Hi guys, I was overseas for a few days. Came home to find that there is no cold air coming out from my aircon. Even when I turn the climate control down to the lowest setting of 15degrees, no cold air comes out. Blower/Fan works normally in all fan speed settings. In the past, when I switch on the AC button, I will hear the usual "click" sound as the compressor engages, and the usual parasitic drag can be felt, as well as a momentary dip in the idle rpm. But now, when I press the AC button, the green light in the button comes on and I still hear the "click" from the engine bay. However, there is no momentary dip in the idle rpm and no parasitic drag is felt. Is my compressor dead? How do I tell? I did a search and couldn't find a post on this. Please help, am dying from tropical heat here... By the way, its a 5 year old 6MT.

 

Not sure how you did your search, but posts about AC problems on this site are about as common as fleas on a dog - especially once springtime is in the air. Here are a bunch of posts and a little DIY test to try to get you on your way to air conditioned intellectual enlightenment.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/ac-magnetic-clutch-kills-idle-185206/
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/ac-compressor-fail-160768/
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/problem-c-compressor-125237/
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/c-dead-125125/



No heat and only cooling, or only heat and no cooling, or erratic temperature control?

The temperature control **** seems to have quite a bit of issues for early RX8 owners where the system will cool only, and not provide heat despite the position of the control ****. This can also work in the opposite way, only heating and no cooling. After living with it for a season, I finally pulled the heater control unit out and repaired the circuit board. It was simple to repair and because I was going to have to pull the unit out anyway to replace it, it was not much extra work. The replacement unit (part FE01-61-190) retails for $350, some vendors on this site sell it for $240ish, and I hear there are some that sell used parts for $125ish. It is definitely covered under warranty for those lucky enough to be under warranty. If you do not have heat, or only have heat, IMHO it is most likely the AC/heater control unit. This is the part which has the AC/heat control buttons and *****.

Easy Diagnosis:
The easiest way to verify this is to turn on the radio, press and hold the power on/off button and press and hold the scan-up button for a second (full second). The word "A/C TEMP" should appear on the left of the display and a number from 0 to 16 on the right. I suspect yours will have the number 0 (or 16 if heating only problem) displayed no matter where you turn the temperature control ****. If this is the case you could turn the temp. **** to full heat and see if it goes to 16 after pushing down or to the right on the ****.
In a working system, the number moves evenly in increments of 1, from 0 to 16 as you turn the temperature ****.

Easy Fix:
I was able to take mine out and solder 3 loose connections to fix it.

The beginning steps are the same as for any radio removal procedure. Instead of reinventing the wheel I would like to direct anyone to John Masone’s excellent DIY for radio removal at this DIY:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-radio-removal-add-aux-input-36001/
or directly linked here:
http://www.whatsmyip.org/ipodrx8/
The procedure is basically the same until page 7, second frame. Here is the modified step at that phase:
http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr191/waxer/16-1.jpg
Removal of Heater Control Unit

I did not take pictures of the next step which is basically removing the cover on the temperature **** side of the control which requires a small screwdriver to three plastic clips on the perimeter of the cover. This will be evident when you get it in front of you. I stripped the circuit board down further than you may need to because I was also repairing cracked defrost (windshield and rear) buttons with superglue.

Then re-solder the 3 joints indicated in the next photos. A little bit of heat and just a little extra solder and they should be good to go.

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/IMG_5235.jpg
Front of Heater Control Circuit Board

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/IMG_5236.jpg
Front of Temperature Control **** (3 connections noted)

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/IMG_5237.jpg
Back of Heater Control Circuit Board

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/IMG_5242.jpg
Back of Heater Control ****

http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...r/IMG_5241.jpg
3 Bad Solder Joints (Note cracks) Prior to Re-soldering

I did the power-button/up scan combination to get the head unit to display the dial position and it now travels even increments from 0 to 16, instead of jumping from 0 to 16 when pushed like before. And the temperature control works perfectly.

 

Put some gauges on it.

 

Firstly, thanks for your reply and for running through the process above. You spent a considerable amount of time going into the details with pictures and I am grateful for your help. I actually did do a search and read through all those threads (including your compressor thread) plus others on resetting the amplifier. Unfortunately, none of the symptoms sound like my problem.

In my case, when you press the A/C button, I can hear the reassuring click sound that tells me the magnetic clutch activated, so at least I know that the A/C switch that I pressed works, as does the compressor's clutch. However, the usual resistance and dip in idle rpm did not happen so initially I thought it was a compressor issue. I did what Jon suggested in one thread, which was to start with the basics and check the fuse. I did this and it was fine.

Then I did what another thread said about checking for clearance between the clutch plate and the compressor pulley. Looked fine to me as it wasn't locked together as one guy had in the thread where he melted his belts. So I got the engine started and asked my wife to switch the A/C button on and off with me signalling through the windscreen. I could definitely see the magnetic clutch engaging and disengaging normally. Also, I confirmed that there was no seizing and the belts and pulleys were turning normally.

I didn't know what to do so I asked around and found a highly recommended automotive aircon specialist. It was a sweaty journey to his workshop and on the way, I decided not to tax the compressor further and turned it off. This was when my wife said, "Don't turn it off, some cool air is better than none"... I asked her what she meant and she said the air coming out the vent is slightly cooler than the air outside. I felt the air coming out on her side and compared to my side. True enough, it was indeed a tiny bit cooler. My side was blowing out warm air by now. I realised I read this in another thread so I pulled over, turned off the engine and then performed the "Amplifier reset procedure" which I had memorised. Unfortunately, it did not work, no flashing lights to indicate success. I think my UK (RHD) version is different and the said resetting procedures have no effect at all. So I continued driving to the specialist A/C workshop. Eventually, they got it fixed for me at an amazing price. I'll outline this in a separate post as "Update" in case other people have the same problem.

 

So we arrived at the aircon specialist and I described the sypmtoms. The technician (not the owner) took a look in the engine bay, stuck his hand into the area where the compressor is, and immediately told me that there is a leak in the plumbing. He showed me the oil on his fingers and said that the oil and gas had leaked out. He told me to come back to collect the car in 2 hours and it will cost $78 (after currency conversion). 2 hours later, I came back to find that the aircon was fixed. The boss of the shop (the specialist) explained to me that there was a leak which they fixed. They recharged the system and its working. I asked what was the reason for the difference in temperature between the left and right vents and he said that when the gas is low, that's what happens. All I know is that it is now equally cold on both sides. I also found that while waiting stationary at the lights, I don't get the multiple on-off compressor clicking that I used to get before.