A/C

[paulhastings]

My A/C does not work at all. The fan works but zero cooling. Has anyone had a similar problem?

[Allan Gibbs]

Originally Posted by paulhastings

My A/C does not work at all. The fan works but zero cooling. Has anyone had a similar problem?

Is this Paul Hastings of Hastings, Janofsky & Walker? http://www.paulhastings.com/

To answer your question, I'm having a similar problem. My A/C only works most of the time but not all

The problems may be due to a small A/C condensor or parts of the A/C unit freezing:

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10997

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by paulhastings

My A/C does not work at all. The fan works but zero cooling. Has anyone had a similar problem?

Don't take this wrong, but have you pressed the compressor button, after you have turned on the fan? I forget to turn the compressor on, when I had it on, then stop and turn off the car. When I restart, I forget that you have to press it every time and after you have turned on the fan.


Greg

[jjb]

...and it sucked! There was hardly any difference between the air temperature with and without the compressor on. It will be going back to the shop tomorrow.

jjb

[paulhastings]

Sounds like a few others are having similar problems. I will check again to make sure I am operating it correctly. I didn't think it could more then turning the fan on and hitting a button.

I am not the Paul Hastings you were referencing. But, they took the web address I wanted. I had to settle for www.phastings.com

What about the doors on the car. I didn't really notice until the dealer pointed it out. I was inquiring with them about the driver door rubbing the latch a bit. The attempted to correct and actually made work. After correcting to close better, the doors are off a bit when viewed from the rear. One door sits higher then the bodywork and the other lower. I have not viewed other cars to see if this is relatively normal. Being a brand new car I do not think it's too exceptable. Of course, I purchased the car for its performance and to drive but, I believe these refinements should be done corrrectly.

[Au111]

My car, as delivered by the factory, lacked freon (or whatever we call what's replaced it) in the system. The tech caught it upon delivery, charged the system, and now it works fine. You might want to check the charge as the first step.

[ivan1]

I had the same problem. When I took it for the 1k service they checked it out - just needed freon and it worked fine ...

[paulhastings]

While surprised this has been commonly overlooked by the factory and the predelivery inspection it actually is good news as it's an easy fix.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by paulhastings

While surprised this has been commonly overlooked by the factory and the predelivery inspection it actually is good news as it's an easy fix.

If they lacked regrigerant, it's probably because of a leak. If the service department just recharged it, you will probably be back in a few months. If you have this problem, make sure they do a leak test. Some leaks are small enough they are fairly hard to detect.

[Au111]

Originally Posted by ChrisB

If they lacked regrigerant, it's probably because of a leak. If the service department just recharged it, you will probably be back in a few months. If you have this problem, make sure they do a leak test. Some leaks are small enough they are fairly hard to detect.

My tech feared the same thing; the leak test didn't reveal any problem. The car has held its charge since then. I figured it was an "early-car" issue with the assembly line coming to grips with things, but perhaps not . . .

[jjb]

[quote=Allan Gibbs]Is this Paul Hastings of Hastings, Janofsky & Walker? http://www.paulhastings.com/

I posted and have been following this thread including the question about who Paul Hastings is. The funny part is that I was atching Alias on Wednesday and they always have some great shots of the skyscrapers in the city (looks great in HD). One of the buildings had the name "Paul Hastings" on it. I do not know which city they use as the backdrop but it made me laugh.

Back to the original topic...my AC was repaired yesterday. They did not find a leak but did find it to be very low on R134. I guess the factory short-filled some of our early systems.

jjb

[raggedy1]

paul, i just discovered my driver side door rubbing ever so slightly against the front fender. it hasn't rubbed through the paint yet (thank goodness) so I'll have it addressed at the next service.

hmm, i'm approaching 1K miles and I haven't even tried my A/C yet! I better give it a try before bringing it in for the first service.

[paulhastings]

My doors haven't rubbed on the bodywork, at least not that I have noticed. But, I viewed 4 cars at Symbolic this week and all seemed to have doors lined up neater then mine. I am finding there is a quick 5 minute adjustment and there is a more time consuming adjustment involving the front hinge. Unfortunately the 5 minute adjustment didn't work on my car. Last time they tried to fix it was actually worse when I picked up the car. The doors lined up better but rubbed quite a bit on the latch. A little concerned on having them take another shot at it but, what else can I do. I am sure they will get it right eventually.

Be sure to give your A/C a try. I have also learned it's very important to run the A/C every 1-2 months just to keep everything lubricated. I recently had my 911 recharged (an old freon system) and it worked great the past 8 months. The mechanic said it was from lack of use and it's quite important to run every so often for a few minutes.

[ConeFusion]

Apparently checking the AC is not part of the official PDI list. My dealer started checking them for all delivered cars after they had a customer coming back with a non-working one. In that case, they also found that they had missed to fill in freon at the factory. Mine didn't work when they tested it, but for a different reason: it wasn't plugged in.

[iRod]

Originally Posted by paulhastings

Be sure to give your A/C a try. I have also learned it's very important to run the A/C every 1-2 months just to keep everything lubricated.

I wonder if just turning the heater on ocasionally will do the trick.

[raggedy1]

Originally Posted by paulhastings

My A/C does not work at all. The fan works but zero cooling. Has anyone had a similar problem?

I'm at 1K miles. I've always driven with the top off and the weather in SF has been mild to cold so I've only used the heater.

Paul, you got me thinking so I left the top on today and tried out the A/C. My results:

I have NO A/C - cold air - like you.



At least I found out before taking it in for the 1k service.

I'll post another thread, but it's funny the things you hear with the top on...

[Keith]

I had the same problem ... no A/C on delivery. The dealer said there was no freon - so they filled it and also added some dye to spot possible leaks in the future. Seems like Lotus just missed adding that stuff at the factory. Working fine so far 0 but I have not tested it fully for extended periods (more than 10 mins). Not yet hot enough for me down here in Texas ... if you can believe that !

[mpadgett]

Slightly different problem. The A/C has worked fine since delivery, until last weekend. Got a sudden large cloud of white steam / smoke from the vents, then no more A/C. Figured it might be a freezing issue, so I turned the A/C off for a while. Tried several times over the past few days, and still no A/C. Already past the first service, so a return trip to the dealer may be needed.

[raggedy1]

you car blew a gasket!

ha!

sorry, it's a PITA I know, but the dealer will fix it. sheesh, the A/C in the Elise is a real problem area...

[Paul]

Hi Gang,
My '05' quit cooling just before I shipped it to San Diego in May. It's in
St Louis now with a leak somewhere! Dealer found it empty when I got there
(I was several pounds lighter) recharged the system, couldn't find a leak. A week
later it's down 25%. Still a mystery