Marginal A/C

[POS Racing]

Getting reports from the front-line that the A/C in the '02 is Meh. We have never had it serviced and it has always been decent but not stellar.

Tripped across this on the YouTube yesterday:

[jrj512]

Avarice has become quite the little AC expert. You might hit him up for help.

[POS Racing]

Avarice has become quite the little AC expert. You might hit him up for help.

I was told you fired him.... Is he still around??

Still wonder about cleaning out the condenser.

Heck I clean out the condenser every year on the one at home but have never given the ones on the car a thought.

[MoonieGT]

I spent a good 45 min on mine with a toothpick when I put my new radiator in. My advice is to use a toothpick (less likely to mess up the fins than a metal screw driver) and push the crud out from behind (radiator needs to be out for this). I have not cleaned the condensor but I will probably do that as we're heading for July.

[sammm]

Heck I clean out the condenser every year on the one at home but have never given the ones on the car a thought.

Good point, I never have either.

[motorollow]

XxxI believe gabkwong found some cleaner spray from Germany online to clean his radiator/condenser.
We
EDIT- Maybe the stuff from Germany was for the evaporator coil cleaner. Like FJC 5914 FOAMING EVAPORATOR CLEANER.

[OZMDD]

There is a spray for cleaning the coils on a home ac, I'd imagine it works equally well on a car.

[gabkwong]

No expert here! I would get some gauges to see how much coolant is in there.if it is good I would at the minimum get a can of the foam for home A/C and spray it and f/u w a wash was garden hose w low pressure not the bend the fin. It you have a lot of time you f/u w a toothpick to push out whatever is left trapped in the fin. Another thought is to make sure your fans are not due to old age. Your NB is around the age for fan failure.

[motorollow]

Fan age is a good point.

[black roadster]

Is the A/C marginal all time? In stop and do traffic only? Is the temperature gauge reading normal? Is the car sitting in the sun for hours? Are you using recirc or fresh air? Is the compressor kicking on normally or even at all? We've done a lot of A/C service in Miatas and haven't yet come across the evaporator as being a problem. The gauges would tell us a lot more. I'd be interested to see what the high and low side pressures are. Also, place a thermometer in the vent and let us know what temperature it's reading and the ambient temperature at the time.

[POS Racing]

Everything works fans compressor the entire 9 yards.

Recently checked the Fans they are within Mazda Acceptable range on Amp draw per the service manual.
Radiator was replaced last year with a higher capacity MSM Miata Radiator. Temp gauge never fluctuates from "normal". (http://www.miata.net/faq/america/2002.htm)
Currently no grill or licence plate on the front of the car.

KK says when it is in stop and go traffic it just "gives up" on cooling the car. She says she can hear and feel the compressor kicking on and off (Normally) and she is well versed in the operation of A/C unit including the Recirculate function. Keep in mind she has been driving this car daily for about 2 years.

We lost or misplaced our Temp Gauge I think left it in the last Miata I sold. But I'll swing by Harbor Freight when I get a free minute.

[motorollow]

Did you do the fan test? Try stopping the fan while running. If you lose a finger its still good!! :-D

[wrx74]

[gabkwong]

Just a data point. The main fan on my 99 appeared to be running fine until I did the "stop with my hand" test. After I replaced it with a high velocity after market fan, the A/C ran cooler. Before the fan replacement I had the same problem in stop and go situation.

[Yeller90]

I used the soft brush shop vac attachment and I was amazed how much stuff (small pebbles) I could hear that came out of the condensor.