Air Conditioning

[Homer]

Hey people,

I have noticed on a couple of hotter days now - 30c - that I need to run my a/c on at least 3 to keep the car cool (and mines white). This is a lot higher than my previous cars and the fan blows pretty hard. I was wondering what others are finding in case I have a gas problem or something.... er.... I mean in case the a/c has a gas problem - according to the leader of the oposition, I definitely have a gas problem

[Eelesy]

Homer, i posted this up aaaages ago and didnt have much luck.

i noticed that my air-con didnt seem to be that cold even in the highest part of summer??

I asked my dealer about it when it was in for a service once and they said it was operating normal.

I With no real answer i put it down to it being refilled with either not enuf, or below average gas after i had repairs done.

[Buzzy]

Have no real probs with mine Homer, not sure why that would be. You could try taking it to the stealer and see what they say but you can bet it would be something like "Its just the characteristics of the vehicle" bla bla bla! BTW it does blow alot harder when you have the vent closed.

[Chaj]

I have noticed the aircon in the Triton isn't as effective as my other car - an XR6 Falcon.

It's good but not great.

[Jitsukablue]

We did a trip last summer through 45C heat and although it was on full to start with, we had it down to 2 or 3 tops. I can't leave ours on 'face' for too long as it chills quite effectivly. Saying that it's not as good as an old Toyota avalon, those could freeze the balls of a brass monkey!

[Stu]

I've noticed the cab of the triton seems to heat up alot quicker in the sun than other vehicles I've had and putting the windows down for the first couple of minutes of driving to get rid of the extra hot air while the air con gets cool seems to work, once it's working it is pretty good but I think aussie made cars seem to have better aircon for our environment

[bill]

Ours works better than in our previous vehicle - a Pajero. We believe it is because it is cooling a smaller area now (dual cab). We only ever seem to need to run ours on 1 or 2. The following may help you to test yours.
Have the ventilation control on recycle, fan on 4, outside ambient temp at 25degrees and vent temp should be 8-16 degrees. At 30degrees ambient temp, vent temp should be 12-20degrees. 35degrees ambient temp, vent temp should be 16-25 degrees.
Also, have your engine running at 900rpm
cheers

[robbo]

In Weipa it is at the moment a nice 38-39 degrees and I run mine on 3 but I have found that if you start it up and roll down the very back window the first stage and leave it down for 5 mins after about 10mins of driving I can turn it down to 2.

When we drive out and back we start on 3 and after about an hour of driving we can leave it on 1 for the rest of the 7 hour trip.

Have you got all your windows tinted I have my front one tinted the same as the rest of the car

[Homer]

Thanks guys,

I always park mine with an inch open on all the windows to allow the hot air out and drive that way for a minute or two - or just wind a couple down.
Also have the windows tinted.

I'll give the back window suggestion a try too, but I think i'll have to get off my lazy butt and test the air temp out of the vents.

I agree with Bill - it should be 10-15 degrees below ambient. At least if I do that, when the dealer trots out the usual "it is a characteristic of the car" i'll have something to tell them.

Thanks again,

Homer

[lfunkqe]

i do the same thing as robbo in regards to cracking the back window for a few minutes and i find it works a treat

[jop]

Yep back window down for a couple of minutes, works a treat

[TJ McDon]

...At 30degrees ambient temp, vent temp should be 12-20degrees. 35degrees ambient temp, vent temp should be 16-25 degrees.
Also, have your engine running at 900rpm....

WTF
no wonder the aircon is so crap in the triton
25 inside when its 35 outside is not airconditioning cause youd just abtout get that from a household fan
mums mazda can coat you in frost on half its coldest setting. Dads triton barely makes it just ok in the car on its coldest and thats since brand new. We take mums car to go anywher on a long trip in summer because of that
those figures above are totally unapprorpriate for an air con sistem. It should be way better than that
can it be fixed in anyway has anyone found a solution to make it work better

[cryonicjason]

Aircon in our glx-r triton coped rather well in the 45 deg great the other day... in fact I commented how good it was compared to other vehicles I'd been in.

And as for other vehicles giving you frostbite from the aircon, what's the point of that really? Apart from wasting fuel?

[snowman]

our MK Triton aircon shits all over ML. Absolutely Chalk and Cheese.

are you listening Mits.

[ratstriton]

Same the mks air con was wsy better then the mls wouldn't be able to have it on high you would freeze..

[hvac guy]

I recon mitsu should have put a fan on the condenser to control liquid line temps
Mine gets way to hot, I want to put one off a challanger in it.
for hot days and while stopped at lights etc.

One day I'll do a pt chart and check its perimeters but couldn't be bothered
As I don't drive it everyday.

[hewy hacket]

Mine cools ok same as most other replies, run it on 3 for a while and then can drop it back to 2 or 1, it is not as good as the missus commodore though which has icy barnicles hangin of your ear lobes in 5 min. Never liked the cold anyway.

[mad992]

I recon mitsu should have put a fan on the condenser to control liquid line temps
Mine gets way to hot, I want to put one off a challanger in it.
for hot days and while stopped at lights etc.

One day I'll do a pt chart and check its perimeters but couldn't be bothered
As I don't drive it everyday.

is there any tricks we can do to make it more efficient hvac,my ac has been woefull since new mitzy are you listening

[hvac guy]

I'm very sus on the integrity of the gas from overseas from the past few years.
But once I do a pt chart I will know, just a bit busy at work atm.

[fridgie]

I have a bottle of 134a here but have never checked to see what they used in the tri, might look at it on the weekend and swap it out to see if there are any gains to be made from replacing the gas charge. Will do a few runs and temp checks/comparisons if I get the time to do it

[smlr]

There is a couple of things that can be done to help keep your car cooler inside. As suggested before, tint your windows ( front. Darkest possible). Another thing would be is to get a dash mat as the dash heat can transfer to the vents & could affect it by a few degrees. I work on earth moving machines & the biggest problem we have is radiant heat as the machines are all metal with not much over them to stop the heat bouncing off. This is all in saying that the actual A/C system is working ok.

[Mattstruck]

Watching with interest. Mine was turning off and on when at idle in the heat. Rang mitsubishi who said it maybe gas escaped over winter as I don't use it. I'll take it in and let you know how I go...

[fridgie]

Watching with interest. Mine was turning off and on when at idle in the heat. Rang mitsubishi who said it maybe gas escaped over winter as I don't use it. I'll take it in and let you know how I go...

They need to be run regularly to avoid gas leaks. Most car a/c relies on the gas to carry the oil through the system which in turn lubricates the seals. Once the seals dry out, the gas leaks out and there is no longer anything to carry the oil around to the seals again.

I use mine at least every 2 weeks in winter time (just kick it onto heat and you won't get too cold) to ensure the seals stay well lubricated.

[Mattstruck]

Warranty you think Fridgie??

[61rth]

Using the air con on winter with the heat on also reduces the fogging up of the windows. My air on is on all the time, just adjust the temperature to suit.