Air con blowing hot while stationary

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Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:30 pm

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with the air con blowing hot air while the car is stationary? My ML Triton is just out of warranty, and I've run into this issue. I have done a google search and others have suggested a problem with the aux fan not working correctly. I want to check it before I book it in for repairs, so I was just wondering if anyone could tell me which fan I should be looking at?
Thanks
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Mooons on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:35 pm

yep mine did the same last weekend
had been sitting stationary for about 20mins
as soon as i started moving cool air :?: :?:
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Mooons on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:36 pm

had the windows part way down for the dog which wouldn't have helped
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby qwertyboy03 on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:40 pm

It will most likely be caused by a block in between your radiator and AC condenser.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby salt36 on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:42 pm

Would not surprise me in this weather, it is still 38 deg outside here, where's the sweating icon ?

The condenser needs lots of air moving through it in the heat.

Only solution is an electric fan mounted in front of it, or keep moving......
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby fridgie on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:42 pm

Check the condenser isn't blocked with mud, might not be able to get enough air flow without the vehicle moving ;-)
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:52 pm

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if there is some sort of auxiliary fan to the condenser that I can check in the morning? Just drove 650km with the missus and two kids in the car. Hard going when it's 40C outside and you need to stop!!
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby 4wd26 on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:57 pm

yep check the radiator as a first cheap resort.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby hornet on Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:59 pm

Not to state the obvious , but have you got it on recirc when stationary?
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:09 pm

hornet wrote:Not to state the obvious , but have you got it on recirc when stationary?

Yes, it is hot on both recirculation and fresh.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not after the cheap option. We are visiting family and going back on Tuesday, so that only leaves two business days to try and get someone to look at the car. If it needs parts, I don't think there is a chance in hell of the parts arriving before we have to leave. If there is something I can check to hopefully diagnose the problem, I can get it fixed when we get back home next week. It would be a bonus if I could get it going considering the temps are going to be continuing into next week :cry:
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby NowForThe5th on Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:10 pm

In the ML Triton there is no electric fan in front of the condensor, as would be found on many other vehicles. Instead the engine belt driven fan takes care of moving air through the condensor, radiator and intercooler and auto transmission cooler, where fitted. This fan is a high volume unit (which is why it is so noisy), aided in efficiency by shrouding around the back of the radiator. It is, a little unusually controlled by engine rather than ambient engine bay temperatures.

Generally, the system works well enough although on very hot days there may be some reduction in air conditioning performance while idling and stationary. The air conditioner should, however, still blow cool air, just not as cold as it might be when moving.

The most common problem is a build up of grass/insects/whatever on the cooling fins of the condensor and radiator so your first action should be to clean these thoroughly to ensure that they are not impaired in their ability to transfer heat. If the problem persists then there may be other causes such as insufficient refrigerant in the system or a problem with the compressor or a valve in the system. If this looks like it might be the case then I'd suggest a visit to your local air conditioning specialist.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:14 pm

Thanks Chris, good to know. Will be checking for mud, insects etc. in the morning to see if anything obvious could be impairing it.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Lee-thal on Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:26 am

Will all but Guarantee the Condensor and Radiator are blocked with Mud, Debris, Have seen it quite a FEW times,
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:43 am

Lee-thal wrote:Will all but Guarantee the Condensor and Radiator are blocked with Mud, Debris, Have seen it quite a FEW times,

Just checked the condenser and there are a few insects on it but no mud. What's the easiest way to clean the insects off as it is pretty hard to get to?

I also ran the air con to check it while it is still under 30C, and it feels cold on recirculating mode and fresh mode while idling. Maybe it just can't handle the extra heat...
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Lee-thal on Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:43 am

You need to look between the condensor and Radiator, thats where it all builds up,

Only way to do that is to undo the top 2 bolts on radiator and shine a light down there,
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby MN GLXR on Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:17 am

I had a similar issue when I was driving on the beach on a hot day with a strong TAIL wind. That meant no airflow into the front of the car and the aircon was hot. When I turned around and drove into the wind, the air com was cool again.

You need airflow on very hot days..... :D
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Mikew on Fri Dec 14, 2012 5:43 am

Being a mechanic and air con fitter, I can say for certain that no air conditioner will work well when sitting still. Air flow is required through the condenser to cool the refrigerant and make it condense into a liquid, the engine fan is mainly for cooling the engine not running the air con. If the air con works whilst driving it is fine
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby RHKTriton on Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:50 pm

Amazing how much insect guts and vegetation ends up between the Condenser and Radiator over a few months.

Big problem I see with the Triton setup is the gap between the two units. If the Condenser starts getting a little restricted, air will probably go around it to get to the radiator.

I've got a couple of 10" fans I want to set up on the condenser and intercooler and a larger one to replace the engine unit. Just got to develop the best control gear for this.

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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:37 pm

Thanks for the tips guys. I would expect a reduction in performance when the car is stationary, but not hot air. I'm sure it used to work fine when the ute was new.

I have the car booked in for a service on Monday and I've asked them to look at the AC while it is in. I've also had a problem with the 'check engine' light coming on and staying on.

We picked a good day to travel back from the coast today. It wasn't under 36C the whole 340km. I'm after some more advice on something that may be related. The air conditioner in the car worked fine when we left. Travelling up the Macquarie Pass, the air went completely hot. This is the first time this has happened while driving. I tried turning the AC off and back on a few times, hoping it would kick it into gear. That didn't work.

I don't know why I even thought to do it, but I had the Waeco charger plugged into the 12V plug in the centre console. It wasn't charging the battery as the battery was in the ute tub with the fridge. I pulled the plug out and the air instantly went cold. My wife and I both noticed it and couldn't explain it. I don't know if there is some sort of a short or other issue, but the AC worked for the next 280 odd kilometres without missing a beat.

About 30km from home, the air again went hot as we were going up a hill. I saw the engine was overheating almost up into the red. I turned off the AC, turned on the heater to cool the engine, and it came down after a minute or so to about half way. I nursed the car home with the AC on the lowest setting. The outside temp was 42C so couldn't really go without it with two kids in the back.

On getting home, I let the car cool down as much as it could in the heat. The coolant was at the high mark, and I couldn't see anything obviously out of place in the engine. I had to drive 30km a bit later, and on returning, the engine again started to heat up past the middle mark on the same hill. I nursed the car home again, and the AC worked fine the rest of the way.

I'm certainly no mechanic, but I have a few questions for the mechanically minded.

- Is it likely the 'check engine' light problem is related to the AC problem or the engine overheating? The 'check engine' light hasn't been on for about 4 or 5 days, but it intermittently comes on.

- Could there be something related to the AC with the removal of the plug from the cigarette lighter plug? Seems unlikely, but the AC definitely started working the second I removed the Waeco charger from the 12V plug.

- Could the overheating just be related to the heat of the day and the long trip or is it likely related to the AC problem?

Any advice would be appreciated. The car is going to be serviced on Monday, but it would be good to have some input from the members here about the issues and possible causes.

Cheers
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby SecondEye on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:16 pm

I would have thought the AC would be on an entirely different circuit in fact i think it has a larger than usual fuse housed next to the battery (could be relay in there). If you check engine keeps coming on especially with no special mods there is something failing. Would be interesting to see if its throwing a low voltage code. If that is the case i would look at body and engine earth points and check your alternator is not contaminated with dirt or with loose nuts or damaged belt. In reality the mechanics should be able to work it out if you let them know the symptoms, but sometimes they need a good headsup.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby fridgie on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:19 pm

On a day that hot, especially on a long trip, things are going to suffer. When we were wheeling at city view the dash was saying 37deg outside temp and sitting there idling the ac was useless as usual.

I honestly don't think there has been enough airflow designed to go through the condensor. On a world stage most residential/commercial ac is designed to cope with an ambient temp around the 35deg mark, most ac designed for aus are built for 40-42deg ambient temp so there could be some design restriction due to the world market for the triton.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby kilroy on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:23 pm

No worries, will make sure everything is communicated to the mechanics. Has anyone experienced significant overheating with their Triton? That is the concerning thing for me at the moment with more hot weather on the way.
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby fridgie on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:39 pm

kilroy wrote:No worries, will make sure everything is communicated to the mechanics. Has anyone experienced significant overheating with their Triton? That is the concerning thing for me at the moment with more hot weather on the way.

I've had it, had a partially blocked radiator... Would steadily climb on the highway - gauge just below red and scan tool showing 115deg and slightly higher.

Hit 105deg on the weekend while wheeling. Switched car off while stopped for a bit and left ac off and didn't get past 82 for rest of the day
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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Mattstruck on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:41 pm

I had same AC issue 2 weeks ago and rang Mitsu who told me to bring it in. However he mentioned if I hadnt been using the AC over winter the seals can dry out and cause a gas leak causing low pressure at idle hence the hot air till you take off.
Still havent been in yet but best do that before Beachport trip ;)

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Re: Air con blowing hot while stationary

Postby Cowboy Dave on Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:42 pm

Also there have been a couple of recent threads on over heating - do a search and you should turn them up pretty quickly.
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