Hi, I have a 2011 XF portfolio and the a/c will not get cold. Have had it serviced (added freon) but still only gets cool when I'm driving or when its dark or raining out. The service tech said that it seems fine (comes on and gets cold (compressor) but still not getting cold inside of the cabin of the car. Has anyone else had this issue and can somebody please help?

 

Well, let's see. If someone truly did add Freon (illegal in automotive AC for nearly 30 years) to your system this would explain why you have a problem. Assuming that correct refrigerant was used, let's move on. This car was designed and built in northern England, a place with much milder summers than what you get. The AC system does not do the "Arctic blast" style cooling putting icicles on your nose that older American cars sometimes featured. That being said, the system does work reasonably well even in some very hot weather. Extreme humidity such as you sometimes get can make it tougher but it should still be able to keep up if your demands are not too extreme.

You have a Portfolio so you should have cooled seats. Not only will use of these on the high setting make you feel cooler, they also tell the AC system to come on stronger. You say it gets cool when driving. When else do you need it cool? I hope you are not expecting cooling when the engine is off. Anyway, when first getting into a hot car, turn on cooling for the seats and set both sides of the AC to about 65 degrees and drive away for 30 seconds or so with one or more windows open to allow the AC system to blow out the old hot air. After that keep all windows and sunroof closed. Once the inside air becomes cooler than the outside air, switch the system to recirculate (called max AC on older cars) for best cooling. Your car will never become a rolling refrigerator, but it should become comfortable. Use of front and rear sunshades when parked can make a huge difference as well, your car will not get as hot to begin with.

I have driven at or above 115 degrees on several occasions. The AC is working very hard and does not make it feel ice cold in the cabin but rather comfortable. When you stop and open the door you quickly realize how much hotter it is outside.

 

I don't agree with Swimmy. I live in Houston which is famous for heat and humidity, and both my XF will get very cold with the AC temp all the way down and recirculation on. The Brits are very well aware that their cars are exported, so they don't just make AC's barely good enough for the UK.

But on to your problem. If the AC only works well while driving, then you should check the radiator fan is coming on whenever the AC is turned on.

Also, modern systems are very sensitive to the amount of refrigerant added. It shouldn't just be topped off. They should evacuate the system to weigh what was in it, which is important for diagnosing the health of the system, and then add exactly the weight of refrigerant that is specified in the shop manual. Going off of gauges is the old fashion method that is not correct for newer cars. So if your mechanic is old school, that's not a good AC mechanic.

 

As an Englishman who has owned many different Jaguar models and driven them from the cold north of England to the heat of the French and Spanish Mediterranean, I have always felt the AC is best described as 'adequate'. By contrast, my previous Bentley Continental R and current Continental GT can be freezing cold when the outside temperatures exceed 100 deg.

The refrigerant in your 2011 will be R134a which superseded Freon several years ago. R134a is soon to be banned in Europe although it may still be allowed in the US.

As lotusespritese advises, with a suspected fault, the system should not simply be topped up. It should be evacuated, pressure tested and then filled with the recommended weights of refrigerant and PAG oil. The AC in a Jaguar will normally lose around 5% refrigerant per year.

The AC outlet temperature is determined by a combination of three sensors:



(double click on the image to enlarge it)


The actual temperature inside can be measured with a thermometer at the outlets. If it is definitely not getting cool enough then suspect the external ambient Air Temperature Sensor or the interior Solar or In-car Sensors may be faulty.


Graham

 

The problem is that if you needed to add Freon (This is just a generic term these days!). That tells you the system has a leak. So fix the leak first.

I don't see any connection between the cooled seats and the AC system?
You can set the heat as high as you want in the cabin and then turn on the AC seats. They are two separate systems.

The system will automatically start in recirculate in a hot car. Then when it starts cooling down the interior the system will start to admit fresh air again. You don't have to do anything with the controls. The system knows all that.

The factory adds UV dye to almost 100% of the modern cars for troubleshooting purposes this includes Jaguar. Get a UV flashlight (They are very cheap) and in a dark garage go over the engine/AC system looking for stains.

Report back what you find. This is cheap/easy and fast. Now don't forget to get under the car and check the compressor and those connections. Also look at the Schrader valves as they can leak to.
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.
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Does your list include an XF? If so, something was broken with yours or you didn't think to turn on the recirc.

Keep in mind the XF's are really American Lincoln LS's, so you guys are way off.

 

How do you argue that???

The LS and original S-Type had many things in common but then the S-Type got a major redesign (2002.5MY) that the LS didn't get. Then the S-Type got a minor one (2004.5MY) and so on, which the LS didn't get. Then the S-Type was re-done as the XF. Where in this is the LS?

 

Read your Wiki's, man:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_DEW_platform

Ford DEW platform (or DEW98) is Ford Motor Company's midsized rear-wheel drive automobile platform.

This platform was used in these vehicles:

2000–2008 Jaguar S-Type[1]
2000–2006 Lincoln LS[2]
2002–2005 Ford Thunderbird[2]
2008–2015 Jaguar XF[1]

 

Well, yes, but that's not much of the car other than basically some hefty metal.

Then they heavily modified it for the S-Type in 2002.5MY (and thus the XF) but not the LS.

The wiki fails to mention the major changes!

It also does not address the electronics etc.

Or the 4.2 engine the LS didn't get.

Or the 5.0 it didn't get.

Etc.

You may as well say chicken and beef are both meat. True but not very informative and if someone had heard of neither they would know very little and quite possibly be misled.

 

Whatever. You specifically ask "Where in this is the LS?" and after proving it you, you now have to act like some crazy ex-girlfriend that just changes your question to try to prove your point.

We don't need any more crazy around here!

 

By contrast to your contrast, my Lamborghini Murcielago V12 6-Speed Manual supercar, still one of the fastest cars in the world, and best in class winner of every concours it has ever entered, can be ice cold with the outside temps exceeding 101 deg.

How is this relevant? Well Bentley and Lamborghini are both Volkswagens, but neither have anything to do with the XF.

 

Ah... abuse. You know you'e lost when you resort to it.

 

Going back to help the OP here!
Degreen - the ac system should work well. I've regularly driven mine on 100F+ days and it can rapidly cool the car and get to whatever temp I need. And agree with the post above that you don't need to play around with the controls. Set the temp you want and the car electronics knows how to adjust fan speed and cooling to quickly get there. On a super hot day you might open a window for 30s to get the really hot air out - but that's it

My suggestion - take it to a modern ac shop that knows what they are doing. It's pretty similar to systems on many many other cars and they should be able to help. Clearly yours has been leaking so just refilling won't help / they need to find and fix the leak first

 

Exactly!

For one the XF runs a clutchless A/C compressor, so if your use to the more common clutched style compressor as found on the Lincoln LS, your already WRONG. Our Sanden PXE16 compressor looks like it's running (WORKING) all the time, but its load controls are all electronic controlled and internal for load demand.
And for the record-



Even with this kind of Vegas heat my A/C made the car uncomfortably cold in just a few minutes.

 

Funny, my XF shares many chases, engine and suspension parts with the LS...
I see you're still bombarding the forums with useless info in an effort to increase your post count....

Good Job!

 

It shares some parts. The rest you're wrong about - they changed the engine a lot, all the electronics (even things like the heater valve). The suspension got a lot of changes and you cannot fit most of the parts.

The LS didn't even use CAN - the standard for cars for many years now and used extensively in the XF.

Also, note the meaning of (car) platform and you'll see the XF and LS do not share one.

The very first S-Types & LS did. That stopped.

However ... as you're so sure, you can help people by posting a list of the parts that are the same. They'll likely be cheaper for the LS than XF.

This was started for the S-Types but few were found and some turned out not to be right.

 

Did you manage to get your A/C sorted? I suspect it is probably a leak from somewhere since you were low on refrigerant. But as others have stated, you need to have it evacuated completely and then re-fill so the right amount of gas is in the system.

Additionally, if you over fill the system it could damage components such as the compressor/evaporator/condenser - so if it were me, I'd find out from Jaguar what the pressure should be and make sure the service center doing the regassing gasses it to that pressure.

I had this problem with my older Audi A4 and after replacing the evaporator (yes, I had to pull the entire dash out the car to do this! - NOT NICE) I had it refilled and it wasn't blowing cold - only to find out after taking it to another AC shop that the system was over-pressurized. After removing some gas, it blew cold as **** again.

Just btw, my XF AC blows ice cold and we have 45 degree Celsius days here where I live. In fact, of all the cars I've every owned, I find the XF's to be the best AC so far.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted.

 

hey, i'm having a similar issue. air/con comes on...the air coming out is "cool"...but not as cold as it used to be, does not cool the cabin very well. however I dont see any leaking under the car.


would I just need a simple "recharge"?

 

You probably just need a recharge. In order to keep you A/C working for many years to come, you should just leave your A/C on AUTO all the time. I set mine 21 degrees celcius and let it take care of the rest. That way, the AC is always being used and lubed and when summer comes again, your A/C will continue to do its job. Otherwise you let seals dry out if the compressor doesn't get used often enough and leaks start - I'm pretty sure replacing a compressor on an XF won't be a cheap thing to do and less so an evaporator.

 

is recharging a simple DIY job?


just watched a video of someone using AC Pro on his BMW. looked super easy. According to the video I need to find the low pressure service port