VX V6 Air Con Issue - Annnoying Whine & No Cold Air

[Pepps]

I have a VX V6 executive and recently had the air con regassed in November as I thought that was the issue initially (not blowing air and it was hot)

Quickly found out the fan resister had shit itself so I replaced that (thanks to a kind member on this forum) and it was working a treat, blowing cold air no issues.

About 2-3 weeks later, when I turned the air con on one day there was an annoying whine coming from the vents, and there was no cold air coming out. This whine is only present when the air con is turned on, and stops once turned off.

I've done a bit of searching and read it could be the compressor? Is this a DIY replacement? or could it be the bearings or pulley?

Just want to get this sorted, sick of driving down the freeway to work in a sweatbox.

Thanks guys

[motorin on]

have you made sure the clutch on the compressor is engaging when you run the engine and switch the air on-- I know it a basic question but I want to know what checks you have done under the bonnet
Also you won't be able to change the compressor yourself due to EPA laws regarding dumping the refrigerant into the atmosphere if that is where the problem is
Why not go back to the guy that serviced it last November-he in the best position to help you or any auto electrician

[whiteknight2211]

I would not expect that the air-conditioning compressor would give you that noise, you would hear it in the engine bay if you opened the bonnet as thats where the compressor is. Do you happen to know how much gas it took when it was regassed? That should give you an indication as to how much of a leak you had, although the age of the car could indicate you have lost it all over 11 years anyway.

If you had to replace your fan resistor (which is in series with the motor winding) I would expect that there is a problem with either the fan motor or the impeller that caused it to burn out.

Based on the fact that you have mentioned that you have had moments where you had no air or hot air I would be checking a few other things on your car:

Check the Fan and Air-conditioning fuse - the AC only has an electric clutch as it's driven by your engine, so a blown fuse would indicate a clutch problem.

Listen to your engine with the AC button on, the AC will not be running if your fan is not switched on to prevent icing. I would think a noisy compressor would be easy to hear screeching with the bonnet up.

Check the fan resistor again, if it burnt out once there is a high possibility that the fan itself is responsible for your noise and the burnt out resistor. It's highly likely based on what you said that a blade on the impellor or a bearing has gone giving you the noises.

Make sure that the rod that drives your air mixer box is correctly connected to the back of your HVAC switch. As a simple test turn the knob fully in both directions, if it can't move from hot to cold or it feels like nothing is attached, it is not aligned properly - the little white clip on the back is prone to breaking after a few removals.

A pressure test on your AC system should tell you whether or not you have lost the gas, but I'd be looking at the fan as the course of the problem. Still replacing it is a big job.

[Pepps]

I just checked it on hot as I hadn't bothered, it works fine on hot you can NOTICEABLY tell that it's heating. However when I switch back to cold it goes back to a warm type air, definitely no chill in it at all as expected with air con.

I should have mentioned when I replaced the resistor I also replaced the AC fan under the dash.

What's the likely cause with these symptoms?

[Pepps]

I also should make clear that it does blow air when set to cold however it is NOT COLD AIR it is warm air with no chill at all.

[motorin on]

As the 2 of us have said in our replies to your query = the issue may be at the compressor amongst other places,you need to find out if the clutch is engaging on the compressor if it is you need to look at the bubble glass in the receiver to see if it has bubbles which will indicate low gas-Again!!
Failing this go back and see the guy who recharged it or go see an auto electrician as I suggested earlier,it won't take the guy's who know what they are doing to tell what the problem is