I appreciate the reply. Tough time right now with all this going on.
It's amazing that u had the exact same issues with every single part in the exact same order as you.
I'm now on the radiator as that has now cracked so I'm ordering a new one this week along with a thermostat and some new hoses and pieces. I'm hoping for the best and that I haven't damaged the gasket with all this. I'll just have to see what happens after the install which I'll have a shop do.

 

Have been running into an over heating issue more and more, figure this is a good place to post.

The bottom 8-10 rows of the air conditioning condenser have been sandblasted shut from highway driving, blocking off almost half of the radiator.

New condenser solved the problem in all cases.

 

I hadn't even thought to check that when I was down there. Going to have a look tonight. Thank, Billman!

 

Wouldnt have really thought of this. So the condenser would be blocking airflow from the rad and not letting air pass thru?
Maybe I should get a new condenser aa well then since I'm sure mine is pretty old (01 ap1)
Was such a wierd issue that one thing after another failed - res cap then rad cap then rad itself

 

interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

Hey, is there anyway to prevent this or is it another design flaw? What about pressure spraying it with water for an occasional cleaning?

Thanks for the input.

 

The condenser is not dirty. Airborne sand from cars out in front hits the delicate cooling fins at highway speed, bending them shut and blocking airflow. It affects the AC cold temp (ac is warmer, wont be super cold) and it blocks airflow to the engine radiator. No cleaning will help. Avoid tailgating, possible protection net similar to an air filter pre-charger net to catch sand would eliminate the problem.

I assume there are many cars that suffer from this but people don’t consider it.

About 4-5 cases so far, bottom 8 rows were closed shut like a board. Fans come on a lot, AP1s see 4 bars intermittently.

If you have lots of miles and rock chips on the front of the car, look at the condenser. It is easy to spot, take a pic and post I had one but lost it.

 

 

Yup! Exactly what mine looks like. Lower half is like that and ac doesnt blow super cold. Definitely sounds like the issue I was having that started all the trouble. Guessing that's why at highway speeds i saw that 4th bar come up and go back down on longdrives. Love this thread very helpful in my case

 

Thanks Jimi !!

Note the pics are of the AC condenser fins, not the engine radiator fins.

Engine radiator fins will be fine as the condenser fins have protected it.