ZB Air Conditioning, whine and temperature...

[dakarak]

I have a ZB Calais V, recently purchased though a car yard. An issue that never presented itself at the time of purchase as it was cold, was the air conditioning performance and a whine around 1500rpm that only happens with the AC turned on.

Questions to anyone that has one of these:

• Is an annoying whine around 1500rpm normal, I have seen other posts suggesting this might be the case? Most noticeable at slow speeds on smooth road surfaces.
• How cold does the AC blow, mine seems weak. I tested it on a day that had an outside temp of 21 degrees and it measured 6-7 degrees - but it just doesn't seem to cool the car well.

I did take it back initially, and they said they replaced the high pressure hose and the AC compressor with a second hand unit - but I wonder if the AC compressors are known for this at a certain age, and need replacing with a new one.

Or is this just how they are, and suck it up! Would be great to know.

Cheers

 

[stooge]

mine cools fine, 38deg outside and nice and cool inside.
i did have a hose leak around 100,000km which was repaired, it was weak during that time because of low refrigerant but we just topped it up and kept going until the part arrived to fix the leak.
170,000km now and its still going strong.

as for the noise i have never really noticed it, not saying its not there just that i have not noticed it.

 

[Chalks1971]

No noise problem here. I do have issues with temperature, but if i want it colder/warmer, i just set the temp lower/higher. Id prefer to leave it at 22 & let it do its thing, but find ive generally got it at 20 or 24

 

[SSFUNKEL]

Does it do it only when the A/C is on? I had a coolant leak onto Mine about 10yrs ago and it Squealed like it had a dry bearing and was about to Explode. (Literally ppl stood away as it's that loud.) It was a slow leak on Block face with the water pump, took ages to find. Would only do it once car was running for hr or more and heated up. Had to get a new A/C Compressor, squeal went away with fixing the leak. My A/C Worked fine while it was squealing. It made noise whether on or not. Try spray some belt squeal eliminator on ya belt. (Watch you don't do it while car is too hot and hit your exhaust or Whoosh you'll have no Eyebrows) Also you could try a lubricant spray on your A/C itself. These cars are getting pretty old now imagine how many rotations it's done. Good luck.

 

[dakarak]

Does it do it only when the A/C is on? I had a coolant leak onto Mine about 10yrs ago and it Squealed like it had a dry bearing and was about to Explode. (Literally ppl stood away as it's that loud.) It was a slow leak on Block face with the water pump, took ages to find. Would only do it once car was running for hr or more and heated up. Had to get a new A/C Compressor, squeal went away with fixing the leak. My A/C Worked fine while it was squealing. It made noise whether on or not. Try spray some belt squeal eliminator on ya belt. (Watch you don't do it while car is too hot and hit your exhaust or Whoosh you'll have no Eyebrows) Also you could try a lubricant spray on your A/C itself. These cars are getting pretty old now imagine how many rotations it's done. Good luck.

Yeah, only with AC on. Its not loud, just annoying - especially at low speeds. At higher speeds/rpm its not as noticeable. Its around 1500rpm, which under 50kph it likes to stay around. The high pressure hose and compressor have been replaced.

 

[dakarak]

Update...
I have taken it to the aircon specialists that replaced the compressor (second hand) and confirmed the replacement compressor also definitely has a whine. They added the maximum amount of oil possible, which has quietened it a bit for now but it's unlikely to stay that way.

Genuine compressors from NZ are super expensive apparently, so they are looking for less expensive replacements from overseas. (Opel/GM spares)
Sounds like it's a somewhat common issue, and there are no second-hand replacements due to high failure rates. Initial damage caused by a known issue with the high-pressure hose at the top of the engine, if not caught in time will damage the compressor.

The genuine hoses will certainly fail, the aircon outfit has a contact that makes non-genuine replacements that are reliable.
They reckon that people squeezing them damages it too, so don't squeeze the black aircon hose at top of engine.

 

[peterbe]

Update...
I have taken it to the aircon specialists that replaced the compressor (second hand) and confirmed the replacement compressor also definitely has a whine. They added the maximum amount of oil possible, which has quietened it a bit for now but it's unlikely to stay that way.

Genuine compressors from NZ are super expensive apparently, so they are looking for less expensive replacements from overseas. (Opel/GM spares)
Sounds like it's a somewhat common issue, and there are no second-hand replacements due to high failure rates. Initial damage caused by a known issue with the high-pressure hose at the top of the engine, if not caught in time will damage the compressor.

The genuine hoses will certainly fail, the aircon outfit has a contact that makes non-genuine replacements that are reliable.
They reckon that people squeezing them damages it too, so don't squeeze the black aircon hose at top of engine.

Great feedback as I recently purchased a ZB RS wagon with the same noise as a company pool car and thankfully its still under new car warranty so I'll get it checked at next service and give an update. I didnt notice the noise on test drive as it was a hot day and air con was cranked up to the max. It wasnt until i picked the car up on a cool morning i could hear the whine. Its not crazy loud but it is.... "what it that sound" kinda a thing and it shouldnt sound that way.....

 

[dakarak]

Great feedback as I recently purchased a ZB RS wagon with the same noise as a company pool car and thankfully its still under new car warranty so I'll get it checked at next service and give an update. I didnt notice the noise on test drive as it was a hot day and air con was cranked up to the max. It wasnt until i picked the car up on a cool morning i could hear the whine. Its not crazy loud but it is.... "what it that sound" kinda a thing and it shouldnt sound that way.....

How did you get on? I'm still waiting on a new compressor, apparently they are on back order.

 

[87VLCALAIS]

My ZB RSV makes a whine just as you describe with the air-conditioning on.

I think it's normal.

Otherwise it works well and cools things down really well.

 

[peterbe]

How did you get on? I'm still waiting on a new compressor, apparently they are on back order.

All good, eventually had it replaced under warranty but took some convincing... No noise now...