S40 (New) AC : Air on issue please help

[Sts40]

Hi, I recently bought my S40 (2010) 1.6 DRIVe.

Had the air on rehashed at Kwik-fit. 6 weeks later the air on is blowing colder on the passenger side of the centre dash vents by about 5-6c than the drivers! And the the care just not calling with temp on auto at 19c (outside 24c)

Car went to an another garage to be checked. Pressure of gas fine, they state that the gas/lubricant mixture wasn’t correct for the vehicle, another £70 and 6 weeks later, exactly the same issue.

Yesterday I drove the car for 25 minutes. Aircon set to 17c, outside temp was about 24c. After 25 minutes drive, the aircon blower still on max, slightly warm air from driver side vents than passenger side, and I was sweating.

Any ideas please?

[Welton]

The heater matrix is basically on all the time and the airflow diverted away from or to the heater as required by the Climate ECU.

There's motorised actuators which move the air 'flaps' to control the desired cabin temp. Only VIDA will interrogate the system and explain any faults with the various sensors/motors etc but generally the system performs well.

The 'dirty fix' well worth a try first is to set both sides to the same temp and then slowly take the temperature dial down to 'Lo' and slowly back up to 'Hi' this has proved to work well in the past.

Personally I've never seen a Dual Climate system happy with anything other than about 3 Deg C max difference in the requested temps so I always leave both sides equal to save it from the stress of trying.

[Sts40]

Thank you, I’ll give it a try. The temp in the car is unacceptable and the system isn’t getting it down to anywhere near the selected temp on the dial.

I took out a gold warranty when I bought it (non Volvo) and it’s booked in for end of next week.

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by Sts40

Thank you, I’ll give it a try. The temp in the car is unacceptable and the system isn’t getting it down to anywhere near the selected temp on the dial.

I took out a gold warranty when I bought it (non Volvo) and it’s booked in for end of next week.

Not sure if I understood you correctly - NONE of the sides cools down properly right? Maybe issue is not in climate control but in (VERY common on our case) compressor clutch gap? When you swith AC on, aircon compressor engages the clutch with electromagnet and that "produces" cold air (sorry, not very knowledgeable in this topic). When gap between clutch (that wears down) and electromagnet becomes too big, you press AC ON and it does noting, but car will think AC is engaged, green light is on etc etc. but it blows just normal uncooled air.
Check if compressor engages and holds on working. If not, possible case of what I was saying (google AC compressor shimming). Easy fix.

Welton - not quite agree with your "3 ded difference", my car easily do LOW/HIGH on each side indepentendly and it does work as intended (one side is chilly cool another is unpleseantly hot).Did it for testing a lots of times, unless you meant something different?

[rxtian]

These were the exact symptoms our C30 had when it was low on gas, a recharge fixed it. I checked the heater flaps with VIDA and they were passing diagnostics.

Think the reason must have been the refrigerant must enter on the side that the passenger air goes through, then go to the drivers side, so what little cooling there was was all being taken by the passenger vents.

Since you have had the gas volume checked twice, there may be some other problem preventing the system cooling effectively, causing the same symptoms.

[Welton]

Originally Posted by LizardOfBodom

Welton - not quite agree with your "3 ded difference", my car easily do LOW/HIGH on each side indepentendly and it does work as intended (one side is chilly cool another is unpleseantly hot).Did it for testing a lots of times, unless you meant something different?

You're right the Climate Control will split the heat/cool quite well each side but I don't like the affect on the fan speed as there's only one common fan. That's why I said that any more than 3 deg C difference seems to cause 'confusion' in the system.

To be honest in 6 years of driving as our main family car and another 5 years just mainly myself I've never felt the need to have different temps between left/right sides - the interior is so small it doesn't really need it.

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by Welton

...
To be honest in 6 years of driving as our main family car and another 5 years just mainly myself I've never felt the need to have different temps between left/right sides - the interior is so small it doesn't really need it.

agreed in theory! I always have it on even left/right as it bothers me otherwise :P BUT on some occasions it came handy to be able to split the temp as my GF is always cold so when I have it 18deg on my side she puts it 21 on her and everybodys happy. It doesnt make huge difference but noticeable enough, but hey - if feature exists, why not?

[Sts40]

I am getting cooling, just not to the degree it makes any difference on a 25 minute drive. You notice a difference in temp between driver vents and passenger vents. And the air on passenger side is definitely being cooled, just not apparently on the driver side...

I’ll try the fix suggested earlier when I’m next out in the car. The tech who re gassed last time was confident that the compressor was fine and engaging correctly, which seems to be the case as there is some cooling going on, just no where near enough to get the interior temp to what it should be.

When I consider my partners car within a mile the aircon has cooled and the fan speed drops to a subtle blow... mine remains blowing on max throughout...

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by Sts40

I am getting cooling, just not to the degree it makes any difference on a 25 minute drive. You notice a difference in temp between driver vents and passenger vents. And the air on passenger side is definitely being cooled, just not apparently on the driver side...

I’ll try the fix suggested earlier when I’m next out in the car. The tech who re gassed last time was confident that the compressor was fine and engaging correctly, which seems to be the case as there is some cooling going on, just no where near enough to get the interior temp to what it should be.

When I consider my partners car within a mile the aircon has cooled and the fan speed drops to a subtle blow... mine remains blowing on max throughout...

Ah, ok right... And what happens if you put both sides to LOW manually and set a manual fan speed onto only dashboard vents (so basically full manual all) - is there still not enough cool and one side is warmer?

[Sts40]

Yes, no change apart from fan speed... passenger window vent and centre vent blow cool/chilled air, but certainly not cold.... drivers centre and window vents blow lukewarm air...

I wouldn’t be too bothered if it were the other way around... lol... it’s usually just me in the car anyway..