A/C Problem, about to visit dealer. :(

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fastdrvr23

Member
Contributor
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03' Silverado, 03' P5
Alright guys, I need your opinion on what you think is happening with my Air Conditioner before I bring it to the shop...

On a ~700 mile road trip to West Texas this weekend, my AC started acting strangely. At highway speeds, it would stop cooling all of sudden like it had frozen up, although the low and high side lines were frost free. I turned it to Vent and back to AC and it would work for a ~2 ot 3 hours... Also, I noticed a lot of water vapor coming out of the vents after this... I've had this happen before in another car and it was the Dryer in the AC. I am wondering if perhaps this could be low on Freon as well, since I have seen that type of thing cause the system to freeze up. Anyways, any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
 
On a 6500 mile trip to Seattle and back, my evaporator did freeze up, twice.

The key each time when the car started getting warm was that I noticed that the air flow was also reduced. Each time, I pushed the A/C button to shut off the compressor and then just drove for 15/20 minutes with the blower running which melted the ice, and when I switched the A/C back on, it cooled fine once again.

My two "episodes" were on different days, and in much different locales - This was more than a month ago, and it's not done it again since.

Don
 
Don said:
On a 6500 mile trip to Seattle and back, my evaporator did freeze up, twice.

The key each time when the car started getting warm was that I noticed that the air flow was also reduced. Each time, I pushed the A/C button to shut off the compressor and then just drove for 15/20 minutes with the blower running which melted the ice, and when I switched the A/C back on, it cooled fine once again.

My two "episodes" were on different days, and in much different locales - This was more than a month ago, and it's not done it again since.

Don
Click to expand...

That sounds really familiar to mine! I ran the vent for a few minutes too, which corrected it, but it kept occuring later in the trip... probably 4 or 5 times. Also, I noticed when I first turned the AC on, that it had an almost mildew type smell for a few seconds... I have never had this happen. I stopped a few miles after the AC froze up, and both the lines were ice free, and not too cold. It is really strange...

On a side note, do you ever notice "steam" coming out of the vents. If it is very humid outside for instance, with the AC on, it will blow out lots of cold water vapor... I hope this doesn't sound too stupid, but it's like cold steam. At any rate, thanks for your experience with this problem Don!
 
a/c's in cars aren't that much different than houses...id say have them check the filter(as you said), if its dirty, the lines will freeze, i would hope that a (practically) brand new car wouldnt be low on freon...good luck.
 
fastdrvr23 said:

On a side note, do you ever notice "steam" coming out of the vents. If it is very humid outside for instance, with the AC on, it will blow out lots of cold water vapor... I hope this doesn't sound too stupid, but it's like cold steam.
Click to expand...

Can't say that I did, but I suspect that it would depend on just how you were using the A/C at the time.

We had ours on outside air, and had the temp lever sitting at about halfway ('cause it was freezing us out of the car) when the freeze-ups occured. After the second one, I switched it to inside air, and just left the temp lever on max cold (the wife put on a sweater) which is how we typically run it, day in and day out, when not on a long trip.

As I said, it's not been a problem again, but we're heading back to Oklahoma City later this month (to see the grandchild) and I'll see if I can make it "do it again" and if so, I might think about a trip to the dealership.

Don
 
from my many years with A/C in cars....I have found that if you run your A/C on recirc for an extended period of time and your system is working well...the coils will freeze up....ALSO....if you run the air flow down too slow it will do the same thing as there isn't enough cold being transfered to the air.....its a fine ballance of keeping the fan speed high enough, the air flow from OUTSIDE and the temp setting of the unit.
 
Yeah, I was running it on Outside air, Thermostat all the way cold, and on the Fan setting of 3.
It was pretty damn cold when set that way, but I always use it around here with that setting.

I called the dealer and reserved a car for tomorrow... it ought to be interesting to see how they act. I am going to ask about the Cold Start noise, and skipping of the factory CD player while I am there. Anyways, thanks again for the help guys!
 
I know the answer!!!

Hey,

Well I had the exact same thing happen 4 times on the way to Pensalcola, Florida and back home to North Carolina. When I went to the Pensacola dealer, they checked all drainage lines, compressor and evaporator and refrigerant...Said they could find nothing wrong....Well on the way home to NC, 7 hours into my trip it froze up again and water vapor appeared again out of my vents. Took it to my Mazda dealer here in Carolina and they immediately called "Mazda Tech"....Turns out this problem is happening quite a bit all over the country....Have your dealer call them and they will tell them to replace the "A/C Amplifier"....Its part number is ...GE4T-61-J25 and there is another part they replaced with a part # ....5555-FG-002, although I cannot tell what it is on my warranty invoice. They will have to take out your glove box to get to it inside the dashboard. Although I have not been on a long trip to see if it is truly fixed, it does seem to be working ok, but will not know till my next big trip.....Good Luck!

taylor5
Greensboro, NC
 
Did your mildew smell something like fresh cut grass. (your lawn, not the other kind) if it did then it is probably a freon leak. My best guess would be that but hey you never know. Good luck with the problem.
 
Re: I know the answer!!!

taylor5 said:
Hey,

Well I had the exact same thing happen 4 times on the way to Pensalcola, Florida and back home to North Carolina. When I went to the Pensacola dealer, they checked all drainage lines, compressor and evaporator and refrigerant...Said they could find nothing wrong....Well on the way home to NC, 7 hours into my trip it froze up again and water vapor appeared again out of my vents. Took it to my Mazda dealer here in Carolina and they immediately called "Mazda Tech"....Turns out this problem is happening quite a bit all over the country....Have your dealer call them and they will tell them to replace the "A/C Amplifier"....Its part number is ...GE4T-61-J25 and there is another part they replaced with a part # ....5555-FG-002, although I cannot tell what it is on my warranty invoice. They will have to take out your glove box to get to it inside the dashboard. Although I have not been on a long trip to see if it is truly fixed, it does seem to be working ok, but will not know till my next big trip.....Good Luck!

taylor5
Greensboro, NC
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I got my car back from the dealer and the ac appeared to be working great until last night on a ~45 minute drive... It had a lot of water vapor and and froze up again. The dealer could find nothing wrong other than a loose AC accessory belt, which they replaced. They were super nice, and I almost hate to take it back so soon. I am going out of town this weekend on a ~7 hour trip, so I can see if it happens again. I really appreciate the part #'s though! Thanks again!

Will

PS> They called the "Tech" line as well about the ECU fix (Cold Start Noise), and there is still no news about it. He put me on a call list so that when there is a fix they will call and let me know. :)
 
A/C and Cold Start

Hey Will,

glad I could help with those part #'s, hope it does help your dealer and you. And thanks for the info on whats going on with the "cold start rattle",,,,when you hear something, please let me know!!

Thanks Man,,,,,

taylor5
Greensboro, NC
 
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