Air Conditioning -Advice

Hi,

I prefer to leave the air con on the whole time ,as I have in my previous cars, but it keeps switching itself off !!! It might stay on for hours with no problem, and another time, will turns itself off after a short period, and even when switched on again, may decide to switch itself off.

I have the auto button on as well and it stays active. Is the air con turning itself off the protect the battery perhaps?. I have a manual car, and the econ button is on as well. Maybe the air con turns itself off to save fuel?

I have studied the car manual, and all its says is to leave the auto button on, but this does not seem to switch the air con on at all ! You have to do that manually.

Is the air can switching itself off a fault with my car, or designed to do it ? I have completed over 6000 miles in the last few months and the car has done this from new.

Any advice appreciated. Cheers
Deeside

mine stays on nicely....

Mine stays on the whole time, it sounds like it maybe a trip to the dealer, unless it has something to do with the Eco function, which we do not have available over here.

The Auto button and air con button dont seem to be directly linked, You can push Auto and not get Air Con on. But never noticed it turn off Air con while on, I do have Start/stop and usually in Eco on mode but Air con stays on unless I manually turn it off.

I have noticed in the manual it is possible to catch the dash buttons changing gear depending how you hold your hand, I got a very hot backside one hot summers day as had knocked the heated seat button!, And have pressed Air con a couple of times as its the most likely switch to accidently tap...

I think it works like this, the "auto" button makes the climate control decide whether to use the cooling/dehumidifying of the air con in conjunction with the heater - ie one or the other or both might be running depending on the conditions sensed in the car; it also decides on the distribution of the air. The "eco" button stops the air con and forces the climate control to manage without it, which will work fine in cool or cold, dry conditions but will not cope with heat or humidity. Stopping the air con will save fuel - but not much I guess.

I've not seen any correlation between the Eco button and Air-Con, it just controls Start/Stop function to my knowledge.

It possible it's linked to the Air-Con but not seen anything to suggest it is.

STOP/START (MANUAL
TRANSMISSION ONLY)
The Stop/Start system has been designed to
improve fuel efficiency. The system is
automatically activated when the ignition is
switched on.
When the engine has been stopped by the
stop/start system, the ECO icon will illuminate.
When the vehicle comes to a stop,
neutral is selected and the clutch is
fully released, the engine
automatically switches off.
When the clutch is depressed prior to selecting
a gear, the engine automatically restarts.
CONDITIONS PREVENTING
AUTOMATIC ENGINE STOP
The engine will not automatically stop if:-
- the external temperature is below
approximately 0°C (32°F)
- the external temperature is above
approximately40°C (104°F)
- engine has not reached operating
temperature
- driver’s seat belt is not fastened
- driver’s door is not fully closed
- the driver’s foot is on either the clutch or
accelerator pedals
- climate control system demand is high
- battery charge is low
- the DPF is regenerating
- HDC or a Terrain Response special
program are selected
Note: The stop/start system is disabled when a
trailer electrical connection is made.
CONDITIONS CAUSING AUTOMATIC
ENGINE RESTART
The engine will automatically start if:-

Could there be some confusion here? Is there an 'eco' setting on the climate control as well as an 'eco' button for the engine? IIRC I've had that on previous cars and it works like Graham says, tries to maintain the required temperature but just using naturally available cool air from outside the car instead of a/c. Nothing to do with the engine stop/start.

Yeah - I thought we were talking about the climate control,. Incedentally the auto setting also controls the fan speed. I always leave mine on auto - no point in paying for technology and not using it ! When I get into my car after it has been parked in the sun here I very soon get very strong blasts of cold air from all the outlets - as the interior cools the fan slows and the main flow of air seems to come into the footwells with a bit to the screen and a gentle flow out of the face level vents. Works well for me, we have recently had temperatures in the high 30s and even though it is white with ivory seats the car gets very hot inside.

Did the OP's previous cars have "air conditioning" or "climate control"?

They work in different ways.

(30-08-2012 09:42am)NightFox Wrote:  Could there be some confusion here? Is there an 'eco' setting on the climate control as well as an 'eco' button for the engine? IIRC I've had that on previous cars and it works like Graham says, tries to maintain the required temperature but just using naturally available cool air from outside the car instead of a/c. Nothing to do with the engine stop/start.

I indeed have AC/ECO on my Mazda NightFox that does as you describe, but have not seen that on the Evoque, only the Start/Stop based Eco Setting.