How difficult was it to remove the duct?

 

good thinking. every little bit helps with air. also if you replace corrugated tubing with smooth tube you will lessen the head on the fan and gain some velocity. (move more air)

 

It pops right out- it's simply pushed onto mating fittings at either end. I'm actually surprised that this thing doesn't just fall off on its own.

Reinstalling it with the pipe wrap on is a bit harder, but no big deal.

This took me less than 30 min start to finish.

You do have to unscrew the fuse box to get adequate access to the tube- be careful not to let the offset washers on the two screws holding the box in place fall into the abyss.

 

Good post. With the radiator in such close proximity, it must bake that tube - especially at idle with no airflow.

 

Speaking of airflow...
Anyone looked into a higher-flow fan?

 

You do have to unscrew the fuse box to get adequate access to the tube- be careful not to let the offset washers on the two screws holding the box in place fall into the abyss.

Abyss is right! :wallbang:After removing the front underplate I found that I could not retrieve the dropped screw and one of the spacers. Luckily I had some delrin stock to cut a new spacer out of. Is there any way other than removing the clam and completely disassembling the front of the car to retrieve the parts?

 

What a coincidence, I wrapped my duct yesterday. I used some fancy 1" wide x 1/8" thick silca something another material. .28 btu rating.

Today I checked my freon level and it was low. I had 230 on high side and 30 on low side with 60 degree at vent. I bumped it up with 3/4 can of freon. 248 high and 39 low. 54 degrees at vent. Quite a noticeable deference.

 

I took my Elise back to the dealer for a second attempt at an AC fix.
This time they shoved the probe into the evaporator.
I'll take it for a spin shortly and see if it helped.

Anyway, as the mechanic showed me the what he did, i couldn't help but notice that the main air duct connecting the evaporator to the cabin was a ~15" length of light-weight uninsulated corrugated tubing. I'm thinking that between ambient air temp (100F lately here in Chicago), the radiator, the condensor, and oil coolers all conspiring against us, we're probably losing a few degrees right there.

So, desperate for any additional cooling I can get, I decided to wrap the pipe in insulating pipe wrap (of the foil backed foam variety). Later this weekend, I'll see if I can get the pipe leading into the evaporator and do the same.

I'll drive around with a temp probe in one of the vents later and report what I find.

And before anyone says it, I'm perfectly OK with the hp/weight gain trade off ;-)

Any news? How's it working? Does it help?

 

It's another hot day in Chicago, and my AC sucks.
Despite the temp sensor position adjustment and duct insulation, the coolest my AC blows is about 62F. At stop lights, it almost immediately climbs to 72F (measured 5" INSIDE the duct).
I'm beginning to feel like the proud owner of a $50,000 Yugo.

 

It's another hot day in Chicago, and my AC sucks.
Despite the temp sensor position adjustment and duct insulation, the coolest my AC blows is about 62F. At stop lights, it almost immediately climbs to 72F (measured 5" INSIDE the duct).
I'm beginning to feel like the proud owner of a $50,000 Yugo.

?? ??

If i coulda, i woulda orderd mine with the A/C deleted! just take the top off... humanity somehow managed to evolve this far without ac untill the past centrury

 

Today I checked my freon level and it was low. I bumped it up with 3/4 can of freon. Quite a noticeable deference.

Where does one buy a can of freon like this and what's the process for adding to the Elise?



:sheep:

 

?? ??

If i coulda, i woulda orderd mine with the A/C deleted! just take the top off... humanity somehow managed to evolve this far without ac untill the past centrury

Well the fact that there wasn't much greenhouse effect going on in the 20th century also meant it wasn't so damn hot back then. Hell it used to be that Vancouver never exceeded 26C in summer but hey this month we had a week of 30C days.

I'm not too familiar with North Virginia summertime temp, but it would seem to be about 75-80F? Try to drive around in a city with no air con and it's 34C+ outside all summer long. I did for a whole summer last year and suffice to say it was not a pleasant experience :evil:

Then again if one wants to lose weight quickly deleting A/C would help tremendously. Getting heat stroke is also highly possible

 

It's another hot day in Chicago, and my AC sucks.
Despite the temp sensor position adjustment and duct insulation, the coolest my AC blows is about 62F. At stop lights, it almost immediately climbs to 72F (measured 5" INSIDE the duct).
I'm beginning to feel like the proud owner of a $50,000 Yugo.

I had the exact feeling/problem. I fixed mine. I get 54 degrees out of the duct. South Florida heat. I didn't think it was going to be possible but I'm happy with my AC.

My AC starts at 52 degrees and maxes out at 58 degrees after 1 hour of city driving. 96 degrees outside with 107 degree heat index. I was out today verifying the cooling power of my ac.

Bypass heater core.
Insulate duct.
Tweaked freon level to obtain 248 on high and 39 on the low.

I'm not recommending anything to anybody. Just letting you know what worked for me.

There was an earlier post from a gentleman in Great Britain who outlined similar ideas that he had used on his S1.

 

Speaking of airflow...
Anyone looked into a higher-flow fan?

I find that even on low my interior fan blows a freaking hurricane,so no problem there.

 

Well the fact that there wasn't much greenhouse effect going on in the 20th century also meant it wasn't so damn hot back then. Hell it used to be that Vancouver never exceeded 26C in summer but hey this month we had a week of 30C days.

I'm not too familiar with North Virginia summertime temp, but it would seem to be about 75-80F? Try to drive around in a city with no air con and it's 34C+ outside all summer long. I did for a whole summer last year and suffice to say it was not a pleasant experience :evil:

Then again if one wants to lose weight quickly deleting A/C would help tremendously. Getting heat stroke is also highly possible

hahah - its hot ass balls up here! like 95 and just as much humidy, it has been a truely nasty summer in northern va!

...i am only given you a hard time... the A/C in the Elise will never be very good due to the nature of the car itself, but i know what you mean if you are trying to be comfortable in the heat AND drive your favorite fun car it can be a bit conflicted at times!

to be honest i got caught out in the rain, put the top on - and left in on for a few more days cause it was so freaking hot out - my AC seems to work really well for about 20 mins and then starts to t r a i l off, but its not "that" bad. not yugo bad!

 

Where does one buy a can of freon like this and what's the process for adding to the Elise?



:sheep:

They sell the NASA approved synth. freon cans at oreilly's. If you look through the passenger side grill you will see the service ports, the first one near to the front is the low side.

 

What a coincidence, I wrapped my duct yesterday. I used some fancy 1" wide x 1/8" thick silca something another material. .28 btu rating.

Today I checked my freon level and it was low. I had 230 on high side and 30 on low side with 60 degree at vent. I bumped it up with 3/4 can of freon. 248 high and 39 low. 54 degrees at vent. Quite a noticeable deference.

Would you please post instructions for testing and recharging the freon?? ie enigine running? ac on max? for how long? etc...

 

I did the temperature probe repair as per the lotus bulletin. Very easy to do. I was surprised at the gap between the probe and the condenser. -eek- At least 3/4 of an inch.

No wonder the AC stops working after 20 minutes.

 

I did the temperature probe repair as per the lotus bulletin. Very easy to do. I was surprised at the gap between the probe and the condenser. -eek- At least 3/4 of an inch.

No wonder the AC stops working after 20 minutes.

Do you have a link to that bulletin? I searched on Elisetalk and could not find it.

 

The bulletin is on the Lotuscars site. You need to pay $25 for access but then you can download the service manual as well.

Basically, you remove the right side panel, carefully remove the fusebox screws (don't lose the spacers), remove the wiper motor cover then remove the corrugated air conduit (noted above). When you look down into the hole that was revealed by removing the conduit you will see the condenser with a probe about 1/2 way down. If your car is number 600 something or less you need to bend the probe (the bulletin recommends removing the probe holder but I bent the holder as well as this was easier than removing it) so that it touches the condenser fins in the second row from the top. Replace everything and you are done.

 

I found this chart online. If it is to be believed even those of you who have done all you can are still getting heat back into the a/c which is warming your vent air temp.

A low side reading of 36 should give a temp of 35 degrees F.

Any comments?

 

I got my target numbers from a friend who's a mechanic. He was real specfic on what to shoot for. Too much freon will also make it blow warm. Low freon level will cause freeze-up as well.

 

They sell the NASA approved synth. freon cans

No need for any questionable "freon". "Freon" is the name usually given to the old standard refrigerant R-12. The manufacture of R-12 has been banned and is hard to find and very expensive. Lots of companies make "substitutes"

But you don't need "freon" for the Elise. The Elise uses standard R134a refrigerant - the same stuff that is used in just about every car made since '94. You need a pressure gauge, can tap, and some cans of R134a - available all over the place for only a couple of bucks.

 

Do you have a link to that bulletin? I searched on Elisetalk and could not find it.

There's good write-up on Golden Gate Lotus Club website
http://gglotus.org/ggtech/elise-ac/elise-ac.htm

 

New SB

Just talked to my dealer after having the first service bulletin done on the AC. He said that a new one came out and includes new parts that just came in . So there is more to do than just move the sensor.