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MG MGF Technical - Air Con

Not sure if my air con has packed up at the worst possible time!!! Its 41 in Adelaide most of this week.

The aircon was working fine 2 days ago. Today after the car being out in the sun all day (no shade in carpark at work), the air con didn;t seem to be working. At first it felt cold then it seemed to warm up and instead of cold air, very hot air was blowing.
The aircon button was on and the circulate was off.

Any suggestions anyone??

Also how do those that live in hotter countries manage with the leather interior. Even with a sunscreen on the windscreen and a towel over my seat, steering wheel and gear knob, everything was boiling, to the point that even after a 30 minute journey they were still very hot.

I thought about seat covers, steering wheel covers but it takes away the leather interior feel to the car, also probably doesn't help that the paint work is black!!

Ay suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

From a very hot & sweaty South Australian!!
CPudds

mmmm I'm hearing you!

First of all I hope mine starts (!) today. I had noticed that when I ran my air con a few months ago I thought 'great it's freezing' and was looking forward to using it in exactly this sort of weather. Mind you it is ONLY 40 celsius right now according to the web..

I turned mine on when it was warm the other day and I thought it was not all that cold. I too was thinking I had the outside air coming thru but no it wasn't set to that. Maybe we will just have to run air thru it until it cools down?

or get in earlier and nick someone else's shady park!
A Steventon

Maybe it just needs regassing - general automotive a/c businesses are quite common even over here!
Charless

A visit to an Air Con shop is needed as they will have the gear to do some simple checks.
We have occasionally 35 to 40 in Europe. The first problem that I found was that I either burnt in the Sun or baked as the black Softop absorbs the heat and fights the AC. The black has been replace with s Silver Hardtop which reflects the heat and makes for cooler and quieter Touring.
In UK, we have a Sunmate which is a silver faced hood and screen cover which traps in the boot lid and has elastic around the mirrors. Your local Dailmaker should be able to make one for you.
Large thick white Bathtowels cover the Black leather seats with a handtowel over the wood wheeel.
The other essential is a 12 volt chilli bin with a mains adaptor.
Geoff F.
Geoff Farthing

Check the small hose in the passenger foot well. There is a small black hose in the far end. It's clear to see using a flash light. A blockage of the 5 cm of hose will stop the air con from draining it's condensate resulting in a air con that does not seem to operate.
Kasper

Kasper,
Blockage of this pipe does not affect the operation of the AC. The water just overflows the drain and floods the passenger footwell. From Experience.
If you have AC, always check that this pipe is peeing under the car.
Geoff F.
Geoff Farthing

Took the car to a "aircon re gaser" to have a look this morning. Its meant to be 44 here today!!

He came back with the air con compressor has failed, and needs a new TX Valve and air con clutch. He has no idea what type of compressor it is without taking it apart.

He reckons it would cost about $4000 to replace!!!!!

Just phoned AA Automotive in Adelaide, he reckons he has loads of 2nd hand ones and will have a look at it also, so off there - will let you know the outcome.

Cheryl
CPudds

Yeeeoooowwwchhh! Having just offloaded a similar amount of ready cash on my car I sincerely hope it ends up being nowhere near 4 grand.

Good luck Cheryl and please add what they find, I'm sure that will be the next thing that goes for me too.

PS I heard it hit 45.5 celsius at 1.48pm today in case anyone's interested.

Ali
A Steventon

Well we are getting your old weather, 41.5C at the moment and the A/C is working fine. I had to have a new pipe that was broken when I fitted a brake boost bracket some 2 years ago then re gassed,, nothing since. Talk to Adrian Ackhurst or take your car to someone else. I would not expect to pay more than $1500 and that would be every thing to make it brand new.
Andrew Regens

Thanks Andrew
Its with Adrian now so will keep you all posted. Nice to know it shouldn't be more than $1500!!
CPudds

Our 2002 mgtf A/C has just been running fine then started to turn itself off when running, then after about 10 minutes turns on again then off and so on. Took it to a local A/C bloke who found the gas low (40% capacity). He regassed it and could find no leaks but did not know much about MG's and it still did the same thing. I then took it off to Advanx Motors in Gosford (trained MG machanic works there) and he put the test hoses on the TX valve and found tha tthe pressures either side were the same thus the valve was not working (regulating) and after some time the high pressure switch was cutting the compressor off. They have ordered a new one (3 weeks from England) at about $500 plus fitting. He better be right!! Luckily I have the Subaru Outback that has a working A/C that has never given any trouble.
S J Dellaca

First point to remember is that the MGF is built with Off The Shelf parts so the AC System is common to many other cars and certainly does not need to be shipped from UK. IIRC there are 2 alternative compressors however I cannot recollect the details. Perhaps somebody else can or take your old parts around the Japanese Dealers starting with Honda as they had links with MGR.
If you require any peculiar to MGF parts then I would suggest that you obtain yhe Part No. from Dieter's excellent www.lame-delegation,de/mgfcar.de/epc which gives older prices, Current UK prices are available from Rimmer Bros www.rimmerbros.co.uk. Click on 'Prices'near the bottom of the page. They will give you a delivery price on the ex.VAT price.
Unfortunately AC is not common in UK therefore parts are rarely available from Scrappies.
If your Dealer does get the Part, then knowing the Price can help to argue his extortoinet Mark Up.
Geoff F.
Geoff Farthing

Geoff,
Adrian who is refered to above is one of the biggest wreckers and importer of MG parts in Australia. He has brought in many F/TF cup carsto race and built up a local Trophy racing class as well. With the Japenese cars that are brought inand cannot be registered for the road they will be a great source of A/C parts.
Andrew Regens

Well its fixed by Adrian of AA Automotive, in Magill, SA.

He said the Air con clutch drive plate had failed.

Now this could just be general wear and tear, or it could of happend going over a gravel/dirt road in the Riverlands last week!!!

All in all the cost was $880 but he also did a few other things:-

2nd Hand Aircon clutch drive Plate $220
New Battery $167
Fan Belt $37
GST $80
His Labour $376

He had the car for 2 days, and even let me collect it on a Sunday morning.

All in all very pleased with the service.


Cheryl
CPudds

Cheryl, Glad it wasn't as bad as first quoted! From the few Victorians and South Australians who I know have had dealings with Adrian they all seem happy with his service, I am glad that they have not been proved wrong. Still needed the A/C on tody even though the temp is a low 24C but the humidity is about 90%.
Andrew Regens

My comments were addressed to CJD who will pay an arm and a leg for new MG parts shipped from UK. It can be done much cheaper as Cheryl has shown.
A noteworthy point is that there is a high temp cut out that offloads the air con which might only be on the VVC.
I must search out the manufacturer of the compressor to add to the attic store of parts which will become difficult to get like the peculiar to MGF Steptronic parts.
Geoff F.
Geoff Farthing

This thread was discussed between 27/01/2009 and 02/02/2009

MG MGF Technical index

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