Kerry

Your reply peteski is consistent with my understanding of A/Cs which is not very much.

Thanks,

Kerry

bB2NER

As I stated and according to Tomas the xB does not have an A/C Compressor clutch. It uses internal valving. Don't believe me ask him. I'm pretty sure he knows what he is talking about.

Kerry

Thanks bB2NER. I believe I got the answer to my question, to insulate or not.. Thanks for the clarification.

Kerry

stew32

True, the compressor doesn't have a clutch. It is a continuously variable capacity type compressor. It still has a thermostat which determines the capacity it should be running. So unlike the clutch type compressors, ours is turning all the time. It's just not much load when the A/C isn't "on".

But, yeah, after thinking about it, adding insulation to the lines probably wouldn't help. The cooling is from the refrigerant expanding, which is happening inside the car. The line with the condensation is a return line. Adding insulation might keep the return refrigerant to the compressor a little cooler but probably wouldn't make a significant difference.

Kerry

Thanks stew32 ,

Not "significant" but some?

Kerry

kebeeeen

mine is weak as well probably will go check it out.

Kerry

Hi kebeeeen,

I'm looking forward to your results. My A/C is not weak, in fact it's perfect, so I wouldn't be able to easily sense if insulating the tubing improved the cooling. For me it would be worth insulating if over the ten years I plan on keeping the xB it would increase the MPG even a little bit. After reading the replies I'm a bit confused about whether or not to insulate.

Presently I've got two experiments going. I'm on my second fill up after changing the oil at (8000 miles) to Mobile 1 Synthetic. It had been changed once at 3000 by Toyota by the original owner. When I got the car (6000) miles I was getting 29 mpg. I immediately removed the spare tire and jack and increased the tire pressure from 30 to 34 lbs and got got 31 mpg. Then I changed the spark plug gap to .040 and it appeared to have gone down to 30 mpg. After one tank with the synthetic oil I'm up to 32 mpg. My trip routes and speeds are very consistent (I set the Rostra Cruise Control I installed at 60 and hum along) so it's pretty accurate. I'm counting on cell phoning my ins co in case of a flat/road service.

Thanks,

Kerry