Vegas Heat=Dying smart

[rrrucke]

On ClubsmartCar.com, they put Duracool in their A/C and it cools it down considerably. Contact member "smart142" also known as Uncle Glenn for details or do a search for A/C problems on their website. Although their engines take diesel, maybe this product can also help our gas engines. Thanks, Regina

[Jimbo]

I don't have my car yet, but I thought I would chip in. Small cars are notoriously bad performers in general when the air is on. Not that it takes a lot of horses to turn an air conditioning compressor but percentage-wise, taking power from a 70 horse motor is profoundly different than from one that is 150-plus. I've noticed in all my smaller cars that power loss and loss of speed is a problem with the air on. It has been a few years since I've owned a small car with air and so I thought that maybe technology had advanced to correct the problem, but maybe it;s not a problem that technology can totally fix. Law of thermodynamics and all that. I've also read posts regarding the air conditioning system on Smart cars being prone to leaks, so SuperGeek may be right-this may be something that you really need to pay attention to.

[Jimbo]

There's no place in Europe that gets as hot as the desert southwest of the U.S. Perhaps later models of Smart cars will have a beefed up cooling system to address this problem.

[JohnnyBGangsta]

Originally Posted by rrrucke

On ClubsmartCar.com, they put Duracool in their A/C and it cools it down considerably. Contact member "smart142" also known as Uncle Glenn for details or do a search for A/C problems on their website. Although their engines take diesel, maybe this product can also help our gas engines. Thanks, Regina

Duracool is a refrigerant that can be purchased as R12 or HFC-134a.... i'm guessing they are replacing the 134a that comes in all cars now with R12 because the R12 is better cooling. The last time I priced out R12 though it was near $150 a pound and the Smart car would probably take 2-3 pounds...

[JohnnyBGangsta]

I just looked at the Durcool wesite and found an additive called Chill Fx..... I don't know if this is what they are using but I might buy a can for my car and see what happens

[flywithsean]

Originally Posted by sharonlee

God Bless Michigan!!!

Please!!!!!

We are NEVER buried under snow and we get to see the sun all year round!!

[bull8042]

Originally Posted by flywithsean

Please!!!!!

We are NEVER buried under snow and we get to see the sun all year round!!

I am not going to comment on this yet. I think I will wait until February when we have a 55 deg day and bring this back to their attention!

[Dunerunner]

Duracool or any other R-134a or R-12 replacement should be done by a professional service company. The temperature contoller that regulates refrigerant flow in the cooling portion of the AC is designed to operate with R-134a and will improperly regulate the volume of R-12 into the cooling coil. I suspect there may be a radiator cooling fan or refrigerant charge problem with this one. The symtoms indicate a starving cooling coil (not enough liquid refrigerant). Take it to your dealer !

[T12121]

Originally Posted by bull8042

I am not going to comment on this yet. I think I will wait until February when we have a 55 deg day and bring this back to their attention!

Hey I will take the snow any day of the week if it keeps me outta the 100+ days! At least with the cold you can bundle up. With the heat you are just sorta screwed.

[SharonRB]

Originally Posted by sharonlee

God Bless Michigan!!!

We may not get as hot as they do in the SW, and we certainly don't have the desert, but we do get our share of 90+ days with high humidity. I'm not looking forward to them. It's been a cool spring, but better that than the 90s, as far as I'm concerned.

I haven't had to use the AC in my car since the first week I had it in April. Opening the cabrio top has been enough. I'm sure once it gets really hot I'll have to use it, though.