A/C only comes on at minimum climate temp

[Pleides]

Hey all, just pulled my dash out to replace a broken air mix actuator I had (passenger side) and can finally enjoy heat on the passenger side again as well as freezing cold air on the drivers side side now too with the A/C on. However, in fixing this I discovered another problem.

 

With the climate set to 65 on both sides and the A/C set to On, the car is freezing inside. The second I move the temp dial up to 66 the side that’s set to 66 blows warm air. I tested both sides and both behave this way. Setting both sides to 66 or higher results in zero cold air being circulated in the cabin. Anybody experienced this before? Recharged the A/C this summer so I don’t think that’s the issue. All HVAC actuators work as they should.

[csaari]

Is this with the HVAC in manual or auto mode? I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure mine has always acted this way in manual mode. If I use the a/c in manual mode down here (Atlanta, GA) in the summer, I just have to keep in on 65, because anything else I get too warm. In auto mode, however, I can put it on any temperature, and it will generally cool correctly, although when it's 95 outside and I put it on anything lower than probably 78, it will never get the inside of the car down to that temperature.

 

In the winter time, in manual mode with the a/c off, setting it to 65 will result in cold outside air being brought in, and putting it to 66 will make it warm enough that I start to roast. So, while I'm driving, I'm constantly switching it back and forth between 65 and 66. If I put it in auto mode, than I can usually keep in on 66-68 and be comfortable. Although, if I start the car when the car is cold, and put it in auto, and set it to 67, at the first sign of heat being generated, the fan will kick into high and just completely blast warm air until the interior temp gets near 67, and then the fan will slow down, and the air temp will be adjusted accordingly; but in the meantime, I've already gotten WAY too warm. Generally what I do is set it to auto, set it to 67, and once the fan kicks into high speed, I'll put the fan down a few notches. By just changing the fan speed, the rest of the system stays in auto and will maintain the proper temp, I just don't get blasted with warm air in the process.

 

As you probably know, in manual mode, the number reading has nothing to do with the actual temperature, it's supposed to act as a scale, with 65 being coldest and 85 being warmest. But to me, the scale isn't very accurate, it's like instead of it going 65, 66, 67, 68, etc., increasing in small increments, it goes something like 65, 75, 85. (Maybe that's a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.)

 

Well, sorry for rambling..... I can check mine out tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it acts the way you are describing. At least in manual mode. If you're in auto mode and it's doing that, than I'm not too sure.

 

Oh, and check this out if you haven't already:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/dual-zone-climate-control-works-6515.html

[Pleides]

Is this with the HVAC in manual or auto mode? I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure mine has always acted this way in manual mode. If I use the a/c in manual mode down here (Atlanta, GA) in the summer, I just have to keep in on 65, because anything else I get too warm. In auto mode, however, I can put it on any temperature, and it will generally cool correctly, although when it's 95 outside and I put it on anything lower than probably 78, it will never get the inside of the car down to that temperature.

 

In the winter time, in manual mode with the a/c off, setting it to 65 will result in cold outside air being brought in, and putting it to 66 will make it warm enough that I start to roast. So, while I'm driving, I'm constantly switching it back and forth between 65 and 66. If I put it in auto mode, than I can usually keep in on 66-68 and be comfortable. Although, if I start the car when the car is cold, and put it in auto, and set it to 67, at the first sign of heat being generated, the fan will kick into high and just completely blast warm air until the interior temp gets near 67, and then the fan will slow down, and the air temp will be adjusted accordingly; but in the meantime, I've already gotten WAY too warm. Generally what I do is set it to auto, set it to 67, and once the fan kicks into high speed, I'll put the fan down a few notches. By just changing the fan speed, the rest of the system stays in auto and will maintain the proper temp, I just don't get blasted with warm air in the process.

 

As you probably know, in manual mode, the number reading has nothing to do with the actual temperature, it's supposed to act as a scale, with 65 being coldest and 85 being warmest. But to me, the scale isn't very accurate, it's like instead of it going 65, 66, 67, 68, etc., increasing in small increments, it goes something like 65, 75, 85. (Maybe that's a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.)

 

Well, sorry for rambling..... I can check mine out tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it acts the way you are describing. At least in manual mode. If you're in auto mode and it's doing that, than I'm not too sure.

 

Oh, and check this out if you haven't already:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/dual-zone-climate-control-works-6515.html

 

Gotcha, this is all manual mode just to test the system after fixing an issue with it. My friend has an 05 OB H6 and says his climate blows cool air until about 75 with the A/C all manually controlled, hence I thought this wasn’t normal.

 

Edit: just looked through that post and it looks like my system is working as designed, gotcha.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Pleides

[csaari]

Well, I just went out and played with mine, and it did not behave the way I described. Today it's about 85 degrees outside, and my car had been sitting in the driveway all day. And I did not go for a drive, the car was just parked, idling.

 

When I first started it, it of course wasn't generating any heat, and I could go from 65 to 85 with pretty much no difference. After a few minutes, the antifreeze started warming up, and the temp gauge began moving up. At this point, I could go from 65 to 84 with not much difference in the cool air coming into the cabin. At 85, it went to full hot air blowing out.

 

All this was with the a/c turned on. I didn't think to turn off the a/c just to see what would happen. And it might have behaved different if I was driving, I know the a/c puts out colder air when the compressor's not just running at idle speed.

[Pleides]

Hmm OK. I also noticed that my climate doesn’t blow cold with auto climate set to 66 on either side, so there’s another thing that’s strange about our HVAC systems.