the AC on my '09 cabriolet with 2900 miles works very well, e.g., set it at 68 or 70 and that's where it gets the temp quickly, and then sustains the temp to the point where I can turn the fan to lowest setting.
My '09 blue Passion is "Blue Max" and has about 5600 miles. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the air conditioner would blow (very hot) outside air on occasion.
For a while I could get the colder air back by fiddling with the A/C controls. Eventually, no amount of fiddling would bring back the cold, so I took it in to the dealer. He kept it for a few hours, ran some checks, and called me up to tell me the techs had picked up some codes that indicated that the A/C controller had showed a problem. Controller must be replaced, no local repair possible. He didn't have the part. The parts' on back order since last week, and no idea when the replacement part will be here.
Temperature in the Inland Empire has been in the triple digits for the last week and no relief in sight.
I'm melting. I'm meeeeeelting. I'm meeeel..........
I measured the vent temperatures with the temp knob full cold, no recirculation and fan in the #2 position and got temps fluctuating between 40-47F. Outside temp. of 83F. That was both while driving on the highway and idling.
My '09 does this too. When the temperature differential is wide, the A/C goes to recirc. But the problem is, I die without the dash vents blowing cool air. If hear the damper switch, and the flow die off, turn the recirc on, then off. Air is restored to the dash vents then. It's likely to self-switch back, but there's nothing you can do about that except bump the temp off max cold to discourage the self-switch. This is the only thing I dislike about this car.
'wildman', a few weeks ago you PM'd me about this and I had told you that ours works fine. Well, that was correct......until our trip to STL/KC.
About an hour outside of STL we noticed that it was warming up in the car. Our temp was set at the lowest and well, the air coming out of the vents was cold....just not blowing very hard at all. I had the blower set on "1" so I cranked it up to the next setting, then the next and then ALL THE WAY. NOTHING! NO change what so ever. It was blowing harder, just not coming out the vents. Seemed to me if the actuators in the HEVAC were allowing the cold air to go to other directions than the ones I wanted it to.
I tried the 'recir' button and still no change. Just as we were coming into STL, it started working again....all on its own. Blowing just as hard as always...ON LOW!
It did this again for a short time on the return trip from KC to Indy, but it was short lived as we stopped for gas/food and when we restarted the car and got back on the interstate, all was good again.
Until I saw your thread, I had forgotten all about it. It seems to work just fine for the trip to work and back, but apparently when ours is on for two or three hours....constantly.....then it shuts down. Eventually it comes back but I wonder how long it will do that before it just quits entirely.....
'wildman', a few weeks ago you PM'd me about this and I had told you that ours works fine. Well, that was correct......until our trip to STL/KC.
About an hour outside of STL we noticed that it was warming up in the car. Our temp was set at the lowest and well, the air coming out of the vents was cold....just not blowing very hard at all. I had the blower set on "1" so I cranked it up to the next setting, then the next and then ALL THE WAY. NOTHING! NO change what so ever. I tried the 'recir' button and still no change. Just as we were coming into STL, it started working again....all on its own. Blowing just as hard as always...ON LOW!
It did this again for a short time on the return trip from KC to Indy, but it was short lived as we stopped for gas/food and when we restarted the car and got back on the interstate, all was good again.
Until I saw your thread, I had forgotten all about it. It seems to work just fine for the trip to work and back, but apparently when ours is on for two or three hours....constantly.....then it shuts down. Eventually it comes back but I wonder how long it will do that before it just quits entirely.....
It's probably 'freezing up'. Air volume is greatly restricted until there is virtually nothing coming out. If you turn off the AC for 5 - 10 minutes (but not the fan), it will defrost and the air volume will return. When mine was troubled with the bad expansion valve, it would do that frequently. It doesn't do that nearly as bad now, but it can still happen.
Actually, when I got my car back after having the expansion valve replaced, the regional rep warned me that due to the design, the freezing up thing can still happen when running the AC unit for a long time with high humidity.
Thanks for the suggestion......and you may be right. But mine was always blowing 'cold'....VERY 'cold', but the problem was with the blower. When I increased the blower speed, you could 'hear' the blower speed increase, just not 'feel' it increase. No matter what speed I set the blower on, I got the same result....as if it were barely running. When I drive in town, I leave it on the first setting, temp on the coldest, and it literally will make my hands get too cold, because the air blows so hard on them. During this issue, the are wasn't even reaching my hands when on the steering wheel.
While I understand the A/C 'freezing up' with high humidity, my problem really seems to be that the air is being rerouted into the dash somewhere, just not coming out the vents above the radio.
Thanks for the suggestion......and you may be right. But mine was always blowing 'cold'....VERY 'cold', but the problem was with the blower. When I increased the blower speed, you could 'hear' the blower speed increase, just not 'feel' it increase. No matter what speed I set the blower on, I got the same result....as if it were barely running. When I drive in town, I leave it on the first setting, temp on the coldest, and it literally will make my hands get too cold, because the air blows so hard on them. During this issue, the are wasn't even reaching my hands when on the steering wheel.
While I understand the A/C 'freezing up' with high humidity, my problem really seems to be that the air is being rerouted into the dash somewhere, just not coming out the vents above the radio.
Panda, I bet you condenser, frozen over. When we got home from St. Louis, our home air was blocked, frozen over. No air from the vents at all. High humidity!!!! It was hot!!!! last weekend. Turned it off over night. Blew cold air the next day. On a Smart car the condenser I think is in the front of the car. No engine to melt the ice, if the AC is running hard all day. You wouldn't get any air out the vents on the car. We stop a couple time last weekend on the way home. The air blew cold, in our little car. Then again, we were traveling west facing the sun, while you were going east.
Does the air flow through condensor coils that are so tightly packed that, when it freezes, air that would normally flow through them is blocked? (I'm just trying to understand how this works. I don't know much about a/c, particularly in cars. Help from those who understand how the system works will be appreciated.)
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