With the recent hot weather I've had the air con switched on a fair bit. The only problem is the car runs like a bag of sh1te.

Wherever you are in the rev range you get serious hesitation and a jerky/missing sensation under light to normal throttle, when under full power the car runs fine.

I've had over fuelling problems recently, could this be realted ? I don't see how but I'm not a technical expert.

The car is an 01 with PPP and decat.

Nathan..

 

Get exactly the same in standard MY01 - no idea what it is - worse some days than others.

Chris

 

not sure about this but when you have a/c on doesn't it lower your bhp....dont know if you would notice much difference though

 

AirCon affects BHP and fuel economy when used.
It engages another belt which invariably draws power from the engine.

You could go down the route of buying lightened and undersized pulleys for ancilliaries like power steering and A/C which reduces the amount of power lost.

 

i havnt noticed a difference on both my scoobs with the aircon on, my wife used to have an escort with aircon, you had to switch it off to go up hills, it was that bad
mark

 

AirCon roughly zaps your power by about 10% If memory serves me right....

 

Havent noticed it really, the thing still flys but only boosts to 1.2bar. Maybe the fact that its both hot and a/c which is resulting in power loss.

 

Under high engine load, i.e. heavy acceleration or hill etc, the a/c will cut out anyway so power loss when required shouldn't really be an issue
melon

 

This has saved me posting, thank god smeone else has this problem. Thought it was going to be expensive but now i know it's a common fault.

Had to say I've driven loads of cars with aircon on and never noticed it before.

Ahh the price we pay for speed.

PP

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

The car always ran badly with he A/C on and felt rough, but just recently it is terrible. Drivng along at a constant 4-5k revs the car feels like it is going to cut out.

You can accelerate slightly and the car feels so jerky its like the power is coming on and off.

Getting fed up with this car, does anybody want an 01 with PPP and decat ?

Nathan..

 

I find that mine can run better with it on so maybe I have another problem

 

I don't see any difference on or off with my MY01+PPP.

That said, I know AC is supposed to sap the power and have experienced this in other cars. I also heard recently that some ECUs apply a boost/power limiter when the AC is on to avoid blowing up the AC compressor. I think this was specifically said in relation to the Legacy B4. No idea if it's true...

G

 

btw - are you sure it's not just running badly cos it's hot outside?

G

 

G.

No mate my car just runs sh1te Hot or cold it doesn't matter. I sometimes use it briefly to clear the window and it drives really badly whilt doing so.

Cheers

Nathan..

 

Anyone slapping bits on their car (e.g. PPP) should be aware that you're asking your ECU to do something it wasn't designed for.

If your car runs like snot with the A/C on but is okay when under full throttle, this is can be because the mappings it uses with the A/C on aren't as good for your Mods.

Aircon will always sap a bunch of power from your engine, some cars worse than others, some ECUs switch it off at more appropriate times than others.

Just a suggestion.

 

Im a bit confused about this statment ??? a PPP includes an ECU which is designed to run with the other mods fitted with the PPP, so what are you asking the PPP ECU to do that it wasnt designed for ???

Back on subject my car runs fine with aircon on, infact you cant tell the difference between on and off.

Andy

[edited to say] mine is also has a PPP fitted

[Edited by Attu - 7/20/2002 12:05:07 AM]

 

Apologies...yes...if you have a PPP then you are not asking it to do anything it was not designed for.

Friday night drunk in charge of a computer....sorry. Not crashed it yet, though

 

 

Aye, my 93WRX can be darned awful with the A/C on. On little throttle the car 'jerks' slightly when the A/C clicks in and 'jerks' back when it clicks out ! Really noticeable and very annoying !

Although it doesn't do it all the time, some times I notice it more than others. Weird.

It switches off under full throttle though Although not instantly :<

 

Back to Devils refugee, does another belt actually engage or is it always turning with the pulleys?

 

Tony, there's a permanent belt connected to the A/C compressor...so I guess something loads up the compressor/a/C pulley when it's turned on. But the belt is permanently connected to the compressor..

Cheers
Alex

 

Don't know if this is a prob with Scoobs but with my old BMW325 I had a similar problem and it was a faulty compressor unit which was taking excessive load to turn.

 

MY02: When I push the A/C switch I can feel the car hesitate, only slightly though. The car DEFINATELY runs smoother with it switched off. I only use A/C now when it is uncomfortably warm inside. When I wish to overtake etc in warm weather I flick the A/C off With the British summer so far A/C not needed, up North anyway This is the first car I have had with it fitted so I thought this was normal behavior as I heard that it saps power.

 

TonyT and Spence7, the air-con compessor has a 'clutch' when ac is off the pulleys 'free wheel' then when you select ac the solonoid clicks in and engages the drive.