Anyone face with intermittent aircond problem on their grandis. My grandis is 4.5 years old with only 67,000km and now I have this intermittent problem.

I used to set the temp at 23c degress and set the fan speed to auto with air recirculating mode and blowing directly to cabin only (not floor or windscreen). I am being using such setting with no problem.

Now here the problem, with above setting, the aircond will run properly with cold air everytime I switch it on however the compressor nowadays take a longer time to engage (switch on) again after it clicking off so I get intermittent hot air while driving.

The aircond guy say the gas is enough as there is not air bubble seen and ask me to try set the temp to 18c (max for our ride) and try. However, the same problem is still there when I tried.

From internet I read, with model auto aircond system, dealer scan tool may eed to be used to diagnose the problem especially if it is electrical problem as I suspect it could be the compressor clutch or clutch relay or other electrical components since the gas is enough.

Has anyone has this problem before and no mind to share your experience?

Has anyone see C&C use scan tool to diagnose any aircond problem and can share your experience?

With Automatic system there can be many issues . I will try to walk thru all the possibilities. One main issue of insufficient cooling is if BOTH cooling fans at the radiator are not operating. As in juss one working. The Radiator coolings fans come on while the a/c is on to cool down the air conditioning condensor that sits in frunt of the radiator. If onlee one fan is on while standing in place , this will not sufficiently cool the condensor and the a/c compressor will not engage . But when moving the outside air while driving moving thru the condensor will add cooling and the compressor will kick on.

refrigerant pressure switch. This gauges line pressure in the a/c system , when there is adequate pressure it will enable the a/c compressor . When the pressure is too low it will not enable the a/c compressor, also if the pressure is too high it will also not engage the compressor.

Ambient Air temp and sunload sensor , cabin temp sensor. These sensors all work with the automatic a/c system. The ambient air temp sensor works with the cabin temp sensor in controlling cooling and compressor cycling on and off when ideal cabin temps have been met via temperature set. The sunload sensor helps to adjust nominal fan speed when in full auto mode to cool down the cabin. But this will not effect manual operation of temperature and should immediately turn the compressor on while a/c is set manually.

Evaporator Case Temperature ( Air Thermo )sensor.This sensor and the Refrigerant pressure sensor are 2 things that can cause delayed or erratic compressor operation. This sensor sits in the fins of the A/C evaporator core in the evaporator case. When the a/c is on it reads how cold the evaporator core is . If the evaporator core gets a certain temperature it turns off the a/c compressor in means not to freeze it up. As in cases when auto is on and the setting is low , and the evaporator case gets excessively cold. It will cycle the compressor on and off as needed.

There are ways to test the automatic a/c control system.

Thank for the prompt reply. Much appreciate it.

The 2 fans are working fine.

refrigerant pressure switch, Ambient Air temp and sunload sensor , cabin temp sensor and Evaporator Case Temperature ( Air Thermo )sensor. All these switches and sensores, can this be detected if the mitsubishi car dealer use their scan tools (UMTS scanner??) rather than having to open up the units to test it one by one by the aircond guy since u mentioned there are ways to test the automatic a/c control system. I am so incline to get a scan first to rule out any electrical problem before let the aircond guy do the trouble shooting as to the cause.

While trying to repair the problem, do you think it is time I service the aircond as well by replacing the receiver drier (using desiccant bag as the condensor is sub-cooled design), expansion value and top up new gas. The aircon has never being service since new.

Could a defective clutch coil also caused the compressor cannot engage as needed?

The aircond guy say it is likely the coil but I do not quite agree with him. My compressor is of Denso type 10S17C and the car only clocked 67,000km and I am not understand how come the clutch coil can be broken so soon. I have a 94 Honda Accord which is now used for 15 years and the denso compressor and its clutch still work.

Yes i did forget to mention that. Failing clutch coil can cause it not to engage right on. There is a way to check tho easily. One is yu can while its not been driven yet , look at the compressor front , at the clutch. Have sumone start the vehicle. Watch it , and tell them to turn the A/C on and tell yu exactly when they have turned it on. See if it engages straight away . If it does the issue is most likely sumwhere else. if it does not , Then there are to things to check , circuit coming to the system.

Yes as i have listed in the other post , yu can check for air con codes. In the pic i attached earlier shows how to test and system and there are listed codes. The sunload sensor is most likely not a suspect. But the Evap Temp/thermo sensor is a high possiblity. But being that it is consistant in its beginning intermitance seems it may not be that either. It could be possibly the compressor is juss failing internally.

Yu can check the pressures while the system is running. To gauge the system pressure, higher than normal low and high side pressure will cause an issue with a/c cooling efficiently. A higher than normal low side pressure can indicate the the a/c compressor can have worn internal parts and not effectivelly flowing the refrigerant as used to.

An overly dirty or condenser with alot of debris in it and it does not have a good air flow going thru it

Thank again. Noted you are from Thailand (Land of Smile) and I know in Thailand Grandis is still called spacewagon.

I sent the car to have a scan on the aircond (US$30 charge) this morning and can now confirm it is nothing to do with electronic rather mechanical according to the workshop. The mechanic says likely to be the clutch issue.

I am sending the car to have thorough check to pin point the problem and repair soon and will also do servicing (ie. change reciever, expansion value and recharge gas) since it has not being serviced for 4 yrs + but the mileage is only 67K km.

The aircond still function properly (and damn cold) as long as the clutch is engaged. It is through half-way use that the clutch do not want to engage properly sometime so you get intermittent warm air when it is not engaged.

Will post the outcome what the problem eventually.

Yes it is sumthin seen , but not that often. When the clutch and coil tart to act up this way but i have seen it. Ive seen a few people have this issue , and wut they do is when they turn on the A/C they lightly (and carefully) tap on the frunt of the clutch with sum thing like a branch etc LoL. And the clutch engages instantly and usually works very well during the course of the day after it initially contact.

Lots of things are into play. Sumtimes the coil is fairly ok, but the air gap between the two contacting sections, the frung contacting hub and rear driven section. I have posted a pic of how the clutch and coil breaks down and is situated via the compressor. It can very be an issue of both likely and possibly. This is why they have clutch coil kits for compressors. They come with the clutch assembly and coil. Which are fairly easy to change. There is no Expansion valve in this system. The Drier does all that work as also filtering

Indeed the problem is the clutch coil and costed me US$150 which the following works done:

- Changed clutch oil US$56 (aftermarket brand, no idea what it is)
- Changed dryer US$16 (Denso -desiccant sac type)
- Compresor oil no. ND oil no.8 US$24 (80ml/can) - I insisted Denso oil only instead of the alternative oil they try to use.
- Labout charge US$54

You know what, the aircon guy that fix the aircon is a Thai, he is very friendly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) and has been working in this country for 12 years.

The aircon has been working prefer but have not test it efficiency during hot day as it has been raining the last 2 days.

By the way, KiT TeUnG 2549, do you happen to have 4G69 engine manual or Grandis/Spacewagon to share or not as I noted you have those attached diagram to share. I have been searching high and low through the internet with no luck. Thank you for sharing your expertise, much appreciated (IMG:style_emoticons/default/57.gif)

I have Mitsubishi Space Wagon non PDF which covers 1996-2008 . The the name Space Wagon continued here while being superceded by Grandis in other places. But they are the same vehicle. I have PDF but its Chariot/Space Wagon to 1996-2005.

Yes we try to be very kind people , especially northern Siamese people. Good yu got it fixed , sorry for the rain .

Hi Kit,

Any chance of e-mail those manuals. Thank. Have PM u my e-mail addresses before. Regards,

Hi Kit,

I am also interested to have a copy of the manual. I am driving a 2002 Grandis/Space Wagon with 2.4 GDI engine and currently only have a manual for 1999 Space Wagon. Appreciate if you can email (or send the file via www.yousendit.com) so that i will be able to have a correct reference to my car. My email is az_vtec@yahoo.com.

Thanks in advance.