A/C gone!

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius\";p=\"85074)</div>

A flying rock would have punctured the radiator or damaged the grill, but how in the world would it hit the condenser without damaging at least the radiator?[/b]

I've never seen an automotive A/C condenser mounted behind the radiator. To get maximum airflow they're mounted in front of the rad.

If the A/C condenser also had the heat from the rad passing through it, it wouldn't be very effective.

[IsrAmeriPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman\";p=\"85262)</div>

I've never seen an automotive A/C condenser mounted behind the radiator. To get maximum airflow they're mounted in front of the rad.

If the A/C condenser also had the heat from the rad passing through it, it wouldn't be very effective.
[/b]

I agree with you. That has been my experience as well and I am ashamed to admit that I did not look under the hood of my Prius check out the setup there.

I was simply replying to delrey, who wrote the following:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(delrey\";p=\"85061)</div>

The hole is in the A/C condenser. (He said it's behind the grill & the radiator, and that's why he can say that it must have been caused by a rock or some type of flying road debris.[/b]

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius\";p=\"85351)</div>

I was simply replying to delrey, who wrote the following:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(delrey\";p=\"85061)

The hole is in the A/C condenser. (He said it's behind the grill & the radiator, and that's why he can say that it must have been caused by a rock or some type of flying road debris.[/b]

[/b][/quote]

Oops I missed that part. The service guy who told her that is full of s**.

I would be interested in seeing that condensor. I still have the ruptured A/C evaporator from my 1990 4Runner. They had a problem with the expansion oriface that caused head pressures that exceeded the evaporator rating.

I was driving along and suddenly this white fog whooshed out the vents.

[KTPhil]

Pretty amazing rock to miss everything else and still hit the condensor. Kinda like the Kennedy "magic bullet." Maybe a tech banged it with a wrench?

[Prolene]

The Honda S2000 has the AC condenser in front of the radiator, as do all vehicles, I do believe.

Air flow through the first radiator can get fairly restrictive with debris bending the fins. It makes sense to have the AC in front of the radiator, to allow condensing of the refrigerant with ambient temperature air.

[Frank Hudon]

Jay I just went out and had another look at the wife's 2k4 and I'm with you on this one, we need some screen or some other stone or debris shield for at least the lower grill portion. Her's has some fins that have been hit so it's just a matter of time before it takes a rock and has a hole. I'll do some looking at screening and see if there's an easy solution to this potential problem.

[htmlspinnr]

Quite a few of my fins have been bent. In looking at mine, I also saw the low pressure tube at the bottom which bends out to the front before going up. The vertical portion of the pipe is protected with foam, however the elbow is quite exposed. It's quite possible for a rock to nail that just right and cause a leak.

I too would be interested in a mesh grill going across the bottom portion, including the fog lamps, one of which has already been broken due to a flying stone. Seems to be quite a few of those out here in AZ.

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"85445)</div>

we need some screen or some other stone or debris shield for at least the lower grill portion. Her's has some fins that have been hit so it's just a matter of time before it takes a rock and has a hole. [/b]

Frank:

I'm surprised at how quickly the condenser took a beating, considering I *never* drive on gravel roads and the car spends 99% of its life in Winnipeg. And I think Winnipeg is quite good about keeping the streets clean in summer.

I distinctly recall the difference in the appearance of the condenser as I had to spend almost an hour last fall rooting around to dig out the block heater cord. Whoever put the block heater in had the cord wrapped around that support behind the hood latch.

At the time I thought "huh, nice shinny aluminum condenser." Not anymore. Not too many fins are bent - yet - but the header tanks have a lot of nicks in them. So it's only a matter of time.

As far as finding some sort of mesh to put in front of the plastic grille, I stopped by a speed shop yesterday and they had a *huge* assortment of stainless, aluminum, steel, and plastic mesh in various patterns, colors, and sizes. For an extra $50 they'll even match my color code and paint one for me, though I'm leaning towards the black aluminum one.

Anybody have any idea if a bug screen would block airflow too much? I plan on taking some highway trips this summer and Winnipeg has almost as many mosquitoes and flies as Florida. From what I can see, cleaning bugs off the A/C condenser would be a giant PITA.

Jay

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KTPhil\";p=\"85388)</div>

Pretty amazing rock to miss everything else and still hit the condensor.  Kinda like the Kennedy \"magic bullet.\"  Maybe a tech banged it with a wrench?[/b]

If you look through the lower - or for that matter the upper - grille, all you see is the A/C condenser. That's not the radiator you're seeing.

So any rock that flies through the plastic grille is bound to hit the A/C fins, row tubes, or headers.

[delrey]

I guess I need a mesh. Lightning actually does sometimes strike twice ...

Meanwhile to wrap up my story, my a/c is all fixed now. I talked to the service rep about the warranty claim, and he was strongly of the opinion that it actually should be covered by warranty. Maybe he didn't want to change it & the paperwork had already gone through ... regardless, he talked me into leaving things as-is, so it was a warranty repair.

Nice timing getting it back, as I had a sudden family emergency & had to drive to L.A. on a hot afternoon down highway 5. Not only is that a hot drive, but there are some areas that where you *really* want to push that recirc button. (Feedlots).

Relieved ... and cooler.