Hi everyone.

I'm having an A/C issue. My A/C is blowing hot air, but blowing 'cooler' (but not cold) air when I slow down or when it is cool outside. The A/C fan is working (at least when I'm on idle) and the freon is at optimal level.

I've checked to see if I was having the problem some members had with the connector below the dash and it was plugged in properly.

TL;dr : A/C blowing hot unless it is cool outside. At late night when it's completely cool outside, A/C seem to work, but sometimes not (which is confusing). Wondering if it is a bad compressor.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

ttt

 

Cold/warm air at idle, but really hot when you're moving usually means you have air in your coolant system. Your coolant level is probably just low enough that you're not getting full flow to your heater unless your engine is rev'd up. Try bleeding your coolant system using the procedure in the service manual OR (much easier) use a Lisle spill free funnel.

 

My coolant level is normal and the reservoir is right at the max line. Should I still bleed the coolant system? Curious, why would the coolant have any effect with the A/C?

 

Yeah, I sure don't see how it could either, so I'd love to hear that explanation.


I'm certainly no AC expert, but there are quite a few (AC related) things that could be causing it, like:

Fan position simply not in recirc mode
Blend door issues
High pressure issues
Pressure switch issues
Orifice tube issues
Actually low on refrigerant (even though you said you checked)
etc
etc.

 

Coolant cycles through your A/C system's heater core. The heater is at the high point in your coolant system. An air bubble up there means you won't get full flow to the heater when at idle.

FWIW, stating that your coolant is at the max line is meaningless. Is that when the car is cold or when its hot? You should be at the min line when cold and at the max when hot. You shouldn't see a lot of variation beyond those levels. If you are seeing variation, then you've likely got an air bubble or some other issue.

 

And just how is the full flow of HOT coolant supposed to help his AC blow colder air?

( He may well have an air bubble, and you're right that a full coolant level will not show it, but what has any of that got to do with AC functionality?)

 

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm still confused how the coolant can affect the A/C. I can understand if the car is overheating but that isn't the case.

My coolant is fine. No overheating, and it is at proper levels when the engine has been running/warm. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I will just double check on this just to be sure.



My diagnostics was that the compressor was shot, but I wasn't too sure solely because I'm still relatively new to the VQs/Infinitis. Seems like some people that have had similar issues like myself had a whole lot different solutions like electrical switches, fans, relays, etc...

 

@ vqsmile, the symptom he described "My A/C is blowing hot air, but blowing 'cooler' (but not cold) air when I slow down or when it is cool outside" is exactly what you see when you have an air bubble. You've been on this forum long enough to have seen multiple threads on this topic.

How about we start over. To the OP, so that we're clear:
Is your problem that you are expecting cold air, but are getting hot air instead? OR
Is your problem that you are expecting hot air, but are getting cold air instead?

 

I'm expecting cold air, but getting hot air instead.

To try to explain the problem, I live in southern Texas so it is really hot and humid like any part of the southern US. Everytime I turn on the A/C (for cold) I get nothing but hot air. Sometimes it does get cooler when I'm slowing down to a stop light, traffic, etc... but the air is not cold, but cooler. It also sometimes blows normal during nighttime when it isn't hot at all outside.

My A/C was fine until one day I decided to idle my car in a parking lot for about 30 minutes. Then I realized that my A/C was having issues the next day and thought it was the refrigerant thus I had it checked and refilled. This did not fix any issues.

 

Have the refrigerant checked again, if they had to refill it you might have a leak. If you have an intake, it's common for them to rub on the small line in the engine bay if you didn't bend or protect the line somehow.

If refrigerant levels are still good, then you may have an electrical issue. I would recommend downloading the "ATC" section of the FSM and performing the self-diagnosis procedures.

 

fwiw, i just went on my 3rd compressor 2 months ago, and this week it went out again. I am beginning to think its a pressure line issue or electrical issue. Im ready to pursue legal action against my dealer for misdiagnosing and blaming it on the compressor.

 

You need to bleed your coolant using the bleed screw behind the engine while it's running. There's a lot of threads on this already, so do a search!

 

Derp, not at all what's going on here. Read before posting. His air conditioning isn't working properly. Not his heat.

 

Have you checked the compressor, according to me the problem must be in the compressor and if you don't have equipment to check it by own then try to contact local air conditioning companies for help.