The weather in recent decades has never ceased to amaze with temperature records. Abnormal heat in the summer is already becoming habitual, the notorious warming of the climate makes itself felt more and more. The category of people most affected by the heat is, of course, the drivers. For them, staying in a stuffy car, which heats up both due to the operation of the engine, and due to the accumulation of solar radiation by the rear and front windows, is a serious test. Perhaps that is why automakers are trying to complete even budget car models. Bringing life-saving coolness, car air conditioners are slowly becoming the de facto standard, helping drivers get through the summer with minimal discomfort.
Causes of hissing in the cabin when the air conditioner is running.
Unfortunately, the car air conditioner, being a rather complex technical device, is not eternal. With proper and regular care and observance of elementary rules of operation, it is able to serve its owner regularly for many years. But in this case, you can not protect yourself from breakdowns. Sometimes they happen without any pronounced symptoms, but most often the approach of trouble is indicated by the appearance of extraneous, previously unseen sounds when turned on or. It is not difficult to learn how to correctly interpret such symptoms, and this is what the topic of this article will be devoted to.
Noise when turning on the car air conditioner
Let's say right away that the climate system is not purely automotive equipment, therefore, such equipment is usually not repaired in service centers and service stations. You can be sure that in the event of a breakdown, restoring the performance of the car air conditioner will cost you a pretty penny, and the chances of doing it yourself are extremely low, even if you consider yourself a car guru. Therefore, it is so important to be aware of what caused them when the first signs of problems appear in order to make a prompt decision.
Of course, if the air conditioner in the car is noisier than usual, this should be taken as a symptom that speaks of problems before others (although in some cases they may not be evidence of a problem). The first thing you need to pay attention to in such situations is where it comes from. It can be easy to determine this, especially with the hood up. Most often, incomprehensible sounds are heard from the compressor side, which clearly indicates the place where problems should be looked for.
Fault localization greatly simplifies the search for the immediate cause of the noise. But this is not always the case: sometimes breakdowns are partial. The compressor can continue to work, while not making noise, and, nevertheless, not creating the required freon pressure in the system. It is not uncommon for the device to function normally, but the tightness is broken, and this affects the deterioration of cooling efficiency. Finally, a bypass valve malfunction is a frequent breakdown. In any case, specifying the place where the incomprehensible noise comes from clearly indicates where trouble should be sought.
Causes of noise in the operation of the car air conditioner
If you find out that the source of new sounds when turning on, running and after turning off the climate system comes from the compressor, this may mean several options:
Separately, it should be said about unusual sounds that appear only when the air conditioner is turned on. An experienced car owner can judge their origin by the nature of the sound. The most common reason for increased noise levels is that the air filters inside the main unit are dirty. Increasing the resistance to regular air flow y and leads to turbulence, which manifests itself in the form of noise. To get rid of it, you just need to remove the filters, clean them thoroughly under warm running water, dry them and put them in their regular place - for this you do not need to take the car to a car service. Hissing when turning on / operating the air conditioner indicates a lack of freon.
Ways to eliminate noise
In most cases, even if you have accurately determined where the unpleasant noise comes from and guess what caused it, repairing the car air conditioning system on your own is almost impossible. Even if you consider yourself a car guru, air conditioning repair can be too tough for you. The rumble, noise, hum or whistle of the air conditioner in the car when the climate system is turned on indicates that the compressor can no longer work in normal mode. The condition of the "sick" can be alleviated, for example, adding a little oil to the compressor. This is exactly what many car owners do. Alas, in this way they only delay the death of this most important unit of an automobile air conditioner.
And its complete replacement will cost you a pretty penny: the cost of restoring working capacity can reach $ 1,000, which is comparable to the cost of the entire air conditioner. There is nothing to be surprised here: professionals will have to completely disassemble the compressor, clean / flush it, change the dryer receiver, change the oil and refrigerant. In advanced cases, when you have tried to “not notice” suspicious sounds during the operation of the air conditioning system for a long time, metal chips generated during the movement of the compressor cylinders can get into the expansion valve. In such cases, it will also have to be changed, since this node is not repairable.
Violation of the integrity of the bearing can lead to backlash, an unpleasant consequence of which can be the grinding of aluminum from the walls of the compression chambers. As a result, graphite enters the system, which should be thoroughly washed and cleaned. It becomes mandatory to flush the system under high pressure when large backlash occurs. In such cases, one cannot do without dismantling the air conditioner, and this is also an expensive operation with the replacement of the receiver-drier with a new one.
When the noise comes from the clutch and when the car air conditioner is turned off, this means that the compressor belt is “walking”. As a rule, such a nuisance is accompanied by the appearance of unpleasant odors, burning. In order not to aggravate the situation, it is recommended to remove the belt before visiting a car service (or cut it, which is much easier). If the pulley turned out to be a common drive for different automotive components, it will be possible to continue driving to the nearest service station if you find a short belt (for example, from the same model of a car not equipped with air conditioning). If this is not possible, you will have to wait for reinforcements in the form of a tow truck or tug.
For example, if you are the owner of a Peugeot 308 car, to the question why the air conditioner makes noise when the air conditioning system is turned off, there is a very specific answer - the wear of the compressor drive belt, which is combined with the timing and power steering drive.
The cause of a refrigerant leak, which can also be manifested by the appearance of a hum, is most often a loss of tightness due to a violation of the integrity of the bearing seal. In most cases, its independent replacement is possible with the dismantling and disassembly of the compressor, which will require you not only to own the appropriate tool, but also a lot of patience. The fact is that the compressor shaft is attached not only with a spline connection and a fixing plate - this can be dealt with relatively easily. But to remove the keys, you will need a hydraulic press, which is an extremely rare tool for garage conditions (and not every service station can boast of having it).
Another subtle point that should be considered when replacing the compressor oil seal yourself is that you will need to perform the operation of adjusting the gaps between the fixing plate and the pulley. Using special shims, it is unrealistic to do this directly on the car. For this reason, most car services refuse to replace the oil seal without dismantling the compressor, which naturally increases the cost of repairs. In any case, to remove the damaged oil seal and install a new one, it will be necessary to dismantle the entire front of the compressor.
If the noise appeared due to a decrease in the pressure of the refrigerant in the system, the cause of freon leakage may be a loss of tightness at the junction of the two parts of the compressor. Typically, two types of seals are used here:
- classic O-Ring, characterized by a large thickness;
- reinforced enough thin gasket.
It is clear that in order to replace the gasket, you will have to remove the entire compressor, and you are unlikely to be able to do this yourself for the reasons described above. If there is any doubt that the compressor is to blame for the appearance of extraneous noise, you can perform the following additional check: try removing the cabin filter, and then turn on the air conditioner. If the hiss that irritated you so much is gone, you are in luck, the air conditioner is really not to blame here.
If the noise remains, check the tension of the compressor belt. It is very simple to do this - press the belt with your thumb in the area between the compressor and crankshaft pulleys. With normal tension, the belt deflection when subjected to a force of about 10 kg should be about 8 millimeters. If it is much smaller, there is a constriction, which can be easily corrected on your own. In case of severe weakening, the belt will have to be changed.
One way or another, if noise occurs in the cabin when the air conditioner is turned on, it should be understood that this is a harbinger of more serious troubles, and the problem should be solved immediately. Otherwise, you risk being left for the summer without a source of saving coolness.
The driver, if he, of course, did not get behind the wheel yesterday, and at least understands the device of the car a little, having heard extraneous sounds when starting the car, he will definitely be alert. To an insider, the whistle of a machine is as different as a conductor is to wrong notes.
Fault can be identified by sound
The sounds coming from under the hood are the same for the uninitiated person only. In fact, each device, each device in the car has its own range, in which it will whistle, buzz or hiss. Recognize the sounds coming from the engine, do not teach in any driving school. You can learn to recognize them solely on your own experience and mistakes.
So, if a gasket on the exhaust manifold has leaked, then an experienced driver will never say that this is a broken gasket on the main pipeline. If a gap has formed between the air filter and the carburetor, then the hiss that will be heard at the same time is difficult to confuse with the sound made by the gasket on the intake manifold.
But most of all, drivers are taught to understand what is happening, the noises and whistles emitted by the alternator belt or air conditioning. You also need to mention one "author" of the whistle in the car -. Why there is so much noise from these devices and how to deal with it, and this article is written.
Which ear is buzzing?
The expression “Which ear is buzzing in me?”, pronounced by Freken Bock in a famous cartoon, has long passed into the category of folk art. And for the driver, this phrase is very relevant, since everything can buzz and whistle from anywhere.
And the most important task of the driver is to learn how to determine as close to the truth as possible what makes extraneous sounds. If your plans do not include stopping by a service station with every extraneous sound emitted by the machine, then you need to learn to recognize these sounds and learn how to eliminate them with your own hands.
If a V-belt drive is installed in the machine, then we can safely talk about the presence of friction, which should not be. And this, in turn, means that some surfaces have defects that will have to be eliminated.
The cause of the whistle can be the deformation of belts, bearings and other parts under the influence of:
- high air humidity;
- changed operating temperature;
- wear due to natural causes;
- the presence of damage caused by mechanical stress;
- lack of lubrication in bearings and other reasons.
There are actually many more reasons for the occurrence of extraneous noise in the engine area. Each of them must be considered in accordance with what accompanies and contributes to it. Let's consider several situations.
If the engine whistles in winter?
You start the engine during the period from November to April, and an unpleasant whistle is heard under the hood. The reason for this may be that the lubricant in the car, which is located on the street, begins to thicken. The same happens in the generator bearing. As a result: the belt is spinning idle, the alternator pulley is not captured. As a tip: you can change the grease in the bearing, check the tension and wear of the alternator belt.
If the engine warms up and the whistle disappears, then this is the problem. If during the test it was found that the alternator pulley is spinning, then 99% of the causes of whistling when starting on a cold one is poor lubrication or a belt. If it turns out that the pulley does not spin at all, then serious repairs cannot be avoided.
It does not interfere with checking the working surface of the generator pulley. This is especially true for models such as Suzuki Vitara, Renault Logan, Mitsubishi Galant, Mitsubishi Lancer. In them, the pulley is located in such a way that external influence is possible, and nothing can interfere with this. In machines like Opel Vectra, bmw toothed belt drive is installed. In this case, you can not worry about the condition of the pulley, but immediately check the bearing.
Alternator belt whistles in the rain
If the street is foggy or rainy, or both together, then the music in cars with V-belt transmission is provided. If even a drop gets on the belt, then the grip decreases and deteriorates. If the whistle is heard only in the rain, then you should not relax too much. With frequent whistling, we can already talk about the weakening of the belt and the need to tighten it. If the belt is worn out enough, then it is worth talking only about replacing.
Slipping in wet weather is a signal for an experienced driver, clearly indicating that you will soon have to visit a car repair shop to replace the belt. But, the craftsmen from Hi-Gear found a way to do without noise in this case.
Chemistry or noise?
Whistling is not only artistic. Most of the time it's just annoying. Motorists have always treated such creativity negatively. But, instead of replacing a worn belt and getting rid of noise in this way, they began to come up with folk wisdom on how to extend its life.
Among the most popular measures for extending life was treating the belt with rosin dissolved in alcohol. This made it possible to make the belt more elastic, less prone to cracks, and slippage was reduced. To some extent, such processing made it possible to increase the service life of the belt.
A similar life extension method is offered by Hi-Gear. Its Belt Dressing aerosol has a fairly average cost (around 350 rubles), but it allows you to almost double the life of the belt. At the same time elasticity increases, appearance improves. It is possible to use a spray for belts of various systems: serpentine and wedge-shaped. It cannot be said that this tool is a full-fledged guarantee that there will be no more whistling. If the spray is used, but the whistle remains, then the problem is not in the belt, but in the bearing.
You turn on the air conditioner, and it whistles?
The generator is not the only node in the car that “knows how” to whistle. If the alternator belt, the bearing, the belt are tightened exactly as needed, the lubricant in the bearing is fresh and of good consistency, and the whistle does not stop, then you will have to check the air conditioning compressor. In this case, the sound most likely comes from the clutch drive belt located in the air conditioning compressor.
The minimum repair that may be needed when it comes to Kia Ceed, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Tucson cars is an oil change in the compressor itself. The cause of the whistle can also be an insufficient amount of freon in the air conditioner. In this case, slippage of the compressor drive clutch will be observed. Hence the increased load experienced by the electromagnetic clutch. If the lubrication of all parts, including: bearings located on the pulley, compressor bearings and other things, did not lead to the disappearance of the whistle, then it is worth stopping by a car repair shop and replacing either the compressor or the electromagnetic clutch itself.
What else can whistle in the car?
Another type of "artistic" whistle is emitted by the engine when the gas pedal is pressed. If you take your foot off the pedal, the sound also disappears. At the same time, the sound is quite quiet, and so much so that often no one except the driver hears it. Yes, and many motorists admit that they "feel" rather than hear this sound. And at car service stations, where the generator is disassembled, all bearings are cleaned and lubricated, they cannot say anything definite.
This time, the "author" can be considered not the generator with its belts and bearings, not the air conditioner, but the PCV valve. At the same time, the whistle is not as annoying as other types, but it is also necessary to get rid of it. And for this, it is necessary to regularly clean the valve from plaque and dirt. In this case, the main thing is not to try to clean the plastic case with potent substances. After such a “cleaning”, the valve will have to be replaced with a new one.
But, it must be admitted that the whistle will disappear for that period until there is plaque and dirt. If the valve is metal, then abrasive and other chemicals can be used to remove dirt. The most difficult thing in the whole operation is to carefully unscrew and remove the valve itself so as not to damage it.
As soon as all extraneous plaque is removed from this node, you can forget about the whistle emitted by the gas pedal.
How to find the source of whistling or noise in general?
Many components and parts can whistle in the car. Most often the noise comes from the belt, but it is not the only source of noise annoyance to the driver. If there is noise, and you definitely cannot say what makes itself felt like this, then you need to:
- The very first and most important thing is to check the belt. And the excuse that the belt has just been delivered is not relevant in this case. They could sell you just a defective spare part;
- if it's not the belt itself, then the next candidate for a whistle is the tension of this very belt. If you adjust it, check the lubrication of the tension roller, then 90% of all drivers will say that the whistle will disappear;
- if your "iron horse" was produced at AvtoVAZ, and its brand starts from VAZ 2109 and higher, then check how the alignment of the pulleys is observed. The same must be done on Daewoo Nexia, LANOS, Daewoo Matiz;
- check how clean both the belt and the pulley are. If they have dirt or foreign deposits on them, then you should not expect both silence in the cabin and normal operation. If drops of oil get in, then slipping of the belt is inevitable.
By the way, a belt that is too tight is no better than a dangling one. Tighten the belt - provide an excessive load on the generator bearing. The intermediate tensioner roller will also suffer. If we are talking about the VAZ family, then do not forget that in models starting from Lada Priora and above, the belt tension should not be measured with standard newtonometers, but sound vibrations should be used for this.
Machine manufacturers have even developed a device for this purpose. The vibrations of the belt between the alternator and the idler roller are taken into account. The device has a display on which you can see the readings. If we are talking about Lada Kalina, then you should focus on 190-240Hz, if about Prior, then the readings should be lower - from 120 to 160Hz. If you use this device, then the whistle under the hood will soon become not terrible. It can be calculated and eliminated.
If you learn to “listen” to your car and identify the weak link of the engine by the whistle-voice, then the repair costs will be significantly reduced, and the car will serve reliably and faithfully for many years, and not stand idle in the garage or car service.
An experienced driver by the sounds of his car can determine the cause of the malfunction and how to fix it. If the belt whistles when the air conditioner is turned on, then most often the problem is associated with the V-belt drive. The article discusses the causes of whistling and methods for its elimination.
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What is the source of the problem?
Most often, the transmission occurs due to friction. This means that the surfaces have lost their original qualities. During operation, the belts, pulleys and bearings of the car are under constant load and wear out over time. The following factors affect the quality of components:
The reasons why the engine whistles can be different. It is necessary to solve the problem in each specific case.
When a whistle occurs, the following measures should be taken:
- check the condition of the belt;
- adjust the belt tension;
- lubricate the tension roller;
- in some models, the cause may be in the alignment of the pulleys;
- clean the surface of the strap or replace if there are traces of oil or antifreeze, which may cause the product to slip.
The source of whistling can be not only tension, but also the quality of the part. Sometimes replacing with a new product does not help get rid of whistling sounds. Therefore, you need to buy only original consumables from well-known manufacturers.
Diagnostics and repair
When turning on a cold engine, a whistle may occur, which can be caused by slipping of the belt on the pulleys. Until the machine is warmed up in the cold season, the grease in the bearing is sometimes of such a consistency that the belt cannot turn the pulley and slips. The reason for this may be poor-quality lubricant, poorly stretched strap, its wear. You can correct the situation by changing the oil, adjusting the belt tension, and replacing it in case of wear.
But first you need to check if the pulley is spinning. There are times when the unit wedges, then first of all it must be repaired. The cause of the whistling may be wear on the surface of the alternator pulley, in some cars it is in the open state. In models where the alternator pulley is located below the crankshaft pulley, the pulley may jam, especially on SUVs. If installed, then the reason is in the bearing.
Often the strap whistles in rainy weather with high humidity. Moisture gets on the surface of the pulleys and belts, which reduces the frictional qualities. Such whistles are temporary and gradually disappear. But this says that the strap is not tight enough and should be tightened if it is not already very worn. By the occurrence of a whistle in wet weather, it can be diagnosed that a belt replacement will soon be needed.
Hi-Gear chemical agent helps to fight the whistling problem, although this is a temporary salvation. The product is first applied evenly to the entire inner surface of the strap. It only takes one full circle. Then apply a small amount of spray on the outside. Next, start the engine and let it run for a bit. The tool will be evenly distributed over the surface of the belt and pulleys. The spray makes the material elastic and improves its appearance, protects against cracking and drying, reduces noise from the motor. Hi-Gear spray extends the service life of products by 1.5-2 times.
In the old days, rosin was used for this, impregnating the belt with it. The rosin increased the coefficient of slip resistance. At the same time, the elasticity of the material increased, its wear decreased, it cracked less and torn less often. Thus, with periodic use, the service life of any rubber product is extended. Thanks to the use of the tool, you can find out exactly what is whistling - a bearing or a belt.
The whistle that occurs when the air conditioner is turned on may be due to the alternator belt. The belt drive is under heavy load and the product slips along the pulley.
In this case, the tension of the strap helps. If, after tension, the belt still whistles, then the cause is the air conditioning compressor. To tighten the strap, you need to do the following:
- Jack up the right wheel first.
- Then unscrew the protection from the right bumper.
- Then remove the right fender liner.
- Using a spanner wrench to "12" and an extension cord, you need to unscrew the mounting bolt and the tensioner bolt, the belt will become weaker.
- Then, with a special key, turning counterclockwise, the belt is tensioned.
- After tensioning the belt, first tighten the main bolt, and then the tensioner.
But the belt is not always the cause of the whistling sound when the air conditioner is turned on, sometimes it is necessary to change the oil in the compressor and the unpleasant sounds disappear. Sometimes the lack of a sufficient amount of freon causes the compressor drive clutch to slip. The compressor does not have enough lubrication, so it is difficult for it to turn. The load on the electromagnetic clutch increases.
You can get rid of the whistle when you turn on the air conditioner by lubricating the bearings of the pulley, the compressor, depending on the design features of the air conditioner. If all else fails and the sound remains, then the electromagnetic clutch or compressor may need to be replaced.
To avoid unpleasant whistles during engine operation, the following preventive measures should be taken:
- regularly monitor the condition of belt drives;
- control the tension of the belts;
- check the lubrication of bearings and bushings;
- diagnose the condition of components.
Regular use of Hi-Gear will prolong the life of your drive belts.
To eliminate the occurrence of whistling sounds, it is important to correctly diagnose.
