Gday!

So long story short I was driving back home yesterday on a road trip and it was a sizzling 34 degrees ambient whilst the sun was shining on a black car. Needless to say it got hot and sweaty in the car. I turned on the aircon and for a few minutes nothing really happened, just the fan at full blast trying it's best to cool the interior to 22 degrees but I couldn't feel any cold coming out.

I then put the temperature to it's lowest and turned off the auto feature and had the fans blowing max again, still there was no cold. I had the a/c running for a good half hour with nothing. I figured it was broken.

Then just a few hours later when I had to make a quick trip once back home I turned on the a/c and it worked!!!

So my conclusion is that the a/c won't work when at high speed (100km/h+) but it does when your going at 30km/h. I have no idea how but was hoping that someone could shed some light?

 

lancervi50

 

lancervi50
Sorry I hit the wrong key(double post)
Anyway I suspect the AMBIENT temperature was the cuperate. I bet your odometer read (low outside temperature) instead of the mileage.Basically it was telling you I DON'T NEED TO COOL THE AIR.If you would have hit the defrost the compressor would have engaged (cycled) but in AUTO MODE until the temperature difference inside vs outside is great enough it won't.After you got back in the interior must have increased to warrant cooling.Humidity has a factor also. On a snowy day the windshield fogs even with the heater on but you hit defrost and the fog disappears quickly but the air doesn't feel cold because it's dehumidifying. When you put on the defroster (windshield only) the air conditioner kicks in automatically to dehumidify because it assumes it needs to unless it's just very cold OUTSIDE.

 

Billbjork you could be right.

Since I was going so fast the car might have thought all that extra wind was a little bit cool (even though it was still 34 degrees outside) and therefore didn't engage the a/c.

Bit of a flaw with the car but at least I understand it.

Thanks