Air conditioning fault Corolla HB 2020 ?

[Timmon]

A wild card here, but you don't have the car in Eco mode do you? That would cause the air con to work at reduced capacity, although it does not explain why the light is going out. I have travelled for 8 miles today in Eco mode, but the air con light stayed on, although the air con was not as efficient.

[Luke717]

1 hour ago, Timmon said:

A wild card here, but you don't have the car in Eco mode do you? That would cause the air con to work at reduced capacity, although it does not explain why the light is going out. I have travelled for 8 miles today in Eco mode, but the air con light stayed on, although the air con was not as efficient.

It's a good question. But, no I don't, not yet got around to exploring the different driving modes. In normal all the time at the moment.

[Luke717]

Update July 9.

Today the dealer examined the car and concluded:

1. There is a fault in the A/C system. No disagreement that behaviours like the A/C turning off every now and again and delivering no chilled and conditioned air, only ambient, are not normal.
2. In their inspection they noticed traces of oil on a component in the A/C system. They said that shouldn't be there!
3. A full inspection and system testing will take place next week so that they can get Toyota authorisation for repair under warranty. In the meantime don't use the A/C (turn it off), just fresh air. (Hope they fix it before this alleged 30+ heatwave hits us next week.)
4. They'll need my car for a couple of days and will provide a replacement for the duration.

So not an ideal situation to have a fault like this in a brand new car, but it happens. What's important to me is how they address it and fix it. The dealer (Jemca in Bracknell) have responded to this very well and I'm impressed with how they have done that.

Further update next week. Thanks again for everyone's insights.

 

[Auris James]

50 minutes ago, Luke717 said:

Update July 9.

Today the dealer examined the car and concluded:

1. There is a fault in the A/C system. No disagreement that behaviours like the A/C turning off every now and again and delivering no chilled and conditioned air, only ambient, are not normal.
2. In their inspection they noticed traces of oil on a component in the A/C system. They said that shouldn't be there!
3. A full inspection and system testing will take place next week so that they can get Toyota authorisation for repair under warranty. In the meantime don't use the A/C (turn it off), just fresh air. (Hope they fix it before this alleged 30+ heatwave hits us next week.)
4. They'll need my car for a couple of days and will provide a replacement for the duration.

So not an ideal situation to have a fault like this in a brand new car, but it happens. What's important to me is how they address it and fix it. The dealer (Jemca in Bracknell) have responded to this very well and I'm impressed with how they have done that.

Further update next week. Thanks again for everyone's insights.

 

At least they will get to the bottom of it. Possibly a missing O ring on production or one that just didn't seat well.

You'll be glad when it works as great in Winter to demist the windscreen.

James

[Luke717]

16 hours ago, Auris James said:

You'll be glad when it works as great in Winter to demist the windscreen.

Yes, I'm sure I will! Although I'm keener to get it fixed before we get the inevitable 30+ degrees in late July and August 🥵

[Timmon]

Great that they have identified a fault. We need to note that if the air con light goes out, the system is identifying a fault.

Hope they get it fixed for you. You will find the air con a great system, and all the more remarkable that it works when the engine is not running!  One of the advantages the sales man was very enthusiastic about when he took me for a test drive!

[Luke717]

21 hours ago, Timmon said:

Great that they have identified a fault.

Yes, it is. Hoping this gets fixed pretty quickly in the coming week. And I hope to understand exactly what the fault is and what's being fixed.

[AndrueC]

Had a good opportunity to run the A/C today and I'm unimpressed. No way is it outputting 4c from the vents. It's barely 'chilly'.

[Timmon]

Was that on "Lo" Andrue?

I think my last car was better (Although I had a new compressor in 2018 , the hot summer was too much for the original, only major thing I ever had done in 17 years) but I am not finding the Corolla air con is too bad, so far.

[AndrueC]

3 hours ago, Timmon said:

Was that on "Lo" Andrue?

I think my last car was better (Although I had a new compressor in 2018 , the hot summer was too much for the original, only major thing I ever had done in 17 years) but I am not finding the Corolla air con is too bad, so far.

I did try 'Lo' but I mostly allowed the thermostat to do it's thing. I know that it does cool but it's the idea that it can pump out 4c that I struggle with. 4c being blown out of the vents should be verging on 'ouchie' whereas today I was struggling to believe that it was cooling at all.

[Auris James]

Does your hybrid like the Auris have the button soft/........ more mode button? This higher setting adjusts the fan speed out of eco mode and blows at a higher rate.

James.

[AndrueC]

We have 'Fast' 'Eco' and 'Normal'. Can't say I noticed much difference. Mine is definitely cooling but it remains lack-lustre compared to the cars I had over a decade ago. My first two Jazz could cool the cabin down to temp in less than a minute whereas today (not especially hot at 22c) it took ten minutes for my Corolla.

One trick the Hondas did have which Toyota seem to have missed is that the Hondas automatically switched to recirculate mode for the first ten minutes or so if the cabin was really hot.

But I don't think that's why they did such a good job. I think they just pumped out far colder air. The last Jazz (almost current model) was no better than the Corolla so I think it's an industry-wide change.

[Luke717]

On 7/11/2020 at 5:01 PM, AndrueC said:

Had a good opportunity to run the A/C today and I'm unimpressed. No way is it outputting 4c from the vents. It's barely 'chilly'.

As I haven't actually experienced any air conditioning yet in my Corolla, it's interesting reading your experience and other different takes on the topic... 🤔 I''ll share some comments once the dealer has done the warranty work on the A/C in mine.

[TonyHSD]

5 hours ago, AndrueC said:

We have 'Fast' 'Eco' and 'Normal'. Can't say I noticed much difference. Mine is definitely cooling but it remains lack-lustre compared to the cars I had over a decade ago. My first two Jazz could cool the cabin down to temp in less than a minute whereas today (not especially hot at 22c) it took ten minutes for my Corolla.

One trick the Hondas did have which Toyota seem to have missed is that the Hondas automatically switched to recirculate mode for the first ten minutes or so if the cabin was really hot.

But I don't think that's why they did such a good job. I think they just pumped out far colder air. The last Jazz (almost current model) was no better than the Corolla so I think it's an industry-wide change.

It’s a surprise to me that your car doesn’t switch automatically to recirculating mode when AC is switched ON, my Auris does exactly that and after a while or if I rise the set temperature again automatically switch back to outside air. Recirculating mode helps cools down the cabin quickly. When experimenting with the AC you can pop up the bonnet and check the AC pipes , one lane should be icy cold to touch. 4C° was given to me from a garage but might vary for the different cars, but still should be somewhere in that region. 👍

[AndrueC]

8 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

It’s a surprise to me that your car doesn’t switch automatically to recirculating mode when AC is switched ON, my Auris does exactly that and after a while or if I rise the set temperature again automatically switch back to outside air. Recirculating mode helps cools down the cabin quickly. When experimenting with the AC you can pop up the bonnet and check the AC pipes , one lane should be icy cold to touch. 4C° was given to me from a garage but might vary for the different cars, but still should be somewhere in that region. 👍

Maybe it has to be really hot in the cabin? My car was sat in a car park for four hours in the sun yesterday and it was uncomfortably warm when I first got in but I opened all the windows before putting my golf gear away so it wasn't stifling when I finally drove off. The fan didn't really take off either. It got faster but it didn't go to maximum. I don't think there's anything wrong with it - it just seems a bit laid back :)

[Auris James]

I like my 2015 Auris interior quite cold!

If it's really hot I set it to max low on full fan, recirculate and after 10 minutes set it to 18 degrees and on auto. Yesterday I left it on 18 degrees and auto and it took around 7 minutes to start blowing cold air. After 20 minutes it was cold. I was just sitting stationary in the car listening to music. My car is 5 years old and who knows if it's ever been re-gassed.

In 2007 we bought a brand new corolla hatchback 1.4 D4D Linea Techno trim when we lived in France and the CC in that was Ice Cold. Had to turn it down as it would freeze your fingers at the wheel! So quite possibly AC not as good. Possibly a Hybrid thing to keep efficiency? Travelled to the Bergerac region in 38 degree heat in the shade and the AC worked great and lovely and cool travelling around Castillonnes near Bergerac.

James.

[FROSTYBALLS]

We've had air conditioned cars for the past 22 years - both manual and climate control - and modern systems don't seem to produce really cold air like the older systems did.

[Auris James]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

We've had air conditioned cars for the past 22 years - both manual and climate control - and modern systems don't seem to produce really cold air like the older systems did.

R12 refrigerant? Think it had a better cooling capacity? Then R134A Came along as more ozone friendly.

James.

[TonyHSD]

The latest cars like Corolla now are likely to have even different gas than R134A ., owners can check on the bonnet label. My car is old from 2010 and has R134 and the special oil for hybrids. ThenAC is icy cold when set to low settings. , also automatically sets from where to suck air inside or outside depending on inside temp and temperature settings of the AC. I never use on auto btw, I like to have control myself, winter I keep at 22C° no AC on, maybe once a month I use for a little while, in summer same but more frequent use of the AC, temperature set at 22-23C°. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

15 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

The latest cars like Corolla now are likely to have even different gas than R134A .

The Corolla, etc will have R1234yf gas. Some manufacturers have been using this gas since 2014 - our 2016 Aygo, and both the 2015 i20 and 2020 i20 all used the later R1234yf gas.

[Luke717]

Update July 17.

The car spent 90 minutes at the dealer. They told me their check showed the system had no gas in it. They filled it with the amount required, I believe it's 500g. They had told me previously there was an apparent leak in the system, so the gas has a dye marker with it that will show under UV light. They asked me to use the car with the A/C on for the coming week, let them know what I experience.

If the A/C works as expected, according to my perception, then all is good. If not, bring the car back where they'll check the dye marker to see if there is a leak. Next steps (in terms of warranty repair) will depend on outcome of that test.

Bottom line today, though, is that for the first time since I took delivery of the car on June 27, I have functioning A/C that does blow pretty cold air. A test drive with it from being parked in the sun showed that in today's temp - 26C where I am - the car interior very quickly felt nicely chilled with the A/C temp dial set to 19C. Definitely cold air out of the vents!

So it appears that the car had no A/C gas when it left the factory. Worse than that, this clearly was not noticed by anyone during any pre-delivery checks. I'm not terribly impressed with that, frankly.

Still, it looks like I will have a nice cooled interior in time for the mini heatwave that apparently will arrive next week.

[AndrueC]

I noticed the other day that the driver door vent was fully closed (I must have turned it too far to redirect it) and since opening that vent I seem to be getting cooler air out of all the vents. Not quite sure why that would be.

[Timmon]

Glad they found the fault! I guess the system automatically shut down, to prevent air compressor damage, as it does it no good running with no lubrication. Thus the light going out.

Definitely run it for a while, and make sure they put on your service notes that the car was supplied without gas, in case of any fault a few years down the line. 5 years and 1 day as the warranty expires, comes to mind.

My old car's compressor lasted 16 years, but the summer of 2018 finally killed it off, it struggled with the constant 30 degree heat on holiday on the Isle of Wight!

[Luke717]

1 hour ago, Timmon said:

Definitely run it for a while, and make sure they put on your service notes that the car was supplied without gas, in case of any fault a few years down the line. 5 years and 1 day as the warranty expires, comes to mind.

Thanks TIM, that's a great tip 👍

[King Crimson]

That's great news man! Really hope that they were able to fix it, mistakes can happend during production of course but it's defintly not a good feeling to have to fix your brand new car. Regarding to what others have said about the cold air that the ac produces, living in a hot country (compared to the uk at least) i'd say the ac it just fine and have no complains about it, it cools the cabin nicely in just a few seconds. I always leave it at about 24 celcius in the slow mode or eco i think it's called and occasionally turn it off when the cabin gets too cold, i don't know how you guys could leave it at the lowest setting without freezing lol.