General information
Pic. 1.95. Air conditioner design
The air conditioner is located almost in the middle of the dashboard, the evaporator and heater radiator are installed along the longitudinal axis of the car. As a result, the air conditioner was made compact and light (pic. 1.95).
The filter of the cabin ventilation system is installed in the fan unit (solids retention, high performance), which perfectly removes dust and pollen from the incoming air. The cabin air filter is made of polyester plastic. It is a combustible material and therefore can be easily disposed of, which is an advantage in terms of environmental protection.
Pic. 1.96. Air conditioning filters
The filter of the ventilation system is easily replaced, which simplifies maintenance. To do this, just remove the glove box of the front panel (pic. 1.96).
Maintenance recommendation
Under normal operating conditions, the filter should be replaced every 22,500 runs, reducing this value to 15,000 in dusty conditions. However, these values may vary depending on operating conditions and environmental conditions.
Evaporator
Use evaporator with rotary flat design (RS). The evaporator consists of a tube, internal fins and a plate. The internal fins are made of thinner material, the evaporator is made more compact by reducing the height of the fins, the height of the fin tubes and the pitch of the fins. As a result, the evaporator has become significantly more compact and lighter.
Pic. 1.97. Evaporator design
The surface of the evaporator is coated with a polymer coating with an antibacterial composition, which eliminates unpleasant odors and prevents the growth of bacteria. Beneath this coating is a layer of material that does not contain chromic acid salts, which contributes to environmental protection (pic. 1.97).
Heater radiator
The system uses a compact, lightweight and highly efficient straight-through (full flow) aluminum heater core.
The new Corolla Verso uses two types of heater radiators (with heating elements with a positive temperature coefficient «PTC» or without them).
Pic. 1.98. heater radiator
Two PTC heating elements can be integrated into the heater core «PTC». PTCs are built into the heater core tubes. The PTC has electrodes that deliver electrical current to the PTC element. When current is passed, the element heats the air passing through the fins (pic. 1.98).
Capacitor
Pic. 1.99. Capacitor
The new Corolla Verso uses a condenser with an auxiliary cooler. This multi-pass condenser consists of two cooling sections: a condensing section and an additional cooling section, as well as a gas and liquid separator (modulator), made in the form of a single structure. To increase the efficiency of heat transfer in the condenser cooling system, an additional cooling cycle has been introduced (pic. 1.99).
The condenser on models with a hot gas heater consists of a condensing section, a solenoid valve, a connection fitting and an accumulator. The condensing section is the same as on models without a heated gas heater.
The solenoid valve switches the refrigerant circuits according to signals from the control unit or air conditioning ECU.
In the connecting fitting, the pressure of the refrigerant is reduced, and it partially passes into a gaseous state.
Pic. 1.100. The principle of operation of the capacitor
The accumulator keeps the refrigerant circulating in the circuit in case of high temperature (or pressure) refrigerant at the outlet of the compressor. In the event of low temperature or pressure, excess refrigerant is temporarily forced out of the accumulator, thereby equalizing the flow rate (pic. 1.100).
Additional cooling circuit
Pic. 1.101. Additional cooling circuit
After the refrigerant has passed through the condensing section of the condenser, both the liquid refrigerant and the non-liquid gaseous refrigerant are cooled down again in the post-cooling section. Thus, the refrigerant enters the evaporator, almost completely converted into a liquid state (pic. 1.101).
Maintenance recommendation
Due to the lack of a control window by which to determine the state of the refrigerant, it is not possible to check the refrigerant level. On-vehicle testing can only be performed by measuring the refrigerant pressure with a pressure gauge.
Compressor
Pic. 1.102. Air Conditioning Compressor Components
A compressor with stepless capacity is used, the capacity varies depending on the cooling power input of the air conditioner (pic. 1.102).
There is a solenoid valve that regulates the suction pressure.
The compressor pulley with vibration damper is made of plastic.
Maintenance recommendation
The compressor cannot be dismantled, so it must be replaced as an assembly.