Hello! The mechanic just did the front bypass for me. In the past few days, I’ve tested the heater, and it works fine. It takes a few minutes longer than usual, but it works. What I noticed today is that the air conditioning doesn’t cool. It only blows air, but there’s no cold air at all, even though the car has been running for 15 minutes. Do you know if this could be due to the bypass? Or could it be that the Freon has leaked out? Has this happened to anyone? Thanks !
A/C 's electric, so it's not exactly the same as system most mechanics are used to working on. I hope you're not asking me / us what the mechanic might have done when he bypassed. Again, it's an electrically controlled system. There are a ton of things it could be. But yes, ( IF ) coolant leaked, you might not get cold air out, at least I believe that is the way the heat pump / heat exchanger works. If you wanna know for sure grab a subscript to the repair manual.
Not a gen4 but when I had a gen2, I lost AC one season, probably after about 7-8 years of running it since new. I got the refill gas kit from Napa, filled it, worked well thereafter. You just want the straight up gas kit without anything else in it, I believe the lubricant is specific to these cars/systems
I wouldn’t even contemplate DIY AC recharge. I had dealership do an AC service once on our ‘10, cost about $165 CDN. As long as no components have failed, it’s just an evacuate-and-recharge; it shouldn’t be that expensive.
The engine coolant that flows through the exhaust heat recovery system (not the catalytic converter, the EHRS exchanger is behind both catalytic converters) is not the same as the refrigerant that the air conditioner uses. There wouldn't have been any reason for the bypassing of the engine coolant flow to affect the air conditioner, unless the person doing the work accidentally messed something up there. Sounds like a problem solvable by the usual going to an A/C tech and saying "what's up with my A/C?".
It's been 7-8 years and chances are that enough freon has seeped out of your system so that it's no longer working efficiently. The other issue is catching a rock in your 'condenser coil?', the one in front of your radiator - causing a leak. Pretty common issues. Have an automotive AC guy take a look at it ASAP, so you don't damage anything. Those electric compressors aren't cheap... Good Luck....
