[Mortis]

Is it possible that a fault with the electrics is causing the coils to fail ?

[penpavan]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Is it possible that a fault with the electrics is causing the coils to fail ?

I don't know. Although I think it is unlikely to cause a mechanical failure (leakage)

Is A/C coil and A/C core one and the same?

[Mortis]

Maybe it would be worthwhile looking into retrofitting an equivalent part from another manufacturer if the one in the fiesta keeps failing ?

[sbala]

I am exactly in the same situation now. Had A/c problem couple of years back and then coil was changed. Now, I am facing the same problem again. The quote I got from Metro ford is 14k. Looks like Ford likes their customers to replace this every 2 years. Have to send a strong email on this. :-(

[sbala]

Originally Posted by sbala

I am exactly in the same situation now. Had A/c problem couple of years back and then coil was changed. Now, I am facing the same problem again. The quote I got from Metro ford is 14k. Looks like Ford likes their customers to replace this every 2 years. Have to send a strong email on this. :-(

Escalated to Ford on this issue. Finally, managed to get a discount of 3.5k from the service center guys. Had to shell out 10k for the whole repairs. But these guys didnt fix the dashboard properly. There is lot of sounds coming from the dash. Have to check that as well.

[cyberwhizs]

Fiesta(classic) AC behavior seems to be predictable, first the cooling coil will go bust and then after a couple of years you will have a leak in the condenser. Original condenser is not available in the open market (Fiesta P - 1.4 EXI) , the new one at FORD costs a whopping 15K.

Since new parts are not available my AC guy somehow managed to get the leaky condenser repaired i.e. welded, aluminum welding i hear is tricky and not commonly done, total damage - 2650/- including gas recharge etc.

[sbala]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Fiesta(classic) AC behavior seems to be predictable, first the cooling coil will go bust and then after a couple of years you will have a leak in the condenser. Original condenser is not available in the open market (Fiesta P - 1.4 EXI) , the new one at FORD costs a whopping 15K.

Since new parts are not available my AC guy somehow managed to get the leaky condenser repaired i.e. welded, aluminum welding i hear is tricky and not commonly done, total damage - 2650/- including gas recharge etc.

You are lucky to get such a AC guy. In Bangalore, at least, the places i visited, everyone asked me to replace and gave me a quote upto 10k. After some fight with Ford, i brought the expense down to 11.5k from 15k.

[cyberwhizs]

Originally Posted by sbala

You are lucky to get such a AC guy. In Bangalore, at least, the places i visited, everyone asked me to replace and gave me a quote upto 10k. After some fight with Ford, i brought the expense down to 11.5k from 15k.

Well, the first attempt obviously was to get it replaced but since parts were not available he got it welded, somewhat reluctantly. On the previous occasion is was a replace - cooling coil.

[sbala]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Well, the first attempt obviously was to get it replaced but since parts were not available he got it welded, somewhat reluctantly. On the previous occasion is was a replace - cooling coil.

Oh Okay. Ford's part availability in open market is always a problem.
So far, i have spent around 22K for fixing this coil couple of times. Luckily, that's the only let down. Otherwise, my car is a gem (covered. 1,03,000 KMs so far)

[mTorque]

Just to let everyone know that I had replaced the AC cooling/evaporator coil from a local AC mechannic (Sree Guru AC mechanic in CIT nagar, Chennai).
He did a real good job for about 7.5K. Ford A** estimated about 10 to 12K for the same job. However, to replace the coil, the dashboard needs to be dismantled and its labour intensive.
The replaced part looked very similar to the original one and claimed ot be of OEM quality.
Its been a month since I changed, no issues faced until now. PM me if you need more details.

[pzkfg6]

It is not ford making money out of us, what I feel is, they are forced to design wafer thin heat exchangers for better thermal effeciency may be to adapt for the new gas and could have relation to lesser emission (I guess). I am changing it for every 40k kms. If I keep the car ultra clean it runs for another 10k.

[sswaroop]

Our Fiesta has been having problems with the Air Con for the past year or so. There is no issue with the cooling of the A/C. However, the A/C is leaking external air while in Internal Circulation mode. As the cooling in the Fiesta is amazing to the point of chilling even with the fan at 1, this isn't a problem normally. But when travelling behind smoke emitting autos or trucks, or garbage trucks/ collection places, it is an annoyance to get the smell when still on internal circulation mode.

The last time during service, I went to the Metro Ford on St. Marks Road here in Bangalore, and told them about the problem. They told me that they have to remove the whole A/C system, access it via the dashboard (Rs. 3000 for stripping the dashboard), check for leaks, replace the Evaporator coil, recharge the A/C gas and replace a couple of other parts I can't remember. Total expenditure was about Rs. 18000. I said never mind and walked out. I complained to the Service Manager and he said that he would call me with the solution, but as usual that call never came.

Then during the most recent service about 20 days back, I again told the same issue but this time to the SA that I had worked with before. He called me and told me the same thing that the Evaporator needs to be changed, but the cost would be about 14k. When I took the delivery, it was raining and couldn't check the A/C running properly. Before I could realize it wasn't running, I was already in traffic and impossible to go back. They had forgotten to recharge the A/C gas that resulted in no cooling effect at all. Looked like a ploy to get me to change the Evaporator from them by making the A/C not work properly. Went back the next day and after some bashing got the A/C back to working the way it was.

I couldn't understand why the Evaporator needs to be changed when the A/C is running fine and the only problem is in the external air coming in during the internal circulation mode is on.

Has anybody faced this problem with external air coming in during internal circulation mode? And any solutions to spending about

P.S - My dad used to drive this Fiesta in Kolkota for about 2 years. The remaining 5 years the vehicle has remained in and around Bangalore itself.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by sswaroop

Our Fiesta has been having problems with the Air Con for the past year or so. There is no issue with the cooling of the A/C. However, the A/C is leaking external air while in Internal Circulation mode. As the cooling in the Fiesta is amazing to the point of chilling even with the fan at 1, this isn't a problem normally. But when travelling behind smoke emitting autos or trucks, or garbage trucks/ collection places, it is an annoyance to get the smell when still on internal circulation mode.



Has anybody faced this problem with external air coming in during internal circulation mode? And any solutions to spending about

As I understand your problem its purely related to the recirculation function. And the AC works fine otherwise. That means there is most likely something wrong with the various valves that should ensure recirculation. It could be something as simple as a partly stuck valve, maybe some dirt got in it. No other parts should be affected. Now for the bad news. To get at these parts you need to remove a lot of stuff. But not the stuff you mention, and you certainly don't need to replace all the stuff you mention.

So bottomline I think you need somebody that knows ACs and is trust worthy. This is a case of picking the dashboard apart, maybe a few other bits and figure out which valves are not closing properly and why.

Jeroen

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by sswaroop

Has anybody faced this problem with external air coming in during internal circulation mode? And any solutions to spending about

P.S - My dad used to drive this Fiesta in Kolkota for about 2 years. The remaining 5 years the vehicle has remained in and around Bangalore itself.

Since the AC is cooling very well, there is no point in changing the Evaporator.

Take your car to an independent garage or a Car AC service centre, they will be able to get the issue fixed at a fraction of the cost.

[sswaroop]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

It could be something as simple as a partly stuck valve, maybe some dirt got in it. No other parts should be affected. Now for the bad news. To get at these parts you need to remove a lot of stuff. But not the stuff you mention, and you certainly don't need to replace all the stuff you mention.

So bottomline I think you need somebody that knows ACs and is trust worthy. This is a case of picking the dashboard apart, maybe a few other bits and figure out which valves are not closing properly and why.

Jeroen

Thanks @Jeroen! That's what I thought that the problem should be with the valves that control the recirculation.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Since the AC is cooling very well, there is no point in changing the Evaporator.

Take your car to an independent garage or a Car AC service centre, they will be able to get the issue fixed at a fraction of the cost.

Thank you @speedmiester. Do you happen to know any AC mechanics in Bangalore?

Any other T-Bhpians know of a trusted AC repair guy here in Bangalore?