[DYSFUNCTIONAL]

turning A/c on and off while in motion..does that ruin your car in anyway? i once heard that....true? or BS?

thanks

 

[DYSFUNCTIONAL]

ahh sorry! the topic is suppose to be ON & OFF! not off & off.... my bad..

 

[geoff]

no, that's complete BS. are u supposed to come to a stop each time you want a/c? it's not like locking hubs u know...

the reason some people might say this is because activating your a/c turns on your compressor, which puts a slight drain on the engine. that's why performance and fuel economy will slag somewhat if u run a/c all the time. windshield defrost activates the very same compressor, btw

 

[dude]

The a/c when turned on, the compressor is always turning itself on and off .....the a/c switch simply is a master on/off switch for the system.

The a/c system is DESIGNED to be turned on and off all the time, whether the car is in motion or not..... so why should it ruin your car???? (Compressor 'cuts' when cold enough and 'engages' when temperature rises.....It's exactly the same principle as home a/c....)

[This message has been edited by dude (edited October 01, 2000).]

 

[Pimpee]

Only time i would rec ac off is when you start your car in the morning. I like to warm up my car before ac kicks in. (unless it's baking outside, then F#$K the car.. i'm more important) i only do this b/c AC requires the engine do a bit more work and i want to take it easy when engine is cold.

 

[DYSFUNCTIONAL]

so in other words....going 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 mph, turning the A/C on wont matter at all??

 

[dude]

that's right!

 

[HIBBoyScott]

It is SO FREAKIN' HOT in Hawaii right now, who the hell cares. Damn it's hot down here...they need to air condition Hawaii...we're a pretty small state, I'm sure they could build a huge dome over Hawaii and air condition it...okay, okay, the heat must be frying my brain...

 

[chiem]

A friend of mine had his AC compressor fail on an older car a while ago, and he rarely used his AC. When he took it in to get it replaced, they told him it failed because it hadn't been used in a while.

--k

 

[dude]

It's always a good idea to turn the a/c on at least once a week to have all the internal parts lubricated, including the compressor seals.....Otherwise, the seals will stick to the shaft, and when turned on, the shaft will literally 'tear' the seals away.....

Lubricating the parts mean less chance of corrision to occur......

People always have a general misconception that by using less of the a/c system, the less likely it's gonna breakdown.....WRONG!!!!

 

[dude]

And make sure the system is turned on for at least 10 minutes before turning off.....for maximum life-span of the system.

My 2 cents......

 

[DYSFUNCTIONAL]

why 10 minutes?

 

[dude]

So that all moving parts are properly lubricated......