TheSamba.com :: View topic - Vanagon AC system cut out when fan comes on. How to 'stop it'?

Mon Sep 02, 2024 5:57 pm

Hey all,

Anyone know of a thread or information on stopping the Vanagon AC from shutting off when the high speed fan comes on? There has to be a better way for the system to work, since modern cars don't operate that way.

Just planning to do some interior work on the Van and would like to 'fix' that problem so when the fan comes on, we don't roast in the van.

Thanks,

Kevin.

Mon Sep 02, 2024 6:10 pm

You need to know that your “problem” is actually a feature. In hot running conditions it turns off the AC
compressor to reduce additional heat transfer from the condenser to the radiator, and therefore your engine.

Yes… “modern” cars might not work this way, but your van is not a “modern” car…in that sense.

I suggest you make sure your engine cooling & AC systems are up to snuff so that you’re getting
all the possible cooling from both. A new radiator could work wonders for you!

8)

- Dave

Mon Sep 02, 2024 6:15 pm

If you manually override that feature you should be watching your temperature to make sure it doesn’t get too much hotter than what VW already decided was the engines “max” temp.

Do you have a digital water temperature gauge?
And how much hotter than VW’s max do you think you would allow?
(——>before cancelling your override.?)

IIRC my A/C cuts out at 206F (1990).
My radiator was new in 2008, 16 years old now. :shock:
I changed the coolant very few time (over those 16 years).
Maybe just when I blew an engine so a couple times plus leaking episodes.
Anyway I wonder how long a radiator lasts without much coolant maintenance.

There could be a high-performance coolant you can change to,
to allow the engine to operate at higher temperatures.