A/C - To clean or not to clean

[kenz]

yung evaporator, may schedule ba yan kung kailan papalitan? how much kaya yun, average price lang.

[slip-slick]

97 model ang civic ko, never been touched ang AC system.. pero now, sira na daw ung aux fan motor, minsan di na umiikot, pero malamig pa din! nagdadalawang isip nga ako kung orig or replacement parts ng motor ang ipapalit ko e.. ang mahal kasi ng price difference.

btw, dun sa nag sabi na it takes half day para i-vaccuum ang AC system.. totoo ba to?? kasi ung shop na napuntahan ko for my other car, they vaccuumed for only 10minutes e..

[CtrlAltDel]

I fully agree that car's aircon system should be cleaned. At least yung air filter kung hindi readily accessible yung evaporator mismo. In case any of you here own a Picanto, you should know that it's a/c air filter is accesible for cleaning by the owner. Parang room air conditioner filter sa bahay na pwede ang regular owner maintenance. The procedure is explained in the manual. Here's how I did it.

Although my car has only logged 7100 kms, I wanted to do the A/C air filter maintenance as suggested in the owner's manual. When I removed the aircon filter, I was surprised to see lumps of cloth fibers, grass leaves and dead insects trapped between the ribbing of the filter- especially the cloth fibers. The aircon filter is designed like the engine air filter- like a hard paper with densely packed "saw-tooth" corrugations. The cloth fibers were found on EVERY single space between the tooth. Since this filter is much thinner than the engine air filter, the obstructions have a big effect on air flow. I vaccumed the filter to remove the obstructions, washed it in soap and water then dried it under the sun.

The result: stronger air flow (fan speed 1 now feels like fan speed 2 before), very quick cooling, and much quiter aircon operation. Tanggal din yung plastic-rubber smell that you normally observe when you first turn on the fan.

The trick in removing the aircon filter is the cover. It took me a while to figure out how to remove it. Notice that the manual did not specifically say how to remove the cover. Here's how: loosen up the glove compartment first as the manual says. The manual says to use a screw driver. I used it at first but when I saw how the stoppers fit, I put aside the srew driver and used my fingers instead. When the glove compartment is loose you will see the fan blower box. Locate the aircon filter cover. Now, that cover is just a strip of plastic that "wraps" the front from the left corner to the right corner and can be removed by gently pulling on the right corner's end. Feel around the right corner until you locate the end of that cover (from the corner, it extends about half an inch towards the direction of the car hood.) Gently pull it towards the right then towards you. The left corner will come loose by itself.

You will see an "empty room." The "ceiling" of that room is the air filter. Gently remove the filter by pulling it towards you and downwards. Take note of the orientation of the filter because you must return it to that position in the exact direction! Once removed you can now replace or clean the filter.

At this point I have to say that I am sharing this experience as a matter of interest to fellow Picanto owners. I shall not be held liable to any damages you might suffer as a result of this suggestion. The procedure here is the same as that stated by the owner's manual with my suggestion on how to remove the cover of the filter box and the glove compartment.

Return the filter in reverse order in the correct orientation. Make sure you get it back snuggled to the ceiling of that empty room where you took it from. Now that cover. Align it on the hole, secure the left corner first then push-lock the right corner. You're done!

How to loosen the glove compartment for aircon filter removal.
1. locate the black stoppers. they are designed with a slot that dovetails with the glove compartment.
2. the trick is to pull the stoppers gently towards you to loosen it from the slot.
3. when it is loose, you can now lower the glove compartment.
4. no need to remove the stoppers completely from the glove compartment.
5. return in reverse order.

If you did this right you will be very pleased with the result. Enjoy your new, cooler, fresher, quiter air conditioning, eheheheh!

Merry Christmas!

PS. I also shared this experience in the Kia Picanto thread.

[Supierreman]

pierre medyo matindin dumi niyon ah...madalas ka bang mag drive ng nakabukas bintana? other driving habits na maaring nag cause ng sobrang pagdumi?

yep im not sure if that was two yrs or more yata yun. dati kase when my sister was still using it di gaano nalilinis yung oto. pati yung seatcover ilan taon di napalitan kaya ang dami alikabok sumiksik sa seats.

Yung leaves most probably dun sa baba nung windshield nanggaling. Usually kase pag malamig sa labas the driver back then turns off the recirculation buton ayun humihigop tuloy ng hangin sa labas.

Buti pa yung US version ng CR-V both for Gen1 and Gen2 standard na yung may removable filter. Yung local Gen1 CR-V wala provision man lang kabitan nung filter. Yung sa Gen2 optional sya bibilhin sa casa di na ginawa standard equipment

[falken]

Have it cleaned. 900 pesos lang kay mang mario reyes, pulido pa. I had a car before whose aircon I never cleaned, nag clog na pala yung drain sa evaporator kaya naipon yung tubig. Kinalawang tuloy evaporator, napalaki gastos.

[theveed]

Sakin, unless you start to smell something funky, don't bother... If it ain't broke, don't touch it... With our past 2 cars, the more we get "cautious" with cleaning, baklas, kabit, refill oil/freon, etc... nagkakaroon ng ibang prob sa system hehe. Samantalang mga cars ng parents ko dati we never had them cleaned, they lasted over 10 years before we experienced any AC related probs.

[finchy18]

Mahal ang compressor kaya dapat alam mo kung ano ang mga maintenace.. Yep dapat tama ang Freon and oil na nilagay.. Sa pagkakalam ko my two types of freon na made.. U.S and di ko na alam yong isa.. so ano nsa manula yun din ang dapat ilagay.. dapat din tama talaga ang oil.. kung r134a dapat r134a but if mali ang nilagay expect na ma damage ang compressor mo.. Dapat din marunong din mag clean ng evaporator ..

[finchy18]

kung mag pa cleaning ng evaporator pali bah talaga freon?

[OTEP]

I don't have it cleaned as well. Check your manual, walang nakalagay sa maintenance schedule about a/c disassembly for cleaning. At most, change lang ng pollen filter

Yung pang-linis ipunin mo na lang for any eventual repair. Cleaning or no cleaning, masisira at masisira din ang a/c mo at one point or another. To give you an idea, a/c cleaning for Pajeros costs Php 1,200.00 at Mario's (mas mahal pa sa iba), replacing the compressor costs Php 4,900.00 while replacing the evaporator costs around Php 4,000.00. Even if I have it cleaned annually, the a/c system will develop problems in 5-7 years so ipon na lang and antay masira. Tapos sinasabay ko na lang ang cleaning (if applicable).

In my experience, a/c systems will rarely breakdown within 5 years even with ZERO maintenance as long as you use it properly.