[rajiv.kulkarni]

I have been using my Santro Xing XL for almost 2 years now.

Off late i've been experiencing a peculiar issue with the A/C in my car.

The compressor comes on intermittently, whenever it is ON, the A/C cools well and everything works normally. I can feel that the compressor is ON as the difference is felt in the PULL of the car.

At times, the compressor just doesn't come ON at all. The LED comes on when the A/C switch is depressed, however there is NO sound coming from the compressor and no difference felt whatsoever in the PULL of the car. I don't feel the cooling effect as well.

I first experienced this on a long drive to MYSORE, I turned on the A/C and thought that it was ON all the while however didn't feel any cooling effect. This was in the month of MAY so I thought that due to the HEAT the A/C might not have been very effective as I didn't have even TINT on my windows.

Later in November, I took my car on a long trip to TIRUPATHI. This time around my car did have 3M Medium TINT. Again the A/C behaved in exactly the same way, the LED came ON however no cooling effect. This is when I did some investigations like paying close attention to SOUND and stuff like that.

Presently if I keep fiddling with the A/C Button the compressor does start sometimes and I get the chill effect however it isn't consistent.

I got the A/C neutralization service done from AHSS (Advaith Mission Road) however the issue still remains. I did mention this issue to the service center and was told that the A/C button had some loose contact which has been rectified.

But the issue still persists.

I read through several articles in the forum and thought that this might be due to the a/c gas shortage or forming of ice or something similar.

Let me mention here is that I have been reluctant to regularly use my A/C all these days as I have been very conscious about the mileage.

Now I feel that I should have atleast used my A/C once in a week.

Since the past 2-3 days I have been using my A/C consistently and it is working NOW (Touchwood). I don't know if the problem has got resolved on its own or NO.

I'm going on a long drive on Sunday and have kept my fingers crossed.

Any inputs are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Note: Mods if you feel that this is in the wrong place please feel free to move it and intimate me. Thanks for your patience.

Cheers!

[Strangerintown]

I have been facing exactly the same problem in my Indica Petrol for some time now. It doesnt happen all the time - only occassionally - and ofcourse never when I'm trying to demonstrate the problem to a mechanic .

Not sure if it is the switch or a loose contact somewhere else in the electricals. I dont think it is anything to do with the compressor itself or the gas quantity because when the compressor is running it chills just fine.

[GTO - Touring]

You'd need to check (in the same order):

- A/c gas recharge (required?)
- Compressor clutch
- Relay

99%, it has to be one of the above. If you are unlucky, then your evaporator and / or expansion valve is busted (as in the case of one of my cars very recently).

[SirAlec]

any of the following.
1. relay.
2. expansion valve settings.

If your ac mechanic is expert, he may set up the valve without releasing the gas, thus saving about rs.800.

[ssjr0498]

Check the following, it happend on my Honda as well! the culprit in my case was the Relay.
1. A/C Relay
2.Compressor Clutch.

[rajiv.kulkarni]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Well it turns out that nothing is broken after all. I had kept my A/C unused for quite long, may be that was the source of the issue.

Had been to a long drive during Christmas holidays, A/C ran fine all the way and is running fine till now (touch wood) .

I have started using my A/C continuously now atleast for 1 hr a day and till date the problem hasn't reoccurred. I know it sounds strange but its true.

Thanks again,

Cheers!

Rajiv

[ipkonfig]

I too had faced the same on my maruti 800 sometime back. Service personnel were blaming the battery. Replaced the battery but still the problem persisted. Now it seems to have fixed by itself.

[rajiv.kulkarni]

Since about 3 months didn't have any issues with my A/C, now that the hot days are back the issue has resurfaced again.

Inspite of repeated attempts, A/C doesn't switch on, only the A/C LED comes on, will take my car to the service centre today & see if they come up with a solution.

Will keep everybody posted.

Thanks,
Rajiv

[rapidsnail]

Well, to me it seems like thermostat is faulty. Could you try and get that checked. It happened to my M800 due to ice formation (which was due to poor drainage of condensed water in evaporator coils) spoiling the thermostat.

Let me know if it helps.

[rajiv.kulkarni]

Thanks rapidsnail for the input, will get it checked thoroughly this time, i want to avoid repetetion of this issue.

Thanks,
Rajiv

[rajiv.kulkarni]

I left office early yesterday and went to Hyudai service centre(Advaith Rajajinagar) and met up with the SA. Briefed him about the issue description.

The issue was narrowed down to faulty fuse then later the issue seemed to be the electrical wiring from the relay to the fusebox.

The engineer directed the cable from relay to fusebox and the a/c worked flawlessly. The eletrical cabling is to be changed on my Santro so she is lying in the service centre as of now, will pick her up later in the day. Also since Hyundai free service campaign is ON, i decided to utilize it and get it serviced free of cost .

Thanks all for your help on this one.

[rajiv.kulkarni]

Well, it appears that the issue is now resolved.

No thermostat replacement, the wiring was an issue as stated earlier, Hyundai A.S.S guyz removed the connections (something called coupler) and reassemled, things are working fine now.

Thanks,
Rajiv