Hopefully that will fix the problem, can't stress test it now it is 50 degrees  .
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44
New CEG\'er
|
|
New CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44 |
This sounds just like the problem I'm having. I'll try it out tonight. Has anyone else had success with this fix yet?
00 Silver Frost CSVT
#1136/2150 Born 4 Jan, 2000
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44
New CEG\'er
|
|
New CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44 |
OK I was just checking this out. Do you need to access the compressor from the wheel well or can you do it from the top?
00 Silver Frost CSVT
#1136/2150 Born 4 Jan, 2000
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,456
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,456 |
Wheel well, and it's off set from the opening.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 33
New CEG\'er
|
|
New CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 33 |
Originally posted by JTod:
I really think this should be a sticky because a lot of users seem to have this same issue. It can be fixed easily for free and about 45 minutes of your time.
I agree. I just did this fix and now I have ice cold A/C again. Last year I had intermittent air conditioning. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it would stop working and sometimes it wouldn't engage at all.
I spent a good part of the day screwing around following the test procedure in the manual and no luck. I read the above post at 10:00 PM and had it fixed a while later. Most of the time was spent sanding the shim.
To test if it is the air gap (besides measuring, mine was within spec). Put the car on ramps (for 2.5 v-6), Start car, put on max A/C. Go under car check if A/C is engaged (if you are not sure what to look for, the whole pulley assembly should be rotating). If not, use a large screw driver and push the clutch towards the spinning pulley, be careful, if it engages the part you are pushing on will start to spin! If the clutch engages and your A/C is working, it is the air gap.
Get an 8mm socket on a 1/4" drive socket, use something to stop the clutch from spinning. Try putting a strap wrench around the 3 round parts, or a pry bar or screwdriver between two (although this doesn't leave much room for the wrench), or as a last resort use a pair of round vise grips on one of the round parts (hack alert). Loosen the bolt. Remove the clutch. Be careful as the shim is inside the clutch, you don't want to lose it. Mine was rusted, so I took a wire wheel to both sides to clean the rust off, this should help engagement too. If you have access to calipers measure the shim, then using some fairly coarse sand paper on a flat surface, sand it down. I took off about 0.3 mm, from 1.15 mm to 0.85 mm. Reassemble, enjoy cool air.
FWIW, I did not remove the wheel or the inner wheel shield. With the car on ramps I couldn't see how doing that would give me any more room to work.
Here are some pictures that I took.
View from top looking down at Air conditioner compressor with the clutch removed, note the rust.
the shim
the shim and the back side of the clutch after having the rust cleaned off, the shim goes into the splined shaft.
It's forcast for 35C(93F) tomorrow. Woohoo!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
OP
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,399 |
I ended up replacing the clutch this weekend. The air gap on mine was WAY more than one shim out. When I installed the new clutch, there was some noise as it grabbed (the a/c hasn't worked for a year, except when I whacked the old clutch), and boom, instant a/c. I drove back from the cottage this weekend in cool comfort. Definitely worth it!
98 Silver Frost SVT
97 BMW 540I Sport, six speed
"Blue is for sky, black is for soil, and white is for simplicity, purity and hope for the future"
"A coveted car should never stunt your life, but should make it more rich and interesting."
|
|
|
|
|
