Wife's G4 just had the battery light come on again after 2 years.

[Fummins]

By Japanese specialist you mean 7milesout?
To be clear, your ac sucked, then you had someone top it off, it worked better for a while and now it's back to crap? Sounds like you have a leak if that's the case. Better sell it and buy beer.

[Basic]

Attachment 23452

Update - New alternator, new wiring, new battery. Any opinions on this brand of battery and its cold cranks? Genuinely curious.

Why is a brand new battery covered in dirt?

[Dirk Diggler]

By Japanese specialist you mean 7milesout?
To be clear, your ac sucked, then you had someone top it off, it worked better for a while and now it's back to crap? Sounds like you have a leak if that's the case. Better sell it and buy beer.

Man! Wouldn't they test for that in the 1st place?

[Dirk Diggler]

Why is a brand new battery covered in dirt?

The handle bar was nasty but it was a fresh battery, I watched them put it in.

[Top_Fuel]

It blows cold just fine while car is in motion but at idle I can feel a rise in temperature.

While you're at Amazon buying a voltmeter, put one of these in your cart...



I've been in a lot of cars that didn't blow quite as cold sitting in traffic as they did when the car was moving and massive amounts of air were blasting over the condenser. If you feel a slight temperature rise when your car isn't moving, I wouldn't go chasing that down just yet...unless you are itching to spend more money.

Spend $7 on a thermometer and tell us what the actual temperature difference is. If it's 5 degrees, I wouldn't mess with it.

[Fummins]

Man! Wouldn't they test for that in the 1st place?

Doesn't sound like it lol In their defense that's usually what I try first. Add a can of ac, if that doesn't last more than a summer then I gotta break down and find a stupid leak. For me it's usually a condenser that has a tiny pin hole. I don't have the crap to properly find leaks, you put dye in the system and use an ultra violet light to find the dye iirc? I have gotten away with just removing the condenser, plugging one port, pressuring up the other end with air then spray the thing with soapy water.

[7milesout]

5° might be difficult to discern on that gauge. I done got one. It's difficult to read it while driving. It's daggone small. Especially for dinosaurs.

Dirk - The quickest best way to check for a leak is to evacuate the refrigerant, pull a deep vacuum on the system, turn off the vacuum pump and let it sit in vacuum state for ~30 minutes. Drink beer or smoke some of that wacky tobacky you got, then go look at the vacuum gauge. If it has lost vacuum there is a leak.

Man! Wouldn't they test for that in the 1st place?

NOPE. The people you had check / fill your system, no way they evacuated for the cost they charged you.

The vacuum does 2 things. Makes a leak apparent, and evaporates water (vapor) out of the system (thusly improving cooling performance). Once that's done, refrigerant can be added, brought up to the official capacity. But if it has a leak, it's gonna leak out. If the leak is miniscule, it might be worth doing, yearly or every 2 years. If the leak is large, it is better to find and fix the leak. Leak repair can be expensive. It can be inexpensive too.

My impression by your description is that you have a leak but it is small to miniscule. Losing cooling performance at idle is common. The compressor (I believe) is "rated" for some level of performance, but it will be at some rpm above idle. Probably in the 2,500 to 3,500 rpm zone. I don't know. That's an HVAC engineer's thang.

If I were you, for now, I'd monitor the situation. My Blueberry, I can feel the A/C not do as well at idle. But it's system is pretty small. My Lexus and Ram have 4 or 5 times the capacity of the Mirage. The Lexus has a whole nother evaporator for the rear seat occupants. The Lexus will put the women on HIGH beams in short order. The Ram, I don't know why it has so much capacity. Bigger is better I guess.

P.S. You may notice a blue streak passing your neighborhood, ohhhhh about 7 pm. I'm heading up to Cartersville to meet my sister and B-I-L to have dinner with them. I'm also gonna use the Northwest Corridor because I'm so high fallootin'. I don't know where your homestead is in relation to the I-285 / I-75 interchange & the Northwest Corridor.

[Dirk Diggler]

5° might be difficult to discern on that gauge. I done got one. It's difficult to read it while driving. It's daggone small. Especially for dinosaurs.

Dirk - The quickest best way to check for a leak is to evacuate the refrigerant, pull a deep vacuum on the system, turn off the vacuum pump and let it sit in vacuum state for ~30 minutes. Drink beer or smoke some of that wacky tobacky you got, then go look at the vacuum gauge. If it has lost vacuum there is a leak.



NOPE. The people you had check / fill your system, no way they evacuated for the cost they charged you.

The vacuum does 2 things. Makes a leak apparent, and evaporates water (vapor) out of the system (thusly improving cooling performance). Once that's done, refrigerant can be added, brought up to the official capacity. But if it has a leak, it's gonna leak out. If the leak is miniscule, it might be worth doing, yearly or every 2 years. If the leak is large, it is better to find and fix the leak. Leak repair can be expensive. It can be inexpensive too.

My impression by your description is that you have a leak but it is small to miniscule. Losing cooling performance at idle is common. The compressor (I believe) is "rated" for some level of performance, but it will be at some rpm above idle. Probably in the 2,500 to 3,500 rpm zone. I don't know. That's an HVAC engineer's thang.

If I were you, for now, I'd monitor the situation. My Blueberry, I can feel the A/C not do as well at idle. But it's system is pretty small. My Lexus and Ram have 4 or 5 times the capacity of the Mirage. The Lexus has a whole nother evaporator for the rear seat occupants. The Lexus will put the women on HIGH beams in short order. The Ram, I don't know why it has so much capacity. Bigger is better I guess.

P.S. You may notice a blue streak passing your neighborhood, ohhhhh about 7 pm. I'm heading up to Cartersville to meet my sister and B-I-L to have dinner with them. I'm also gonna use the Northwest Corridor because I'm so high fallootin'. I don't know where your homestead is in relation to the I-285 / I-75 interchange & the Northwest Corridor.

I'm 30 mins south, down 41 from Cartersville. It's a cool little city, the downtown is a lot bigger than I expected. My wife and I are hoping to buy a home there. We love being near the base of the Appalachian mountains. Gorgeous views. It's either that or Charleston SC or perhaps Greenville SC. We are burned out being in the greater metro area, traffic is nuts, It's crowded now all over every county from Cobb to Gwinnett to Clayton, to Fulton, etc. It's too much. I've been here since 86, I'm f%cking thru with this town!

[Dirk Diggler]

While you're at Amazon buying a voltmeter, put one of these in your cart...



I've been in a lot of cars that didn't blow quite as cold sitting in traffic as they did when the car was moving and massive amounts of air were blasting over the condenser. If you feel a slight temperature rise when your car isn't moving, I wouldn't go chasing that down just yet...unless you are itching to spend more money.

Spend $7 on a thermometer and tell us what the actual temperature difference is. If it's 5 degrees, I wouldn't mess with it.

You think a rectal thermometer would work?

[inuvik]

You think a rectal thermometer would work?

Pretty hard to read driving down the road based upon where it is normally placed.