Weak Hyundai i20 air-conditioner. EDIT : Test results on pg. 4

mail4ajo · 26th April 2010, 20:24

I talked at length on this issue with a senior manager at Hyundai. He says that the issue is only on the Asta. The reason is its sucking air from outside on AUTO. You must manually change to re-circulation mode.

As per him the manual AC doesnt have an issue. Can Magna owners confirm? If magna owners confirm then we can maybe isolate the issue to the climate control.

He accepted issue on the steering rattle. I am testing the AT version tomorrow at 11am. Will post some feedback.

Rodeo · 26th April 2010, 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I talked at length on this issue with a senior manager at Hyundai. He says that the issue is only on the Asta. The reason is its sucking air from outside on AUTO. You must manually change to re-circulation mode.

As per him the manual AC doesnt have an issue. Can Magna owners confirm? If magna owners confirm then we can maybe isolate the issue to the climate control.

He accepted issue on the steering rattle. I am testing the AT version tomorrow at 11am. Will post some feedback.

My car is Magana and facing A/C issue.

AbhiJ · 26th April 2010, 23:06

Well, after a lot of trial and error, I have come up with a method to make the i20 A/c more efficient.

Both my personal comfort and temperature gauge lead me to believe that this method is working.

The method:

1) REMOVE both the cabin Air Filters. Its a 2 minute process. The filter can be accessed from the passenger footwell. The user manual has all details. Make sure that you close the filter cover properly and there is no air leakage there when the blower is on.
2) Set the temperature to 16/17 Degree C
3) Set the Blower mode to Face Only
4) Set the Blower Speed to 4/5
5) Set all the 4 Vents to face absolutely straight. - This is CRITICAL
6) The Recirculation and A/c has to be ON

After the above, I have got the car to cool sufficiently even with outside temp being 41 C. Infact my dad, who was sitting on the rear seat, made me reduce the A/c!! Since my A/c will never be on Auto mode and the Recirculation will always be on, I dont think removing the filter will effect the system adversely. Snapshot of the A/c settings below.

Weak Hyundai i20 air-conditioner. EDIT : Test results on pg. 4-220420101169.jpg

Note: This does not make the i20's A/C magically the best in class. It just makes it a little better and hence easier to live with.

tsk13 · 27th April 2010, 00:11

AbhiJ, hats off to you as you took the pain to provide solution to the affected lot of i20 owners.

I was driving my bro's i20 (Asta, Petrol) near about 4 PM with the temperature being shown as 43c. Even at this reading, the car was cooling effectively (the temperature was set at 15.5 or 16).

AbhiJ · 27th April 2010, 01:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk13

AbhiJ, hats off to you as you took the pain to provide solution to the affected lot of i20 owners.

I was driving my bro's i20 (Asta, Petrol) near about 4 PM with the temperature being shown as 43c. Even at this reading, the car was cooling effectively (the temperature was set at 15.5 or 16).

Thanks Tsk13. I am one of the affected lot

P.s. Dont believe the temperature meter in the i20. Its on drugs. (at least in my car) .I have seen it show differences of 7-8 degrees from actual temps. Even the temperature meter on the CRV is out by 2-3 degrees.

All temps I have mentioned were from a seperate calibrated temperature meter.

blackasta · 27th April 2010, 02:24

So it effectively boils down to overeffective filters (even filtering out the chill fcator???)!!

maglev · 27th April 2010, 03:18

I don't have an i20 so I can't comment on the i20 specifically.

But I'd like to add something, in Delhi's unbearable heat I've been setting the climate control system at 25 degrees celsius with the internal re-circulation mode switched on.

In all the cars I've driven which were equipped with a climate control system (Swift, SX4, Fabia, Octavia, Merc C & E) and the A/C would cool the cabin sufficiently within a matter of minutes.

So if the climate control system in the I20 is set at 16 degrees celsius with the internal re-circulation mode switched on, then would it not affect the fuel economy as the A/C will try to achieve something lower than the set 16 degrees celsius.

There by working harder & consuming more fuel so as to achieve that.

mail4ajo · 27th April 2010, 10:40

Correct, wont this result in increased fuel consumption because the compressor is literally not going to cut off. But I am sure lower FE is better than sweating face...

kpzen · 27th April 2010, 11:02

Removing the filters will choke the cooling coil after a certain period of time and that time will depend on how dusty condition you are driving in and how dusty your car floor is.

Cleaning of coiling coil would be a cumbersome project. The whole dashboard will have to be removed.

Been there, Done that. Hence, I won't advise anyone to go for this short term solution.

nkapoor777 · 27th April 2010, 12:08

I was driving around in a friend's i20 Asta this weekend in the Delhi heat with temps going upto 43-44C in the afternoon. I thought the AC cooled well and the temp was set at 16C all this while. Even the rear seats felt pretty comfy when I sat there for a little while.

One thing to note though, in my Punto, I have to increase the temp to something more reasonable like 20-22C after some time. But I didn't feel the need to do it in the i20.

mail4ajo · 27th April 2010, 12:26

So, just got out of the 1.4AT test car. First thing I noticed is that the AC was already set to Lo (lesser than 15C). I shut the car down for sometime and shifted to 21C, with AUTO. Yes, the AC was not effective, but just ok with a higher blower speed. Reduce the blower speed and the true colors come out. On a very hot day, my Alto only runs on blower speed 2.

I tried all combinations of the ACC and couldnt see much difference. So I think the key is to leave the AC at 15C for good cooling and use recirculation with blow directed at your face. The comment on the filters to the service guy gave same feedback as kpzen. Not a long term solution. FE will be sacrificied

I see the only thing is to get the company to rectify this on newer models or a recall which is unlikely.

I will update the steering issue on the other thread.

Thanks a lot to Charles of DSC Hyundai who made this test possible after 3 weeks of crying to others.

gpa · 27th April 2010, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen

Removing the filters will choke the cooling coil after a certain period of time. Hence, I won't advise anyone to go for this short term solution.

+ 1 to this. This is not the solution. The filters help you breathe cleaner air to an extent.

live2drive · 27th April 2010, 12:58

Initial batches of Verna CRDi are'nt equipped with the AC pollen filters. AC on my car is chilling absolutely fine since I bought it in March 2007.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpa

+ 1 to this. This is not the solution. The filters help you breathe cleaner air to an extent.

extreme_torque · 27th April 2010, 14:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by maglev

But I'd like to add something, in Delhi's unbearable heat I've been setting the climate control system at 25 degrees celsius with the internal re-circulation mode switched on.

I am not too sure about this but I have read this somewhere. If you set the temperature at X degrees in a ACC system and if X is greater than the minimum value that can be set, the air conditioning works by mixing hot air with the cold air to achieve the effect.

That means if you set the temperature to 24, (which is by the way 8 degress above the minimum) the system will mix hot and cold air to achieve the effect. All this effectively means that the A/C compressor would run at the same speed and the car will consume the same amount of fuel.

live2drive · 27th April 2010, 15:18

According to the best of my knowledge, in an ACC system the compressor will work until the temperature set by the user is attained, shutting off the compressor with only blower working. Once the temperature rises up, the compressor will start working again.

Please correct me if this info is wrong.

View Poll Results: Vote ONLY if you are an i20 owner. How do you find the air-conditioner effectiveness?
Excellent (Chilly)	21	26.25%
Average (Just about manages)	36	45.00%
Poor (Inadequate)	23	28.75%
Voters: 80. You may not vote on this poll

26th April 2010, 20:24	#106
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,957 Thanked: 331 Times View My Garage	I talked at length on this issue with a senior manager at Hyundai. He says that the issue is only on the Asta. The reason is its sucking air from outside on AUTO. You must manually change to re-circulation mode. As per him the manual AC doesnt have an issue. Can Magna owners confirm? If magna owners confirm then we can maybe isolate the issue to the climate control. He accepted issue on the steering rattle. I am testing the AT version tomorrow at 11am. Will post some feedback.
	() Thanks

26th April 2010, 23:06	#108
AbhiJ Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Kolkata Posts: 1,477 Thanked: 1,207 Times	Possible Solution!! Well, after a lot of trial and error, I have come up with a method to make the i20 A/c more efficient. Both my personal comfort and temperature gauge lead me to believe that this method is working. The method: 1) REMOVE both the cabin Air Filters. Its a 2 minute process. The filter can be accessed from the passenger footwell. The user manual has all details. Make sure that you close the filter cover properly and there is no air leakage there when the blower is on. 2) Set the temperature to 16/17 Degree C 3) Set the Blower mode to Face Only 4) Set the Blower Speed to 4/5 5) Set all the 4 Vents to face absolutely straight. - This is CRITICAL 6) The Recirculation and A/c has to be ON After the above, I have got the car to cool sufficiently even with outside temp being 41 C. Infact my dad, who was sitting on the rear seat, made me reduce the A/c!! Since my A/c will never be on Auto mode and the Recirculation will always be on, I dont think removing the filter will effect the system adversely. Snapshot of the A/c settings below. Note: This does not make the i20's A/C magically the best in class. It just makes it a little better and hence easier to live with. Last edited by AbhiJ : 26th April 2010 at 23:14.
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 00:11	#109
tsk13 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Delhi Posts: 1,256 Thanked: 361 Times	AbhiJ, hats off to you as you took the pain to provide solution to the affected lot of i20 owners. I was driving my bro's i20 (Asta, Petrol) near about 4 PM with the temperature being shown as 43c. Even at this reading, the car was cooling effectively (the temperature was set at 15.5 or 16).
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 02:24	#111
blackasta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: WB 26 Posts: 3,406 Thanked: 2,917 Times View My Garage	So it effectively boils down to overeffective filters (even filtering out the chill fcator???)!!
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 03:18	#112
maglev BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 840 Thanked: 153 Times View My Garage	I don't have an i20 so I can't comment on the i20 specifically. But I'd like to add something, in Delhi's unbearable heat I've been setting the climate control system at 25 degrees celsius with the internal re-circulation mode switched on. In all the cars I've driven which were equipped with a climate control system (Swift, SX4, Fabia, Octavia, Merc C & E) and the A/C would cool the cabin sufficiently within a matter of minutes. So if the climate control system in the I20 is set at 16 degrees celsius with the internal re-circulation mode switched on, then would it not affect the fuel economy as the A/C will try to achieve something lower than the set 16 degrees celsius. There by working harder & consuming more fuel so as to achieve that.
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 10:40	#113
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,957 Thanked: 331 Times View My Garage	Correct, wont this result in increased fuel consumption because the compressor is literally not going to cut off. But I am sure lower FE is better than sweating face...
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 11:02	#114
kpzen Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Faridabad Posts: 5,610 Thanked: 1,876 Times View My Garage	Removing the filters will choke the cooling coil after a certain period of time and that time will depend on how dusty condition you are driving in and how dusty your car floor is. Cleaning of coiling coil would be a cumbersome project. The whole dashboard will have to be removed. Been there, Done that. Hence, I won't advise anyone to go for this short term solution. Last edited by kpzen : 27th April 2010 at 11:05.
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 12:08	#115
nkapoor777 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 608 Thanked: 143 Times	I was driving around in a friend's i20 Asta this weekend in the Delhi heat with temps going upto 43-44C in the afternoon. I thought the AC cooled well and the temp was set at 16C all this while. Even the rear seats felt pretty comfy when I sat there for a little while. One thing to note though, in my Punto, I have to increase the temp to something more reasonable like 20-22C after some time. But I didn't feel the need to do it in the i20.
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 12:26	#116
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,957 Thanked: 331 Times View My Garage	So, just got out of the 1.4AT test car. First thing I noticed is that the AC was already set to Lo (lesser than 15C). I shut the car down for sometime and shifted to 21C, with AUTO. Yes, the AC was not effective, but just ok with a higher blower speed. Reduce the blower speed and the true colors come out. On a very hot day, my Alto only runs on blower speed 2. I tried all combinations of the ACC and couldnt see much difference. So I think the key is to leave the AC at 15C for good cooling and use recirculation with blow directed at your face. The comment on the filters to the service guy gave same feedback as kpzen. Not a long term solution. FE will be sacrificied I see the only thing is to get the company to rectify this on newer models or a recall which is unlikely. I will update the steering issue on the other thread. Thanks a lot to Charles of DSC Hyundai who made this test possible after 3 weeks of crying to others.
	() Thanks

27th April 2010, 15:18	#120
live2drive BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 525 Thanked: 27 Times View My Garage	According to the best of my knowledge, in an ACC system the compressor will work until the temperature set by the user is attained, shutting off the compressor with only blower working. Once the temperature rises up, the compressor will start working again. Please correct me if this info is wrong.
	() Thanks