V50 AC : V50 aircon fails when hot

[Stempy]

So I spent the morning poking around the compressor. I checked the gap which is .6mm so is twice as big as it should be if .3mm is correct.

I left the car idle with the aircon on until it finally stopped working again and it would seem that on closer inspection the clutch does not engage correctly when hot, although the idle speed of the engine changes when it thinks the clutch should be cutting in, hence leading me to believe that it was working ok.

As there doesn't seem to be any way to remove the clutch plate without a special tool (I tried to fabricate something but it wasn't strong enough) I have ordered a puller tool and will attack the clutch when it arrives. Fingers crossed.

[cheshired5]

When the clutch gap was my problem, I fixed it with this simple and free solution.

[Stempy]

That's a clever and interesting solution, but I can easily gain access to the compressor on my V50 so I will wait for my puller to arrive, remove a shim and see what happens. The puller kit was only £25 so if it works I'm still quids in compared to garage costs.

[Stempy]

Well, my clutch puller arrived this morning and I put it straight to work and re-shimmed the clutch plate gap to .3mm as advised, whilst also cleaning up the mating surfaces. Happy to report that it has work perfectly all day in 28 degree heat including a lot of slow and stop start heat generating traffic.

Thanks to all for advice and encouragement. Just in the nick of time with the heatwave starting.

[cheshired5]

Do you have a link for the puller to help any owners with a similar problem?

[Stempy]

Yes, it was from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Obviously being universal you don't need all of it, and you can get similar kits elsewhere, I only ordered from Amazon for the one day delivery. Neither Halfords nor ECP/GSF seem to stock them so you have wait 4 days for delivery to store.

Very easy job with this kit though, if you have good access to the Compressor.