Since I have a cab Air Conditioning issues are a little less pressing for me, but I like to make the most out of my summer and drive the 968 as much as possible. My AC system works great temp wise but i have 2 big issues with it that I was wondering if the board could help with:
1) Sound - the compressor/clutch seem very loud and rough (i will post the sound if anyone wants to here it)
2) Power - When it is on the car starts to stumble at idle and starting from a stop requires more throttle and finesse than should be necessary. In fact it is really annoying in traffic which is the only place that I really use it.
Is this normal in 968s?
My e36 328is exhibited the same behavior (noise and power loss is inherent to any AC system) but it never rose to the point that it was annoying.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
My compressor is noisier then most 968's and sucks a bit of power out of the engine. I'm betting my compressor is on it's way out, it's only my list of replace.
Starting this year I can hear my compressor whining, but I may have tensioned the belt differently. It is not loud or annoying or rough, I can just hear it above the engine noise. It stops immediately when I turn off the AC.
Although it saps a bit of power, it does not affect idle or require more throttle. IIRC I believe the idle is adjusted upward a bit when the AC is on?
My 944S with a lot less hp would act like you mentioned, though.
Hopefully you have installed the D1R brace for the A/C unit. The "ears" on the compressor are a known weak point.
JMHO,
Jay
I have installed a new compressor about 2 years ago , i does make some noise(slight whine and i do not mean a belt whine ) when on .
You should see a small change in idle when you press it on or off , i should return to normal idle after a few seconds ,
Reason for the change in idle is the ac compressor but also the fans kick in so your altenator has to work a bit harder .
If your compressor is using that much hp as you discribe , it would worry me and i think i would get a new compressor before things go really bad , if it locks up you could get stranded and have metal parts in the system , then it could cost you way more to get it clean and running again .
Thanks everyone for the input...I spent some of the morning messing with it and I am in the camp that it most likely needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. It concerns me because if the noise was a simple whine I could deal with it, but the roughness of its operation seems to be a precursor to a failure. Well, it's good this that cooler weather is coming because I can put this on my winter project list (which seems to keep growing!)
94Silvercab...Thanks for the tip on the D1R brace...I ordered one today
[quote name='94SilverCab' timestamp='1346082867' post='131714']
Hopefully you have installed the D1R brace for the A/C unit. The "ears" on the compressor are a known weak point.
JMHO,
Jay
[/quote]
DR1 brace for the AC? I don't see it on the DR1 site.
Bill