Finally something has happened to Shifty.
Let me set the scene. Normally I run the air conditioning once per week for 20 minutes. The idea behind this is to keep the seals and flexible hoses in tip top shape.
I've read somewhere that if you don't regularly run the AC then the seals and hoses can be affected allowing the refrigerant gas to slowly escape reducing the pressure in the AC. Apparently there is oil in with the refrigerant and droplets of this oil travel along with the refrigerant around all parts of the system. The oil keeps the hoses and seals supple and lubricates the compressor.
However despite regular use eventually some of the refrigerant is lost and this causes the AC to lose effectiveness (stops cooling as effectively) and eventually to stop working properly altogether. Potential damage could occur to the compressor too if the level of oil in with the refrigerant gets too low. And a constantly running condenser fan will waste fuel and potentially wear out earlier.
I don't think Jazz owners generally know that they should really have their AC serviced once a year. The AC service can be done by a Honda dealer and includes a pressure check and refrigerant charge, and the cleaning and disinfecting of the cooling element in the car (the evaporator) to get rid of nasty and potentially fishy smelling yuk that can form there.
One symptom of low pressure in the AC system is that the condenser fan (the fan on the small radiator beside the engine's radiator at the front of the car) runs constantly when the AC is on. Usually it switches on and off as required whenever there is an insufficient temperature drop to the refrigerant passing through the condenser -i.e. when the car is at rest.
And that's exactly what Shifty was doing - I noticed the condenser fan running continuously when doing my regular AC maintenance run. A trip to my local Honda dealer and now all is well again.
They found that the system was pretty much empty of refrigerant. This worried them enough to put in an ultra-violet tracer in with the refrigerant. The idea behind this is if there is a pinhole puncture somewhere in the system then the leaking point will be easier to identify. Shifty is to go back in a month to see if there is any pressure drop and if there is they'll get out a UV lamp to look for the leak.
The good news is that the system was able to maintain a vacuum for five minutes before charging the system with refrigerant. So the leak (if there is one) isn't down to a big hole somewhere.
After driving home from the garage with the AC on, when I parked I left the engine running and the AC on to see what the condenser fan was doing. It wasn't running when I parked. After about a minute it came on ran for five seconds then went off for about forty-five, then on for five and off for thirty, then kept that up until I switched off the AC. I suspect the condenser fan wasn't running at all during the drive but can't be sure. You can't hear the relatively quite fan unless you're stopped because of road and engine noise.
So Shifty's AC seems to be working like new. I'll run it more frequently over the next month to see if the fan on/off durations get to be more on than off.
Will add some comments giving details after each test. Hope it turns out to have been normal dispersion of refrigerant rather than stone damage to the condenser, hoses or pipework.
Either way I've learnt a valuable lesson -in future I'll be booking Shifty in for an AC service each year.
