I'm really not impressed with the AC

Its been pretty warm the last few days and I've been running the AC a bit more than usual. Is it just me or does it seem to not get very cold? It gets pretty cold when I'm driving, but when I get to a stop light its like the AC kicks off and it just blows humid air out at me. The temperature of the air blowing from the vent changes more often than I change lanes. Its really a pain in the ass. Is this a warranty issue, or is that just how our AC works? I'm used to my other car's AC being so cold that I have to turn it way down. This one needs to be on full blast all the time to keep it cool in there. I've got the temp all the way down and I don't know what else can be done to make it cooler. I wouldn't think the AC would be dead after only having it on for a month or so.

yeah mine is doing the same thing and I have heard others saying the same. I think that is just how the AC works in this car. Make sure you have it on internal circulation that should keep it colder. I notice the freexing then warm then freezing the warm cycle too. I am not going to bring it back though I have a feeling this is the way the climate control works

It won't blow 100% cold air all the time... Even set at 65F it will cycle. However on a 96F day on the highway the air would get cold enough to make my hand hurt in front of the vents. So it was pretty damn cold..

 

edit- I'm sure it could be modded to hold the compressor on..

 

edit-2 now that I think I about it, I didn't try to manually engage the AC. that _may_ do the trick.

Mine does very well if left on 65 with AC on. Like deerkiller said, it blows cold enough to make your hand hurt. Now the automatic setting is another story- it just holds the fan all the way up forever

I'm a polar bear. I like it cold. People who stop-by in my office routinely comment on the need for jackets to be supplied at the door.

 

In the winter, my wife and I typically elect not to heat ourselves.

 

Anyway.....that said:

 

I tend to leave the A/C, now in the summer, on "65" for both sides, on "recirc," and manage the fan operation myself.

 

With the A/C on either "auto" or on "exterior air," I will notice the heat-cycling that's described, and I really can't get the cabin to cool down either fast enough or just cool down enough in-general.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-A

Yeah, I hate it when it goes back and forth .. I wish it would just keep blowing cold air constantly. Its not like I am at a loss of power in my car When its 112 out (like yesterday) you want cold air damnit!

+1 on the 'sometimes it blows icy cold, sometimes not' AC issue. I usually leave both sides on 65, turn on AC and fan manually.

All the reviews I read, Outback Leg, etc, say the same thing; the Auto Climate Control suck. So I just leave mine on manual all the time. The rest of the car makes up for this small inadequacy. At least the cold is COLD when I need it.

I always have it on manual and I still have this problem. I don't think I've ever left it on auto for more than 5 seconds. I just set the temperature I want and turn the fan up and down as I need to. I don't trust a car to know what temperature I like.

+2 above 85 degrees I do 65 on both sides recirc highest fan setting

At least it works. The reason I now have a legacy is because my RX-8's ac wouldn't work after 36 days out of service so I am happy as long as it blows cold some of the time and able to maintain a comfortable level in the car.

Yeah i find that you deffinatly have to keep it on recirculating for the first 10 mins or so when its really hot out, having black on black doesnt help either

One recipe for, um, not exactly joy but at least acceptable performance:

1) Hit the "Auto" button.

2) Immediately cancel Auto by switching to a mode (with the mode switch) that you like.

3) Dial up a temperature -between- the temperature in the car and the temp. you want.

4) Gradually run the temperature to the one you want.

 

This has been working for me on both cold and hot days. On a 90 deg day with four aboard and in suburban traffic the A/C keeps pace quite well, certainly better than in my '93 (which works the way it did when the car was new). I have to say, though, that the simpler controls in the '93 are easier for me to cope with.

 

Someplace on this board the logic of the ACC is explained, a bit, and here's a paraphrase: Everything you can control (fan speed, mode, recirc or not, whether A/C is on or not) starts out under the ACC's control when you hit Auto. If you change any of those listed controls it will cancel the Auto indicator, but every control you didn't change is still under the ACC's control. The control tries to adjust the interior temperature to match the temperature on the dials by changing everything you have not set yourself.

yeah on my ac it cycles humid to cold air, its horrible. god forbid im in stop and go traffic the ac makes me upset sometimes. i honestly think this is a major design flaw. but the rest of the car makes me very happy.

I just noticed that my car does this. I've been spending a lot of time in stop and go traffic these past three weeks and I've been getting pretty frustrated with my A/C. I guess this is normal and nothing is broke? Was going to look into getting my system refilled or something.

Wow. Revived a 5 year dead thread. Jedi search skills, lol.