[Bubby]

Originally Posted by Ice

If the compressor is on max, the ice forms every half hour or so. at minimum (where blue meets red), it takes about 50 minutes. I then switch off the compressor and the after a few minutes, a few drops of water leak onto the dead pedal near the clutcn (ice freezing, maybe?). The moment the droplets of water appear, I turn the compressor back on and it works great!

I've decided to live with this. Knowing Fiat service, and recalling what happened to my Uno's AC, I've psyched myself into actually liking the chore of turning off and then turning on the compressor!

I have however, noticed that after long hours in A/c. environments (home/office/car), I begin to feel warm and am constantly reducing the temperature till the car/room is almost freezing (unless the other occupants stop me). So it is not that the A/c. stopped functioning, it is some malfunctioning sensor in me.

Thats strange, this is my first summer in my SDX, I went to Aligarh last week on Thursday afternoon with AC on for almost 3.5 hours continuously and it worked absolutely fine.

Common get it checked, it will be a very minor issue, what I think there is this wire which touches the condenser which in turn helps in auto cut. Just get it checked, it will just take a few minutes.

[madhav]

I need some expert advice for the following problem with my Palio MJD 7 months old, 5500Km.

In the last 10 days my car's fan (engine) starts running after about a 1km drive and does not stop until I switch off the car. It resumes the minute I start the car if the restart is within a few hours of running.
Observations:
The temp indicator stays just above the quarter mark and never climbs to any alarming levels.
The power/pick-up FE has also not changed. Even with AC there is no difference.
Checked the coolant levels and everything looks fine.
I initially thought this was due to the summer heat, but even in the evening or late nights when the temp is low (in Bangalore) this problem persists. I'm not sure what the problem is and am planning to take the car to the service center on Monday.

The irritating part is fact that the car kicks up a tornado when the fan is on and throws dust all around. Not a very pleasant scene especially in traffic when other motorists can be irritates with this.

Any advices or suggestions? Any specifics that I can check myself or insist the service center to look at?

Sorry if someone has already answered this... but I didn't have the time to look into the archives. I'll appreciate if some answers can be provided or if some one can point me to the thread.

Thanks in advance

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by madhav

I need some expert advice for the following problem with my Palio MJD 7 months old, 5500Km.

In the last 10 days my car's fan (engine) starts running after about a 1km drive and does not stop until I switch off the car. It resumes the minute I start the car if the restart is within a few hours of running.
Observations:
The temp indicator stays just above the quarter mark and never climbs to any alarming levels.
The power/pick-up FE has also not changed. Even with AC there is no difference.
Checked the coolant levels and everything looks fine.
I initially thought this was due to the summer heat, but even in the evening or late nights when the temp is low (in Bangalore) this problem persists. I'm not sure what the problem is and am planning to take the car to the service center on Monday.

The irritating part is fact that the car kicks up a tornado when the fan is on and throws dust all around. Not a very pleasant scene especially in traffic when other motorists can be irritates with this.

Any advices or suggestions? Any specifics that I can check myself or insist the service center to look at?

Sorry if someone has already answered this... but I didn't have the time to look into the archives. I'll appreciate if some answers can be provided or if some one can point me to the thread.

Thanks in advance

The fan will almost always run if the A/C in on in Palio.

[madhav]

sorry I guess I should have mentioned... I'm not using the AC at all since this issue cropped up. And as I've mentioned the temp gauge is as it has always been, just above the 1/4 mark. Nothing unusual with the except for the fan running throughout.

If you said the fan runs always with the AC, I've never seen it continuously on even on long runs with the AC working for over an hour.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Ice

Folks,

2. AC - Ice formation - Once the AC runs continuously for 45 minutes to an hour (especially on the highway), the cooling reduces drastically. Prerana told me that this was because of ice formation, and was part and parcel of the design. I tend to agree with him, because I had the same issue with my Petra's AC.

Fix: Nothing exotic, just irritating. Switch the compressor off every 30 minutes or so on the highway for a minute or so, and the ice melts.

Look forward to hearing from the rest of you!

Is it the flow that reduces or the cooling? I don't see any reason for cooling to reduce without a reduction in flow rate of air, just because Ice formed somewhere in the system.

However, I never felt the need to run Palio's strong ac for more than 15-20 minutes continuously in the extreme 'blue' position. I switch it off intermittently. Its too cold otherwise. Sometimes I turn the temperature knob little away from the extreme blue to have a comfortable temperature.

In Palio, a good thing is that, even if you switch off the AC and just run the fan, it will deliver cold air for some more time. I tried this in a Santro, the moment you turn the ac off, hot air starts flowing.

[Ice]

@Bubby - thanks. Will discuss this with Prerana next time I'm there. However, they did check the auto cutoff feature when I raised this issue with them earlier, and it seems that the cutoff is functioning as expected.

@clevermax - First, the cooling drops slightly. Then, the flow (throw?) reduces significantly. At this point, I turn off the compressor. In a few minutes, I feel a distinct improvement in the cooling and flow, followed by droplets of water gracing my left foot (this is supposedly from the condensation of the frozen AC tube). Strange, to say the least. I'm guessing the flow reduces when the ice forms because of obstructions in the condenser caused by the ice buildup.

@Madhav, my car's 2nd (AC) fan turns on only when I drive with the AC. If I drive in stop and go traffic without the AC, the temp needle inches up a little from 20% (normal levels) to about 35% of the gauge marker, and stops there. At this point, when I turn on the AC, the 2nd fan comes on and the AC begins its job of cooling the car. At the same time, the effect of the 2nd fan is felt in the engine bay, where the temp needle falls back to 20% (normal) levels.

[Bubby]

Originally Posted by madhav

The irritating part is fact that the car kicks up a tornado when the fan is on and throws dust all around. Not a very pleasant scene especially in traffic when other motorists can be irritates with this.

You know what Madhav, I feel otherwise about it.

I just love the way it throws dust all around, to me its like warning others on road to stay away, the tank is at work

[madhav]

Thanks guys for all the advice... I had been to the service center (Prerana Motors OMR Bangalore) and the guys there tried to figure out the problem for about 2hrs. They came back telling me that the thermostat was malfunctioning and will have to be replaced. And as expected there is no stock and they would place an order. They asked me to come back after a month or so...

FIAT...c'mon this spare part issue should've been history by now. Especially in Bangalore. There are sooo many Palio's (MJD) here that these dealers should have stock of everything!

[merve_extreme]

Originally Posted by Ice

@clevermax - First, the cooling drops slightly. Then, the flow (throw?) reduces significantly. At this point, I turn off the compressor. In a few minutes, I feel a distinct improvement in the cooling and flow, followed by droplets of water gracing my left foot (this is supposedly from the condensation of the frozen AC tube). Strange, to say the least. I'm guessing the flow reduces when the ice forms because of obstructions in the condenser caused by the ice buildup.

The Expansion Valve and thermostat in you AC are not working correctly.A properly working AC will never have frost buildup on the Evaporator Coil because the Expansion valve and Thermostat will always maintain the coil temp at just above 0 C somewhere in the range of 1-4 C. Even if either one of the two are working correctly Frost will not form on the Evaporator Coil.

If the Thermostat is not working then AC compressor will never cut-off but the Expansion valve will maintain the Evaporator Coil temp above freezing by reducing the flow of refrigerant passing through it, If the Thermostat is working but the expansion valve is not then the thermostat will cut out the Compressor at 4-5 C air temp at the central vents which will prevent frost buildup on the evaporator coil.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by merve_extreme

The Expansion Valve and thermostat in you AC are not working correctly.A properly working AC will never have frost buildup on the Evaporator Coil because the Expansion valve and Thermostat will always maintain the coil temp at just above 0 C somewhere in the range of 1-4 C. Even if either one of the two are working correctly Frost will not form on the Evaporator Coil.

If the Thermostat is not working then AC compressor will never cut-off but the Expansion valve will maintain the Evaporator Coil temp above freezing by reducing the flow of refrigerant passing through it, If the Thermostat is working but the expansion valve is not then the thermostat will cut out the Compressor at 4-5 C air temp at the central vents which will prevent frost buildup on the evaporator coil.

Thanks, merve_extreme. Will pepper Prerana with this information at the next service. The problem surfaced once more this weekend
(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post1215850)

[Ice]

So...
I sold myself on fitting an after-market air filter for Forza. Headed to Hot Tracks in Bangalore and took a look at their range of air filters and decided to go with the Green Cotton air filter. Waited for a half hour, and the filter was delivered by an exuberant youth who worked at the Green Cotton warehouse.

The boffin gets to work under the hood, and realizes that I need to remove the engine cover in order to fit the air filter. And what's more, the engine cover cannot be fitted back on. Excellent!

I couldn't stand the idea of not having an engine cover ( believe me folks,the 1.3 looks ugly under the shroud). So I resign myself to a measly K&N stock filter. And learn (after a healthy, 30 minute wait of course) that K&N doesn't make stock air filters that fit the new Palio MJD. Go figure.

[Ice]

Does anyone have an email address for Fiat India customer care. Ripped apart their website but couldn't fine one. Blast!

[Ice]

Update on the AC icing problem. Prerana says its a loose wire in the thermostat, and they've fixed it. Am heading to Madras this weekend, and will check whether the problem has been rectified.

[phamilyman]

Mangesh.Kodalkar@fiapl.com and service@fiapl.com should do

[Ice]

@phamilyman: Thanks!