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Help!
Returning home from work on Monday night my air con pump seized (had heard some strange noises for a week or so) and stopped the engine from working!
The best AA man (Steve) in the world came to my rescue (after over an hour waiting) he said he might have a belt amongst his collection to fit bypassing the pump pulley ....... and F*** me he did.
Which brings me to two questions - are replacement pumps available and how difficult are they to remove and fit?
Try asking Richard Monk at MGOC. If memory serves me right, he had exactly the same problem when I saw him last November and was going to get the work done in the MGOC workshop,possibly by our friend Roger Parker.
Julian.
Richard and Ian Wallman at MGOC will help you. My ZTV8 ( which used to belong to Richard) had this problem last summer...and they fixed it up no problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Julianp
I had this problem last summer too. Are you sure it's the whole pump and not just the pulley? Mine was only the pulley. I got a 2nd hand pump and just swapped the pulleys over.
Unfortunntely my AA man didn't have a belt that fitted so my wife and I spent 7 lovely hours in the back of several AA vans.... on our honeymoon.
Ian
I believe Brian recommends replacing the aircon condensor as well, as any debris in the condensor could soon wreck the new replacement aircon pump - best check with Brian (Scooter) though :cool:
When I had mine done at Compressortech they suggested replacing the orifice valve as well. The old one they took off had quite a bit of debris in it so was a good call. Problem though is this valve is under the dash and is a dash out job to get at it. They also used a gallon of A/C flush fluid to clean the pipework. Overall not a cheap job but 100% confident that it was working correctly, no noise and cold air.
Buy a brand new one from Aironline (US) by far the best than recon they can supply the Vistion FS10 or an equvilent made by the same chaps for LESS than the recon unit in the UK (inc import charge) send me a PM and I will give you all the info, in the country and fully charged, speak to Nick at Austins as to the quality for the product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin
FS10 at a-aironline here http://www.a-aironline.com/product-p/18-10007n.htm
From Rockauto here http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,6628
Rockauto prices in pounds and has UK Tax number so no duty or additional tax to pay.
a-aironline $195 which is approx £120 plus potentially the import tax/duty
Rockauto £115 no duty or tax
The one that Compressortech pulled out of mine was from a-aironline and fitted just 12 months previously. It was seized solid. I'm not 100% sure that the guy who fitted it did the correct fill with oil even though I handed him the spec. I did have to pay import duty at Parcel force when it came.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin
To all that have replied to my cry for help I would like to say thanks for all your information. Its now just a matter of sorting it out.
Hope its resolved easily and cheaply Graham. Check with Brian about changing the Condensor as well mind :cool:
Above all, make sure the repairer flushes the system properly. I've posted these photos of the "black death" before - the detritus left behind when a compressor seizes. The murky liquid in one photo is the first flush of the system after a new compressor was fitted. The other photo is the same liquid after standing for a week or so and shows what the liquid should look like. Even with a new condensor, flushing is essential - several flushes in fact - you don't want any of the black death getting back into your new, expensively-imported FS10 compressor.
was driving today and smoke was coming out of the bonnet.
Stopped and opened it up and i actually had a fire burning!
blew it out and left it for a while. it looks like the pulley has gone, there was no noises and anything else to warn me, its only cos i stopped at a roundabout that i saw the smoke!
Switched the ac off and there is no smoke but the pulley wobbles when the idle speed is low.
The compressors above, are they the exact ones?
Very tempted to order one and get it stuck in.
Or will it be a usual case with the mg that is depends on what day of the week the car was built that determines what its got under the hood?
cheers
Jose
They all use the FS10 compressor, Jose. I got mine from Tech Choice parts in the US. It comes complete with a new pulley, ready to install, but as these threads will tell you, it's not just a matter of swapping over. You need to completely flush the system to avoid the "black death" destroying your new compressor as well. A competent A/C expert will know all this. Cheers...
Welcome to the club Jose..................
https://www.two-sixties.co.uk/mgoc26...e-FIRE-was-out....
Everything Malcolm said, various sources for the FS10 including UK, Compressortech. The guy there knows about the 260's. Let us know if you need contact info for US and UK sites.
Nich.
Thats good to know. I took down compressortechs details so i will give them a call today. Its amazing that stupid things can really ruin a day. luckly it did leave me stuck by the road but still put a downer on things.
Ps i have been signed up for over a year now, i do check out the site regular. even made it to the brokklands meet last year.
cheers
Jose
yep just looked at the attached post, exactly the same place mine was burning from.
So others have shared my pain:)
I have now suffered the same issue with a combusting air con unit. Fortunately I managed to get home by turning off the AC (and opening the windows to let the smoke out...:D) Pump had been noisy for a while but actually got quieter recently.
Anyway, I've looked on the Rockauto website (as I don't want to pay the government for import duty) and there are lots of options. I don't want a remanufactured unit, but that leaves me with Denso, Four Seasons, Spectra Premium and GPD. Any ideas which is the 'right' one to go for?
Thanks in advance
Four Seasons (FS) is the standard one.
Andy - have suffered the same about 6 weeks ago now only just got around to doing somthing about it - ordered a compressor from Rock Auto total cost inc delivery £204 and only two days delivery, not bad i thought
Andrew
Did you go for the FS one or one of the others? I don't think £204 with a 2-day delivery timeframe is bad at all (well, better not to have to pay it at all of course, but could be worse!)
Andy - I hade the Four Seasons Part Number 58129 I have fitted it to the car but it's just free wheeling at the moment as the rest of the system is yet to be cleaned / checked but I'm back on the road and that's the main thing
Andrew
HiQuote:
Originally Posted by monty 48
Just wanted to share my experience
Compressor seized solid on Wednesday
Ordered new one from Rock-Auto on Thursday£208.00 Inc delivery to UK
Delivered on Monday
Fitted on Tuesday, running in 'idler mode" for the moment. Not exactly a/c weather here just now
Will get the system flushed out and re-gassed soon
Dave
Hi, finally got around to sorting out my air con a few weeks ago (I haven't really needed it so far this year!) I know from the forum how important it is to have the system flushed before putting a new compressor in, but I couldn't find anywhere locally that could flush the system for me. After a lot of searching however I found a local garage just outside of Leicester (G&D 4x4) who has the correct air con flushing kit to do the job, so if anyone needs their system flushed and regassed, rather than just a simple regas, I know this garage can do it. They're cheap too and always ready to put the kettle on...
Thanks Andy, I will copy your post to the Garage Recommendations thread.
Nich.
What did they do, and most importantly, how much did they charge ?Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWest41
Good question! I was wondering how much of a job it would be to fit the compressor myself, but with the weather being as bad as it has been and nowhere suitable undercover for me to do it I decided to let a professional sort it out for me. To be honest I'm glad I did as Rock Auto (who I bought the parts from) say you must also replace the condensor when you change a failed compressor for your parts warranty to be valid, and to change the condensor requires you to remove the front bumper. This would have been way too much for me to do on my drive! Rock Auto say you must also change the orifice tube filter, but this is apparently a dash-out job and would have made it too expensive for me to fix.
So the flushing uses a special piece of pressure kit and a solvent flush. The flushing unit attaches to the aircon pipework under the bonnet with the inlet and outlet connected either where the condensor or compressor are fitted. There are pretty detailed instructions (as you would expect from the Americans who are always afraid of litigation!) regarding the flow rate/pressure/time etc. and the solvent is washed through removing any debris from the system as it goes. The system is then reassembled, vacuum checked (removing the air and solvent residues) and then refilled with gas and the correct lubrication. All in all it took a couple of days including the strip down, flush and rebuild and, not including parts, it cost around £400. It was clearly needed though, as a lot of crud came out in the flushing solution and I wouldn't have wanted that to end up in my brand new compressor.
I can't be absolutely certain on the cost of this alone as, during the stripping process, Geoff (the owner who's a very friendly guy) spotted the alternator wasn't new (as the previous owner had told me) and had actually been sandblasted and rebuilt. However, the job had not been done well and most of the grit was still inside the alternator! As a result of this, a lot of dust had made it into the front bearing on the engine and caused damage to this too. He showed me the part and it was pretty badly worn away by the dust. This also explained the other noises coming from the engine (aside from the growl of the dying compressor) So I had the alternator rebuilt again and the idler bearing changed which put the cost up. It was all worth it though as the air con is now almost silent in operation and you can't hear it when driving the car (unlike before when the compressor was louder than the V8!) and there are no grinding noises from the alternator.
The next job is to track down a new alternator though as, when the car starts from cold, all of the lights flicker so the alternator is clearly not putting out the correct voltage. It settles down though once the car warms up. There's always something!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWest41
Don't worry about the flickering light....they all do that, it's a glitch between the Ford and MGR software
Ah, thanks very much! That's one less bill to worry about!
If it's all lights I would investigate a bit further.
Generally it's only the battery light and only briefly...............
Run the car slightly above idle and measure the voltage at the battery. It should be roughly 13.6 - 14 Volts.
Then switch on the lights, heated seats, rear windscreen heater and see what happens. Voltage shouldn't drop too much if the alternator is putting out the required power.