2012 Mazda 3 questions and concerns. A/C related etc.

:
2012 Mazda 3 i-Touring
I just registered after this site came up when I was looking up info on A/C problems on this car, but the thread seemed to start and end in 2012. I also thought my A/C was seriously weak and underperformed. I had it into a Mazda dealership twice now. The first time they couldn't find anything wrong but told me my Freon was very low, so they did an evacuate and recharge with the dye in it.

Well, when I picked up the car the A/C felt the coldest it had ever felt because it had that chill to it. You know the difference between somewhat cool air and cold air, and trying to explain this to the service team is like talking to a wall. Anyway, the chill to the air lasted maybe two to three days and already it was back to feeling like it did before. I had to wait a week and a half before I could have it looked at again. When I picked up the car after the first evaluation with the evacuate and recharge they basically told me they were expecting to find a leak after.

I took it in, and they said everything is operating as it should and the Freon level is where it should be. So if there was no leak and everything is fully operational and fine then what the hell happened to the Freon in the first place? Why would it just disappear and the car is just four years old in June. I bought the car with 7,423 miles on it and now I'm just over 9,070.

When I started the car the engine was loud and ticking, it's never done this before ever and this was in the parking lot of the dealership as I was getting ready to leave. I turned the car off and waited a minute and then turned it back on and it started normally. I called them when I got home and told them about this and they said it might have been build up from them testing with the Max A/C on before they shut the car off. I'm supposed to call them tomorrow if it continues.

That isn't the only problem. When I turned the car on and had that engine scare, I also noticed that my left screen on the dashboard had some image burn or weird blocky faded gradient on the white text frame. This is where it says Audio Off, or CD, etc. I have an i-Touring so this screen is black and white.

When I told them about this they said it could be from the heat, but my car has been in the hot sun before and this has never been an issue until it was in their possession. They had the car for two days. I looked under the hood of the car to see if anything weird might be noticeable after they had it, and the only thing I noticed was yellow paint on one of the hose lines and it looked like some of the powder coating on another hose mount was smeared off. Can that powder coating be replaced with a spray or something? I don't want the rubber drying out and cracking.
 
Last edited:
Any clue as to why there is yellow paint on this hose? I hope there is a protectant I can put on that rippled cover or whatever it is. It was perfect before. These screen here I took a picture of tonight, it seems to be ok but I can still see some of the slight distortion that remained from earlier on the left side of the white bar. I should have taken a picture earlier.

I tried inserting images but it just seems to show broken images, can't you post images here?

http://imgur.com/a/2agut

http://imgur.com/a/mxK8k

http://imgur.com/a/ZS3u5

http://imgur.com/a/Fzd7Z
 
Last edited:
The yellow paint may be a factory or dealership "marker" of sorts that signifies the AC system was charged or something else was done. I wouldn't worry about it.
The photo you posted of the screen didn't look bad at all. Is it distorted all the time?

Regarding the AC: I would agree that there has to be a leak. If you have to, take it to a different dealership. Not all mechanics are created equal.
 
The yellow paint may be a factory or dealership "marker" of sorts that signifies the AC system was charged or something else was done. I wouldn't worry about it.
The photo you posted of the screen didn't look bad at all. Is it distorted all the time?

Regarding the AC: I would agree that there has to be a leak. If you have to, take it to a different dealership. Not all mechanics are created equal.

No, when I literally walked out of the service area to go drive my car home the screen was screwed up. It has seemed to be ok ever since, but the pixels were distorted and the color in the white bar was faded and looked like a gradient with blocks of gray especially on the left side. Like I said, when I called the service worker told me it could be from the heat. It was never like this before even while in very hot temperatures yet it happened in their possession.

Mazda Customer Care wanted me to go back to the same place since they were the ones doing the testing. It makes absolutely no sense how my Freon could be nearly gone and my AC was somewhat cool but never cold, then it gets evacuated and recharged with dye and the chill is there but it lasts only for a few days and then it's back to how it was. I take it in again and no leak is found. It's very frustrating and these service workers are very dismissive and assume that I'm doing something wrong or imagining it.

That one picture I posted with the accordion hose or whatever it's called, is that supposed to be black or is that a coating on it to protect it? I was worried it needed to be recoated since some of it rubbed off.
 
The hose in the first image I posted, is that supposed to be that way or is it supposed to be black? It looks like a ribbed protective cover.
 
Back