A/C Problems on long trips

brittania81k · Jun 28, 2005

Ok, I want to see if I am alone..... soemtimes when on long drives (3 hours+ of highway driving) my A/C will start to not blow as hard and not be as cool. 4 starts to blow like 1 or 2. This happens in both the inside and outside air modes. I have noticed it on 2 separate occassions. Both times, it was 80+ degrees outside. Also the car would not start to drain from the A/C drain on the passenger side immediately after stopping, as it would do after a normal drive. Anyone got a clue? (uhm) Road crap plugging it up? Electrical or fan prob? ???????

dsr70 · Jun 28, 2005

I wonder if this is a feature? Maybe the a/c system senses when the outgoing air is not cold enough and kicks the fan speed down. Would be interesting to corroborate this.

Doug

mazgirl235 · Jun 28, 2005

The only long trip I have been on, I had the same prob. It was on a 8 hour trip and my A/C was not cold at all after a few hours.

ottawaP5 · Jun 28, 2005

The AC on these cars will only produce cold air at 1 or 2 fan setting...anything higher will result in semi-cold air. I think the air flows too quickly above 2 to be cooled down enough.

xvdarkyvx · Jun 28, 2005

i just don't get good ac at all... when it's hot, it's hot...

gimpo2 · Jun 28, 2005

i can't run my a/c for too long cuz it'll stop being cold, and then my car will start to over heat... yay!

Lord_Zath · Jun 30, 2005

Do you have it set to outside air flowing in or recirculating inside air? Try setting it to recirculation. I've found that it's usually colder and blows harder this way.

But I do agree 3 and 4 are prettymuch a waste if you want cold air.

Another trick if you're alone is to shut off the passenger vent and adjust the remaining 3 vents so they're blowing on different parts of your body. I usually keep the left vent on the left hand/steering wheel, and the right two vents on neck and right hand/steering wheel.

ottawaP5 · Jun 30, 2005

Lord_Zath said:
Another trick if you're alone is to shut off the passenger vent and adjust the remaining 3 vents so they're blowing on different parts of your body. I usually keep the left vent on the left hand/steering wheel, and the right two vents on neck and right hand/steering wheel.

Great trick, I'll give it a try. I'll probably forget I shut it off so my passengers will probably suffer next time though

dsr70 · Jun 30, 2005

Lord_Zath said:
Do you have it set to outside air flowing in or recirculating inside air? Try setting it to recirculation. I've found that it's usually colder and blows harder this way.

To the OP, bonk on the head if you didn't realize this. Of course trying to cool hot outside air means you will not be able to cool below a certain level. A well running ac can cool air down about 30 degrees, less if it's a humid day. So 95F outside air will be 65F or warmer. Not good.

But recooling the same air over and over, which is what the recirc setting does, allows you to get quite a bit colder.

Doug

mogi · Jun 30, 2005

if automotive A/C is anything like your typical house and/or window A/C, then it is probably freezing up. The coils can get cold enough and build up ice that they become ineffective, probably explains why you weren't draining, it was all ice!

Mike R · Jun 30, 2005

mogi said:
if automotive A/C is anything like your typical house and/or window A/C, then it is probably freezing up. The coils can get cold enough and build up ice that they become ineffective, probably explains why you weren't draining, it was all ice!

It is the same. If the A/C charge is low, it will ice up. Mine did this on a trip to Kentucky last year. Froze up, check the lines under the hood for ice building up when the A/C stops working. My A/C is great in my car now.

Kansei · Jul 1, 2005

Be glad your A/C even works on fan position 2 or 3. On my car, the light is off unless you have it on 1 or 4. Of course when I got to the dealership the car was at 50015 miles so I was out of warranty.

Lord_Zath · Jul 1, 2005

what was the car's mileage when you took possession of it? If the odometer was at 16 miles, then technically, you should have still been covered under warranty. Though probably a moot point by now...

brittania81k · Jul 1, 2005

After much discussion with others, as well as on here, I think the verdict is freezing. (thanks Mogi and other offline). It explains all of the issues.....the air coming from the vents, after several hours of being on, will not be as cold, regardless of the setting (oustide air or recirculating) and outside temperature/humidity, if the coils are frozen. Air cannot pass the coils as readily, hence air speed also slowing. And this also explains the delay in dripping from the drain pan. I know that A/C can't be low.....the car only has 33,000 miles on it, but I will have it checked at my next oil change.....and besides, it works fine the rest of the time. And I am also curious about dsr70's suggestion of a sensor slowing the fan speed....but the slower air, as I mentioned before, could be caused by ice build-up and blockage.....definately something to ask the dealer about. (yupnope)

trbomp5 · Jul 1, 2005

zverg said:
Be glad your A/C even works on fan position 2 or 3. On my car, the light is off unless you have it on 1 or 4. (

mine does the same thing. I only have 15k on my car though. Did they say what it could be that is broken, or wrong?

chuyler1 · Jul 1, 2005

Mine flickers on and off occasionally...and when driving on the highway you can feel the compressor engage and disengage. It was doing it for the first 20 minutes of my ride home the other day, but then it stopped and everything was fine.

ottawaP5 · Jul 1, 2005

chuyler1 said:
Mine flickers on and off occasionally...and when driving on the highway you can feel the compressor engage and disengage. It was doing it for the first 20 minutes of my ride home the other day, but then it stopped and everything was fine.

It'll disengage itself at WOT.

Kansei · Jul 1, 2005

trbomp5 said:
mine does the same thing. I only have 15k on my car though. Did they say what it could be that is broken, or wrong?

There is a TSB for it. Don't wait like I did, get to the dealership right away. There's a short in the wiring in your climate control unit, they just pop it out and put a new one in.

trbomp5 · Jul 1, 2005

I just need to find out if i still have a warranty because my car is a salvage title. (I bought it totalled, and fixed it)

Bijou-MP5 · Jul 1, 2005

I haven't recharged my AC since I bought the car...I can still sense cold air but I won't make inside of my car cold...
man...I don't want to spend extra $100...

A/C Problems on long trips

brittania81k

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dsr70

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mazgirl235

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ottawaP5

xvdarkyvx

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gimpo2

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Lord_Zath

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ottawaP5

dsr70

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mogi

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Mike R

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Kansei

Lord_Zath

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brittania81k

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trbomp5

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chuyler1

goes to eleven

ottawaP5

Kansei

trbomp5

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Bijou-MP5

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