Noisy aircon?!!

[steve329]

Hiya, me again!

So we turned the air con on for the first time on the galaxy today, nothing happened for about 3mins until suddenly an almighty rumbling noise, engine idle speed drops power drops (obviously I expect that to happen a certain amount) and we get nice cold air, all the while the rumbling noise is still happening, I leave it a few mins and decide to turn it off due to the noise making me feel un-easy. The question is, is this kind of noise normal?! Should I be concerned and should I not use the air con?

Thanks again :-)


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[gregers]

was the noise like a strangled cat?

if so it may well be the clutch plate on the compressor either beginning to seize up or its about to drop off?

[steve329]

Lol deffo not a strangled cat - more like a jet engine taking off I think, I'm popping out in a min so will risk giving it another go to better describe the sound :-/


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[steve329]

Just came back from a drive - it didn't do it this time, but also the air con didn't come on... Press the button, the light turns from green to orange, but absolutely nothing else happened, left it about 5mins, still nothing happened, so now the aircon doesn't seem to work at all :-/


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[Chrispb]

Sounds like the booster heater running, next time you hear the noise have a look under the car by the passenger side rear door look for the small exhaust.

[steve329]

Iv got a 2.3 petrol, I thought it was only the diesels that had the booster heater? Also when I heard the noise the aircon was deffo working - it was the only time we've had ice cold air coming out the vents? :-/


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[insanitybeard]

It could be the air con compressor bearing on it's way out, seems to be a fairly common occurrence unfortunately on the Galaxy, if it gets really bad the compressor can seize and lock up the auxilliary drive belt.

[Chrispb]

Lol deffo not a strangled cat - more like a jet engine taking off I think, I'm popping out in a min so will risk giving it another go to better describe the sound :-/


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Please don't use the phrase jet engine noise it is reserved for diesel variants  and yes your right the booster is for the diesels.

[steve329]

Lol fair play - will try to remember that!

Doesn't sound good seizing up - what else is driven from that aux belt? Just had a quickly look around and the pumps don't seem cheap, I'm guessing that second hand from breakers would be false economy?



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[insanitybeard]

On the 2.3 petrol the auxilliary drive belt will drive the alternator, power steering pump, air con compressor and water pump if memory serves correctly, though if the compressor did actually seize the resulting drag can be enough to stall the engine or cause horrible squealing as the belt either slips on the compressor pulley or the electromagnetic clutch pulley itself slips as it cannot turn the compressor.

They are silly money to buy new from ford, ebay usually turns a few up though- double check part numbers match before buying though as the diesel/ V6 compressors are different to the 2.3 petrol!

[Chrispb]

Have used this company, quick delivery, fitted it myself then got my local aircon chap to vacuum test, and regas.

http://www.autoairconparts.co.uk/vaf/product/list/?category=%3F&make=16&model=228&year=7&engine=105&fuel=1&transmission=2

[steve329]

Cheers for the info, Iv not had a chance too look at the Haynes yet to see if it's a big job - I'm right in saying I can't vent the gas to atmosphere so if I have to pay for the gas to be removed and then be re gassed, I may just pay an hours labour for them to fit it.

To be honest the rate this thing goes through petrol i can't afford any parts so I may just have to leave it and not turn the aircon on ! :-p


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[steve329]

Hi all,

Still haven't had time to replace the pump - not too sure if I need to. I think the bearings may be a bit noisy but a lot of noise comes from the rad fans - I didn't realise they go to 100% when air con is on? So as when the aircon doesn't work the fans don't go to 100% could this be a wiring issue instead of a pump issue? Surly if the aircon pump was failing / seizing the rad fans would still come on? For the record it's about 50:50 if it works :-/

[insanitybeard]

It depends on the cause of the problem, I'm not 100% on how the system operates but if the a/c system is short of refrigerant gas then the compressor shouldn't operate anyway, and therefore the control module isn't switching the fans in.

Likewise if there is wear or damage preventing the compressor from generating sufficient pressure then the system may not operate properly.

If you switch the air con on, is the electromagnetic clutch on the compressor pulley switching in and staying engaged or does it keep on switching in and out?

[steve329]

I'm not entirely sure how to test the compressor clutch? Like I said its 50:50 if it works, if it does work it's wonderfully cold just slightly noisy, if it doesn't then absolutely nothing happens, no noises I can hear off, no change in engine revs and certainly no cold air!

Do I maybe need to get under the car and apply 12v to the clutch and see if it stays engaged? (With the engine off?)

Thanks for the replies, I'm sure used I classic cars that tend to be a bit simpler!

[insanitybeard]

Probably the easiest way is to get an assistant to sit inside the vehicle and with the engine running manually switch the air con on and off, you can then observe from the engine bay if the compressor clutch is consistently switching in as the system is being switched on and how long it stays switched in- i.e, not engaging at all, engaging and disengaging constantly or staying engaged.

[steve329]

Can you physically see when the compressor clutch engages?  I have not looked at the pump but I am guessing there is just one wire going to the pump which. Should see 12v continuous while the ac is turned on? Is it worth getting the multi meter out at the weekend?

[Chrispb]

Yes you can when you look at the pulley with the belt around it that part turns all the time engine is running regardless of aircon on or off, if the aircon is switched on the centre part will also be rotating with the pulley, if it's off the centre part will be stationary.

[steve329]

Lovely, will get the under tray off at the weekend hopefully and have a look, :-)

[SilverBeast]

You might not need the undertray off. On my diesel you can see the bolts in the centre of the pulley from above. They are stationary when the aircon is off and you can see the heads clearly. When it is on you can tell that it is rotating.

[steve329]

Time to drag up an old thread! Sooo over the summer the air con worked intermittently - sometimes it would be turned on 10mins or so before it would kick in and sometimes it would never kick in. When it worked it was icy cold, so I'm assuming that the system is correctly pressurised. However for the last couple months it hasn't worked at all - not to much of a problem atm due to cold weather, but want it sorted! Did an oil change the other day so had a poke around, took the multi plug off the compressor and didn't see any voltage with the air con on or off, presumably I should see 12v when turned on? Checked as much wiring as I could, what else could cause this? Faulty pressure sensor? Where is the pressure sensor? Any ideas appreciated! Thanks :-)

[Chrispb]

Low gas pressure is likely.

[insanitybeard]

Also, IIRC the air con isn't supposed to work below 5^oC so if the ambient temperature was below this when you tested it that might be one reason why you weren't seeing a voltage at the compressor.

[steve329]

Thanks for the replies :-) I might be wrong but I'm fairly certain the pressure is good because during the summer when it was working (all be it intermittently) it was stone cold. The temperature thing could be the case - it's not been warm here for a while, maybe I will leave it till the warmer weather and see what happens! Out of interest, I don't have an air temperature guage on the dash, so where does the air con system take its temp reading from (so it knows not to work under 5deg)?

[Chrispb]

It still has the outside temperature sensor behind the lower grill.

[SilverBeast]

Here
[attach=1]

[Chrispb]

Thats the one

[gregers]

when you say noisy.does it sound like marbles in a tin can?
if so then it may be the clucth plate on the compressor working itself loose.??

[steve329]

Sorry about the late reply, I didn't realise there was still the temp sensor so I think I will leave this until the weather warms up abit! I wouldn't say it sounds like marbles in a tin can, more a loud rumble when it starts up, and there is a metallic grating sound from the air con pump when the car is cold :-/

[galaxytyke]

i would like to ask a question about the aricon compressor.
mine makes a wining noise since i bought the car some month back.
it was blowing ice cold the first day then stopt. just normal cold fan works.
its showing econ on  and the voltage on the car drops down when switch is on.
the compressor plates are turning on or off. well not the bolt in the middle and the really inside ring. the rest is running.
it makes no difference on noise or seeing anything moving when on or off.
so would this mean the compressor is fubar ?

[gregers]

not necessarily,
have you tried to tighten the bolt on the plate??


when mine started to make noises like a bunch of wailing cats it turned out to be the clutch plate had come loose then fell off,the plate was found in the under tray.the hole in the middle had become elongated because it was loose on the spindle of the aircon pump.i obtained another clutch plate and replace it with the pump insitu,it was a royal P/I/A to do and it took 2 of us to do it,1 under the car and 1 leaning in the engine bay.once replace all was working fine again.

[galaxytyke]

right. ok i try to see if that nut needs to be tightened up.
i sprayed some chain lube into the hole and it went quiet for a while but started after a while again.

btw i don't have an under tray any more. lol