Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 18:30:35 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: A/C cycling
In-Reply-To: <BAY4-DAV685pLBwg9Mv00000e67@hotmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Is the fan running on low speed as soon as the A/C compressor turns on?
If not, you probably have a bad fan resistor. If it is, than the
radiator is not removing enough heat or you fan switch is at a lower
temp than can be maintained,(common problem with the low temp
switch/t-stat gizmos). There is no reason the fan should be going into
high speed while traveling down the highway. If 60 mph air flow doesn't
cool it, the fan won't help either.
I suggest you get an infrared temp gauge and find out what temp the
engine is actually running at. The Dash gauge can be out of whack. ~195F
should put the needle just above the center LED. The AC itself can also
put the fan in high speed, and then shut off on over pressure.
If everything looks normal, you may also have a bad radiator. There are
very few vehicles with 13 year old radiators that are still effective.
Slime coating, cracked internal baffles and clogged tubes all occur and
reduce the ability to cool the engine and high speeds/loads.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Fin Beven
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:58 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: A/C cycling
After all of the camper-conversion work, I'm now starting to actually
use my '90 Carat quite a bit. In the process, I've discovered a few
"issues".
One of them is the A/C, and here's how it goes.
The needle on the temp. gauge never seems to go above the top edge of
the warning light. At that point it triggers the high speed cooling
fan. When this occurs, the A/C is automatically shut down until the
needle gets to the low edge of the warning light, and then the cycle
starts all over again.
We experienced this continuously for several hours driving down 395
between Bishop and Mojave in east-central California on a 90-degree day.
The A/C was off at least as much as it was on.
This doesn't seem like very good A/C. My '84 never experienced this
condition, although it did seem far more prone to over-heating on a
long, up-hill grade.
It may be significant that the PO lived in Las Vegas, and may have set
something in a way different than the way others are set.
So, the question. Do I just learn to live with this, or is it "broken",
and needs fixing ?
Thanks for any advice you might offer.
Fin Beven
Pasadena, CA
'84 GL, camper-conversion
'90 Carat, camper-conversion
