Winter Chassis Re-fresh

[wixer]

Thanks for checking these out guys, with my eyes I couldn't see any issues but obviously I need another appointment at Specsavers.... Amazed you could enlarge my pics Kaz but glad you have.

Does anyone want a re-soldering job ? I wouldn't trust myself to do this & I thought a guy at work re-soldered all the joints but obviously not.

[wixer]

A minor update on the Air-con repair, to keep the post ticking over.

I received a new Fan ECU in the week, I had to get it from Canada, as Amayama are out of stock with no idea of when the unit will be available again. A bit annoying as I had to pay twice the Amayama price but this is all part of NSX ownership I guess, now they are getting old cars, mine having had it's 30th a couple of months ago.

I swapped the Fan ECU over this morning & started the car up. Firstly the condenser fans didn't immediately start up, which is a first. I then checked to see if the compressor was engaging & it wasn't, so I shorted the triple pressure switch & then it did engage. So it would appear that there was two faulty components, the ECU & the pressure switch.

So now I'm gradually working through the issues & eliminating the faults, so I've got the next ones to deal with.

1. I'm not so sure the temperature is getting cold enough. It's not the hottest day today (it is England in May) but even on 18deg temp & Auto setting I'm able to hold my hand against the face vents quite easily but this is with the car stationary. On a run & the recirc switched off, the temperature did seem to get colder. I should've taken my temperature gauge with me but I didn't, so I need to do another run out to check & have a search of the forums to see how cold the temperature should get on the lowest setting.

2. I have a new Triple Pressure Switch but it looks like I will have to get the system de-pressurised to swap them & if I do that, I'm debating whether I should strip the IP down & replace the elements in the HEVAC unit.

Also, many thanks to Heineken for offering to re-solder my old Fan ECU.

[wixer]

Today I did another check of the temperature coming out of the face vents in the car, whilst on a run & re-circ off & it was hovering around 13-14 degrees, which is pretty much the same as the ambient temperature today, in sunny Coventry.

So next plan of investigation is required to understand why.

Could the pump, although the clutch is spinning, not be working correctly ?

Could it be another sensor, sending an incorrect temperature to the FCU ?

Could it be the evaporator in the unit in the IP ?

I touched both the pipes next to the spare wheel, that lead into the interior, to see if either were cold but neither were as cold as I expected & were pretty much the same temperature as each other and this is with the compressor appearing to be working ok.

Any suggestions would be appreciated of where I turn to next ?

Cheers

[goldnsx]

The A/C compressor doesn't seem to work. Do you hear it kick in when pressing the A/C button to ON?
My A/C service station has two gauges to check the pressures while the A/C is running.
Are you sure that there is enough R134a in the system?

[wixer]

The A/C compressor doesn't seem to work. Do you hear it kick in when pressing the A/C button to ON?
My A/C service station has two gauges to check the pressures while the A/C is running.
Are you sure that there is enough R134a in the system?

Yes, compressor kicks in when the A/C button is pressed to ON & I pop the engine hatch to check I can see the pulley spinning, so it's definitely running.

I had the system filled last month with RS24, a replacement for R12, as the system was never modified for R134a & there's no signs of leakage.

I am going to speak to the company who charged the system, to see if they can check the pressures while the compressor is running, next week.

[wixer]

Finally got to the bottom of the non functional air-con, in my NSX.

I went back to Bee Cool in Kettering today, for them to try & diagnose why there's no cold air coming through the vents, with the air-con ON & the compressor engaged. Candidates were either the compressor clutch or the compressor unit. Having connected the car up to one of their air-con units, the gauges displayed no pressure in the cars system, only 2 months after it was fully re-charged by Bee Cool. There was no visible signs of a leak anywhere & no signs of green fluid on the garage floor, so the cars system was filled with Nitrogen gas & a detector used to find the leak.

The leak was found to be one of the shrader valves used for charging the system, so both were replaced & another pressure check done, this time resulting in the pressure maintaining itself. A quick swap of the triple pressure switch for a new item & the car was re-gassed again with RS24 & finally success, there is now cold air coming through the vents, so I have a fully functional air-con system for the first time since I've owned the car.

It's not very often a fix is so cheap on an NSX, I was planning a compressor replacement or repair, so glad it was something easy & a good lesson learned, to check the small easier parts first.

[goldnsx]

Glad that you've found it just before the hot summer time. As you say those neglected Schrader valves are much cheaper than any other part in the A/C system.

[Heineken]

Leaks at the Schrader valve can be a pain to identify the usual way since the area is already contaminated with leak finding dye even if there's no leak ..
So, good to hear that's fixed!

[goldnsx]

The easiest way to avoid problems is to change the Schrader valves every 10 years. You also change the valves with new tires for example.

They are not so hard to detect. The only part that makes it complicated is people are not thinking about them. If you have the retrofit kit installed correctly and open the plastic cap and you feel that there is some 'air' pressure while releasing the cap you have a leaking Schrader valve.

[Heineken]

Well, all my cars have slight pressure when releasing the plastic cap but their systems are not leaky