Lotus TURBO ESPRIT Service Manual page 586

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SECTION PB
Page
7 1
The system i s charged with 1.4kg (3 Ibs) of 'Refrigerant 12', which is made up from
'Freon
12'
and 'Arcton 12'. After charging the system i t must be checked for gassing,
using the following procedure:
1
.
Start the engine and ad just engine speed to 1200 r.p.m.
2.
Turn the air conditioning switch fully clockwise, and the fan speed switch
to fast. Check that the engine cooling fans have automatically switched on.
3. View the refrigerant through the sight glass on the top of the receiver-drier,
after
5
minutes running there should be no bubbles visible (gassing); an
occasional bubble
is
however acceptable.
If
the ambient temperature i s
0
below
4
C,
continuous gassing may occur, i t is therefore advised to carry
out the checks i n a covered garage.
4.
Increase the engine speed to 2000 r .p .m
.
and check that the refrigerant
passing the sight glass i s clear of bubbles.
If
a continuous stream of
bubbles s t i l l persists then, the refrigerant charge should be increased until
the bubbles are no longer present.
5.
Before disconnecting the service valves from the compressor, check the
system for leaks using a leak detector capable of detecting a leak of 1 Ib
i n 32 years.
This
leak standard appl ies to a l l connections except the
following:
1
.
Compressor front seal
2.
Uncapped Schraeder valves
3.
Sight glass
The leak stadard for the above i s
1
Ib
ih 10 years. It w i l l therefore be necessary t o
have a
leak detector capable o f covering both standards. I t is recommended that the
leak test
be
+rFormed i n a halogen-free atmosphere with m significant draughts of a i l .