air-con and 2oC?

petay_pan

Full Member
Oct 27, 2005
97
0
My window was frozen up this morning but I wasn't worried as I thought i can just turn on the Air-Con to warm up the air quickly as in my Focus it heated aswell as the usual cooling however because the temp was under 2oC this morning the lil frost symbol wouldn't turn on! is this supposed to happen or is mine just broke?
 

petay_pan

Full Member
Oct 27, 2005
97
0
hmmm suppose that would make sense but if the system was like my focus then it should have a heating pipe aswell...if it does but still doesn't work under 5 degrees then thats cr@p! not allowed to get hot air in the cold lol
 

Shrek

Full Member
Sep 20, 2004
134
0
Wokingham
Not quite! All that happens is that the compressor which is used to cool air won't run, you'll still get heat from the engine (if there is any from cold).

Out of interest you didn't have the electric front windscreen heater on your Focus that only Ford seem to do did you...?
 
Last edited:

Ruddmeister

Everything in Moderation
Jun 23, 2003
8,218
1
Weston-super-Mare
en.wikipedia.org
petay_pan said:
hmmm suppose that would make sense but if the system was like my focus then it should have a heating pipe aswell...if it does but still doesn't work under 5 degrees then thats cr@p! not allowed to get hot air in the cold lol

If you have no hot air then something is broken, the snow flake symbol means the Air cooling and conditioning parts of the system are switched off for the reasons stated above.
 

Shrek

Full Member
Sep 20, 2004
134
0
Wokingham
You don't say if it is a petrol or a TDi, but if it is the TDi then it won't heat up very quickly at all, especially if you just leave it on your drive to idle. No idea how quickly the 1.8's warm up but imagine they'll be like any other petrol engine.
 

Ol' Timer

Full Member
Jun 20, 2004
873
2
Norfolk
Shrek said:
Out of interest you didn't have the electric front windscreen heater that only Ford seem to do did you...?

For some strange reason the Ibiza FR has the option of a "headlamp wash/wipe heated screen" for £185. I dont know if it is actually a heated screen and I don't know if anyone has actually bought one but it seems quite a useful option for the money … till you get a broken windscreen.

It seem odd that they don't specify it for any other models.
 

LeakyTurnip

Mull Fember
Feb 11, 2005
165
0
N.Ireland
Its not a heated screen, its the heater washer for the screen. A little rubbish when the wipers will still be frozen to the windscreen!
 

petay_pan

Full Member
Oct 27, 2005
97
0
no heated screen for the focus but part of the air con system was this tube that had heating elements in it. if you get a chance to look in the haynes of a old focus then you'll find it.


Its petrol. If you start your car from cold and put the heaters on full and turn on the snowflake, give it a minute and put ur hand to the heater and it should be warmer air than without the snowflake on and the engine is still dead cold.

seems is they can cool air fast they should be able to heat it fast....mean we got hair dryers right?! I guess the reason for not working in real cold is because the compress could freeze up and turnin on the snowflake will run both heating a an cooling parts regardless.
 

jetsetjimbo

a.k.a James
Jun 12, 2005
630
0
J2 M5
g60jet said:
The aircon will come on, you need to put it onto the demister to start it when the heater temp is set high. The compressor wont freeze in UK temps im sure.

But below a certain air temp the snow flake doesn't come on.

It does seem that if the air temp is a little higher and the a/c kicks in the blowers get warmer faster?
 

petay_pan

Full Member
Oct 27, 2005
97
0
has anyone noticed that the snowflake button also becomes really hard to press! I thought it was broken!
 

AoS

It is mine, all mine.....
Mar 28, 2005
127
0
Wiltshire
Shrek said:
You don't say if it is a petrol or a TDi, but if it is the TDi then it won't heat up very quickly at all, especially if you just leave it on your drive to idle.
I know what you mean! Takes me half my 5 mile journey to work to get any heat! I'm sure it says in the manual that you shouldnt leave it idleing, you should just drive it?!?
 

samm

Oil be back!!
Nov 5, 2003
497
3
Horsham
sammullahy.50megs.com
I think I remember reading somewhere that because a diesel engine is more efficient that a petrol engine, it does not produce as much heat when running. Idling the engine when cold will take forever to warm up.
 

blizeH

Active Member
May 12, 2008
203
0
This is really depressing. My car was frozen up yesterday morning, thought I'd be able to turn on the air-con to get rid of it all and bask in it's warm lovelyness, but nope - nothing, wouldn't work at all :(

It's also a bit lame how anything below 5 degrees won't let you display anything else on the dash....
 

blizeH

Active Member
May 12, 2008
203
0
No idea, if I'm honest I have no idea how air conditioning works, but I always believed it go to cold/hot a lot quicker than relying on the engine to warm up :/
 

blizeH

Active Member
May 12, 2008
203
0
Oh god, that would make sense then - so it can get cold very quickly due to the coolant, but not the other way around?

Cheers for the explanation, guess I'll just have to stick to my trusty de-icer :D

( :( )