MatraSport Forum

Hi there.

I'm not satisfied with the efficiency of the Air con in my 2.2 DCi (JE).
With a outdoor temp. of 27 degrees the air van is running in a high and noisy speed and it can not reach the setpoint on 20 degrees.
I'm planning to replace the drier and the gas before the summerholiday trip to Italy.  Is there other parts in the AC system I should consider to replace?   
How efficient is your AC? On a warm summerday with plus 25 degrees how many minutes approx do it take before the air van is throtteling down to a comfortable (low noise) speed? Have you tried to meassure the temperature at the air vents? And in such case what did you meassure?

Best Regards
Bo

Hi Bo

I haven't done any measurements as I'm completely satisfied with the power. It easily cools down the entire car from any temperature to a comfortable 22 deg C. It takes 5 minutes from very hot. My wife got a cold today from driving with the system set at 18 degrees and the centre vents open!

Parts... condenser and compressor are the most frequent points of failure. Particularly the condensor, which sits well exposed in the front of the car and has a tendency to develop leaks over time. Unfortunately these are expensive items, and personally I wouldn't try alternative parts. Especially not the condensor, which is a pain to replace.

If it turns out you need a new compressor, I have a used one here which was leak tested in December and still working fine when it was removed from our car at 190 tkm in April.

/Anders

We also find ... well FOUND the efficiency of the 2.2dci (non-grand) AC quite sufficiant, but of course if you sit in direct sunlight, your your skin will be hotter than 20C .

I said "would" , as the condenser just gave up the ghost :-(   and wee too have an Italy trip arranged for July, so the car is currently getting a new condenser fitted (by Stenhøj Biler in Hørve, can't report on price yet, but he seems like a very reasonable guy)

PS: Is it btw the same AC capacity for grand and non-grand  Espace ?

/Lennart

Please note that whilst your air con. may have faults and need repairing, that owing to the latest safety regulations, air con. has been changed to stop it lowering the temperature as drastically as it used to do.  It was deemed there could be a problem with people getting out of a really cold car into a hot environment.  Don't blame the manufacturers - it's yet another regulation from the nanny state!  The maximum temperature drop now is around six degrees.  I can't remember if this applies to the Espace of this age but it might.

However, it is not just a temperature drop that makes you more comfortable, it is the humidity that has a profound effect.  That is why it is called air conditioning.  It is not simply a lowering of the temperature, and if say the outside was 30 degrees and the inside 24 degrees, it should still feel pleasant as the humidity should be lower.

Roy

Many thanks for the replies.

I just needed a gas refill. Now it's cooling very well again and we are ready for the holiday trip :-)

There was only 165 G gas in the system and it's now on spec with 800g and 24ml oil.

Best Regards
Bo

very interesting bit of info there roy, i was thinking the aircon on our espace needed attention but after reading your post it does indeed settle down to a comfy environment reasonably quickly after all there is a lot more space inside than a saloon car, also i remember once looking at an ad for a 1972 buick said to have ice cold air con, i probably would have ended up with pneumonia if i had bought it ! cheers paul.