My window was frozen up this morning but I wasn't worried as I thought i can just turn on the Air-Con to warm up the air quickly as in my Focus it heated aswell as the usual cooling however because the temp was under 2oC this morning the lil frost symbol wouldn't turn on! is this supposed to happen or is mine just broke?
The aircon won't turn on under a certain temp. I think it is 5 degrees. Stops the compressor from freezing over I understand.
Not quite! All that happens is that the compressor which is used to cool air won't run, you'll still get heat from the engine (if there is any from cold).
Out of interest you didn't have the electric front windscreen heater on your Focus that only Ford seem to do did you...?
Out of interest you didn't have the electric front windscreen heater on your Focus that only Ford seem to do did you...?
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petay_pan said:
If you have no hot air then something is broken, the snow flake symbol means the Air cooling and conditioning parts of the system are switched off for the reasons stated above.
You don't say if it is a petrol or a TDi, but if it is the TDi then it won't heat up very quickly at all, especially if you just leave it on your drive to idle. No idea how quickly the 1.8's warm up but imagine they'll be like any other petrol engine.
Shrek said:
For some strange reason the Ibiza FR has the option of a "headlamp wash/wipe heated screen" for £185. I dont know if it is actually a heated screen and I don't know if anyone has actually bought one but it seems quite a useful option for the money … till you get a broken windscreen.
It seem odd that they don't specify it for any other models.
Its not a heated screen, its the heater washer for the screen. A little rubbish when the wipers will still be frozen to the windscreen!
no heated screen for the focus but part of the air con system was this tube that had heating elements in it. if you get a chance to look in the haynes of a old focus then you'll find it.
Its petrol. If you start your car from cold and put the heaters on full and turn on the snowflake, give it a minute and put ur hand to the heater and it should be warmer air than without the snowflake on and the engine is still dead cold.
seems is they can cool air fast they should be able to heat it fast....mean we got hair dryers right?! I guess the reason for not working in real cold is because the compress could freeze up and turnin on the snowflake will run both heating a an cooling parts regardless.
Its petrol. If you start your car from cold and put the heaters on full and turn on the snowflake, give it a minute and put ur hand to the heater and it should be warmer air than without the snowflake on and the engine is still dead cold.
seems is they can cool air fast they should be able to heat it fast....mean we got hair dryers right?! I guess the reason for not working in real cold is because the compress could freeze up and turnin on the snowflake will run both heating a an cooling parts regardless.
The aircon will come on, you need to put it onto the demister to start it when the heater temp is set high. The compressor wont freeze in UK temps im sure.
g60jet said:
But below a certain air temp the snow flake doesn't come on.
It does seem that if the air temp is a little higher and the a/c kicks in the blowers get warmer faster?
I think I remember reading somewhere that because a diesel engine is more efficient that a petrol engine, it does not produce as much heat when running. Idling the engine when cold will take forever to warm up.
This is really depressing. My car was frozen up yesterday morning, thought I'd be able to turn on the air-con to get rid of it all and bask in it's warm lovelyness, but nope - nothing, wouldn't work at all 
It's also a bit lame how anything below 5 degrees won't let you display anything else on the dash....
It's also a bit lame how anything below 5 degrees won't let you display anything else on the dash....
This is really depressing. My car was frozen up yesterday morning, thought I'd be able to turn on the air-con to get rid of it all and bask in it's warm lovelyness, but nope - nothing, wouldn't work at all
....
Where do you think the heat comes from.....?
You will get some, once the engine heats some water.....
The heat comes from engine 'coolant' running through a matrix, the cooling comes from air flowing over another matrix, but containing refridgerant.
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