AC Issue

[Asus08]

65 plate Mk2 Aygo

Got into the car after work yesterday evening & the windscreen was misted over inside so I switched on the AC to clear it. The green light illuminated & I heard the AC kick in for about 5 seconds then go off again, windows did not clear very quickly so left AC off until I could check it properly today.

I tried it again this morning & I can hear the AC compressor kick in when switched on but it does only stay on for around 5 seconds before going off, after a couple of minutes it will repeat the short cycle again. Just wondering if it's low on gas or could be something more costly?

The air con was serviced by Toyota a couple of years ago at its yearly service. Just wondering if it's worth taking back to Toyota as the Aygo is still under the extended warranty period due to having it regularly serviced by Toyota or taking it to an independent for a regas if that's all it requires.

[haelewyn]

General idea for systems at home or in your car : they dont work below around 4-5 degrees C.

As the aircon system is making colder air, some parts of the system just freeze up and take too long to defrost.. And then it starts again by trying to make cold air - freeze up - defrost...  and repeat.

Wait for warmer temperatures outside to decide there is something wrong.

[yossarian247]

What was the outside temperature? AC won't work when the temperature drops to almost freezing as the evaporator would ice up, so the compressor shuts off to protect itself. 

AC wouldn't really help with demisting when the temperature gets that low anyway as the incoming air is already as dry as it can be.

[Asus08]

Thank you for your replies.

The temperature last night & today when I re-tried it was around +3 degrees C so hopefully that's what the issue was.

I have always used the AC to assist in clearing the windows in the cold & was fairly sure that it kicked in & stayed on but maybe that wasn't the case & I didnt hear it shutting off.

I will try it again when the temperatures are a bit higher & see how it goes.