Cabin cooling system dead

[anzac_77]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone else has encountered this problem. My 3 week old lancer has been going relatively well (except for the jammed seatbelt). I got in the car after work yesterday and lo and behold when i turned on the Air Con absolutely nothing happens!!! the indicator lights all come up ok, and the engine noise and RPM changed which indicated the air con pump is ok, but no air, even when i turned the air con off still no fan.

Getting the dealer to look at on Monday as thats the earliest i can get it over there (and its already booked for the 1500km) and have had a look at both the engine-bay and behind-glovebox fuses and they all check out. I ran the engine with the switches on and can clearly see the 2nd fan belt working ok and the refrigerant line is freezing cold, so the problem has to be with the cabin fan somewhere, but cant find any specific fuses for it.

Hopefully the mechanics will be able to fix it quickly, as i really dont like the idea of having to drive with no air con in 35 degree heat with my daughter in the car (windows down only cool so much...)

If anyone has had this happen and knows if its easy to fix please let me know
Cheers

[arutha]

Kym (mim86) had the same problem recently maybe send her a pm and ask how she fixed it

[anzac_77]

Thanks for the tip Nic, the only prob is i just searched through the members list and cant find a (mim86), do you mean kimmy from wakerley?

[The X]

Means 86MIM, but I think due to flood damage something in her engine bay (belt) went?!
Can you see/feel if the internal cabin fan is spinning? It's that entire white box behind the glovebox compartment. That's the fan and filter assembly.

[anzac_77]

Thx Pete, yeah im pretty sure its the fan thats the problem, nothing is happening at all. had it on fresh air last night while driving, got a trickle of air coming through the vents but nothing really being pushed through. ITs going in for service Monday, i might ring them again today to let them know in case they need to order the fan assembly

[draevon]

Is there a fuse for the fan?

[86MIM]

Hi Phil,

Firstly, congrats on the buy!

Basically what happened to you happened to me - worked fine for ages (bought mine in Sep09), then 2 weeks ago the aircon just froze up (no pun intended). Had an interim service done (which in hindsight pointless, due for my 30K soon), got the mechanic to check it out for me (he thought maybe it was just that the filters were clogged) but when he came back I knew he knew I wouldn't like what he was going to tell me. He's lucky he's nice to me lol

My advice, before your car goes in, make sure they have definitely got it written on the job sheet to check it out. Tell them that there is something wrong with the air compressor fan. The fan part will be completely seized up (can't move it by hand any which way). Don't turn on the power on AT ALL - ESPECIALLY the a/c. If you can leave it off and have the vents on "fresh" and deal with the windows down you'll survive (I have, and it's frikkin hot driving 80ks a day in the heat!). I tried twice with the air on but with "fresh", no a/c and the second time I got a bit (understatement) concerned when the car started to shudder doing 110km up to the coast... Last thing I needed was the compressor to explode...

The part has been ordered for me (don't have the actual part number with me) and will take 2 weeks to get here and then have it installed (half day at Mitsu). Your car has full warranty, so there's no out of pocket and it'll be with your free 1500km service (win-win in my view).

Hope this helps

[anzac_77]

Car went in for the 1500km yesterday, they said its the cabin fan resistor or something like that, they had already ordered it from Japan before they rang me to pick the car up, would love for it to turn up this week before I go up the Sunny Coast for a week, but if not im on another short trip the week afterwards and can easily leave the car with them for a couple of days.

[ClubspecCustomDesigns]

Hey Phil

There was a batch of lancers that had faulty air cond compressors. I have had a couple come back and covered under warranty. The only issue you will have is that it's about a 6 week wait for these parts to come out of japan.

[anzac_77]

Hi Nick, thanks for the info (you've done better than my dealer...)
would it be worth it to have a go at Mitsubishi directly at all? if theres an existing problem with a batch of Lancers that they know about, the least they could do is anticipate the problem and order some parts in so they are in-country.

From a customer-service background, I would have swapped out the component from a demo Lancer to keep the customer happy. An existing customer has a MUCH more powerful impact on repeat business, better to keep them happy at the minor inconvenience of having a demo sit there waiting for parts.
Now in the hottest part of the year I have to drive around with the windows down, and of course its also the wettest so I'm doubly screwed
Given all the other dramas I've had with the car I hope this is the last one, im starting to think twice about recommending the car to others who are in the market...

[jimbo]

I think nick got it wrong, the compressor was on earlier build cars, the latest issue is caused by the heater fan drawing too much current and burning out the fan resistor, the parts are available and can be replaced under warranty in about 30 minutes, if there is no air coming from the vents it is the fan...

[anzac_77]

yeah jimbo its the fan resistor, Zupps claim they have had to order the part from the factory, as of monday will have been 2 weeks, hopefully not much longer. on the bright side my week up the sunshine coast turned out alright, the last 2 days did a bit of cruising up to montville and today back home via the glasshouse mountains, the fresh air was pretty good and the fuel economy with the windows down didnt take quite the beating i thought it would.

[anzac_77]

Got a call this morning that my parts have arrived, pity that i was in canberra at the time (2-day trip) if they had got the parts earlier in the week i would have left the car with them and picked it up this afternoon. oh well will get it in next week, at least then thats the end of that saga...

[anzac_77]

Got the part fitted last monday, turned out the mechanic wasnt happy with the way it was running, the motor had some other fault in it, so they ordered me a whole new unit on urgent rush. Part arrived today, getting fitted on Wednesday. The dealer is coming out to pick up and drop off my car from work which is nice, saves me running around for it.