Sunday, November 20, 2005 - 03:50 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
I assume you mean the one on the left of the dash, as seen from inside. When you make transitions between sunshine and shade, e.g. under the edge of a cloud, it adjusts the A/C more rapidly than would happen if it depended solely on the internal temperature sensor. It accounts for solar load as well as ambient temperature.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 - 04:46 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
What do you mean by "AC on max"?
AC (home and car) is a simple thing which is on or off. It maintains a temperature by switching on when the cabin gets above the set temperature and off when it gets below, with a bit of hysteresis to stop flickering. Better quality car systems smooth this out and reduce the cold blast by continuously varying the fan speed and if need be then running the heating simultaneously. If the system is currently in a state where cabin temperature is well above your setting, and external ambient temperature is high, then the solar switch is unlikely to have much impact and the fan should be on max. I assume you are using the Auto setting on the Air Con. I have not used anything else since I first had an auto system back in 1992.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 - 04:58 pm, by: Clayton Webb(Clackers)
The dial turned fully anti-clockwise. So I assume it just runs the fan flat out no matter what temperature it is. I was just curious because my AC isn't as cold as it should be. Had it gassed a few months ago and wasn't as cold as it should be. Thought the Solar Sensor might have something to do with it.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 - 05:13 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
Have you run diagnostics? You can find out if the solar sensor is faulty, or various other problems. These cars are pretty sophisticated and can tell you interesting things about themselves.
Do you use the Auto setting on the air? Try setting a rational temperature which is just low enough to kick the fan up a gear or two then see if the system settles down (fan quietens) after a while. The Air Con may be working but more slowly than your expectations. I agree with moving the rego sticker though, to clear the view of the sensor.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 - 05:23 pm, by: Clayton Webb(Clackers)
Yep, I did run a diagnostic before I got it regased. Came up with a few numbers, but when I got it regased they didn't reappear when I ran the diagnostic again. So I'm hoping the AC has just lost enough gas for it to function poorly but not display a fault code.
Monday, November 21, 2005 - 12:16 am, by: Peter Nitschke(Pen)
Also check the internal temp sensor in front of drivers left knee. These have been known to get dislodged causing the A/C to not do what you want properly.