AC Stopped Working

[Irenicus]

I have a 2016 GS with 100,000kms on it and today I noticed the A/C was blowing ambient air temperatures when it was set at full cold.

Is there any initial steps I can take to save any money before I just take it into a shop? I've had A/C issues with cars before, had it recharged and it only lasted a week before it leaked out again. I keep reading that it's likely a failed condenser and a new one plus a recharge will run me $900-1200.

What is my best course of action here?

 

[zx10guy]

It can be a whole slew of things. Is the compressor clutch engaging? Is the ECM commanding compressor clutch engagement when you request A/C from the HVAC controls. If not why? Is the low side pressure sensor reporting correctly? Is there a leak some where in the system? That would have to be tracked down with a black light. My understanding is manufacturers have been including UV dye with the refrigerant when charging the system. What's the current low side pressure in the A/C system measured with an actual gauge?

 

[GFrosty]

A couple of fairly low-cost parts that might be involved with refrigerant leaks, though both require a recharge if done:

• The "valves" along the refrigerant lines -- these can fail, resulting in loss of refrigerant.
• The o-rings on the ends of the refrigerant lines -- on older cars, o-rings eventually do what 'rubber' parts do.

Still, these are far less costly than any HVAC component parts troubleshooting and replacement (ie, compressor, evap). Kind of like replacing spark plugs when beginning to get occasional engine misfires; it's an easy and inexpensive first step.

Last summer, at ~128Kmi my 2016.5 CX-5 was experiencing poor cooling (tepid, a tad cooler than ambient). Result was that the refrigerant lines had single-digit levels of the stuff left, instead of a 100% full charge. Had a shop check, and it was the valves along the refrigerant lines that had leaked. Replaced the valves, then pressure-tested and recharged. Fixed the problem. Didn't replace any of the o-rings on the tube ends, this time around, but probably will next time, as the car. This wasn't a sudden loss, but rather over a few months, slowly enough I didn't immediately notice anything except feeling I was running the A/C longer to get the same cabin cooling. In my case, it turned out to not involve any of the pricier components.

 

[dan25man]

Like others have already said you probably need to diagnose the issue and find/repair the leak. I'd like to add that you should go with OEM components for whatever you need to repair the AC. I've done RockAuto condenser/evap core before and they work but the mounting points are often sloppy or needs to be adjusted to fit right. That's just my experience.