Do anyones elses A/C suck?

[jophus14]

How much does recharging the freon cost? I had it does to my old car, but a buddy did it and he didn't charge me for it.

 

[qualityrockola]

Hey it works for me. Im a cheap bastard though, lol. If i ever do it and it doesnt work, THEN it will be time for the AC shop. $10 for a can is no big deal for me. I will do that before i drop big bucks at a mechanic's.

 

[p5power]

my A/C blows....if yours is sucking then you have problems.(poke)

lol...it took me a while, but i got it....

 

[laracroft]

I've already got the Tial slim fans and titanium tints on which keeps the heat down pretty well. But while I'm just sitting there in the car, "it's definetly sucking".

I'll probably go the cheapie route for now. We'll see.

 

[Red5_02]

I just noticed today that the A/C wasn't as cool as it used to be. Then again, it could be cuz it was 100 degrees today.

 

[santisurf]

I just noticed today that the A/C wasn't as cool as it used to be. Then again, it could be cuz it was 100 degrees today.

lets compare

Boston 100F

Boca Raton (FL) (by the beach) (where the sun really shines) 100000000F (in the car) yeah... my AC Sucks Blows and melts me away... don't know if thats a good thing(omg)

 

[laracroft]

Not a good thing if you're a Hershey bar... or forgot your deodorant.

 

[Relentless Pro]

My AC still works great, but that may be because I hardly ever have a chance to use it.

 

[nate0123]

My A/C has sucked since last year and I live in FL. It gets cold for a few seconds, then it gets warm. But when I'm actually driving down the road for a long while, it gets cold and stays that way for a bit. But then if I sit at a light or stop the car for long periods of time, it gets warm again. I'll probably try to recharge it soon and see what happens. Its BS.

if you're at a stop light for a while, give it a little bit of gas in neutral

at idle, the compressor isn't being spun as fast as it could be

 

[TheMAN]

that's bulls***, the system is undercharged, that's why that s*** is happening... no AC system is designed so that it'll blow hot air while you sit in traffic!

simply put, if you have to rev it, then you have to make the compressor spin fast enough to bring the low side pressures down to actually do anything

 

[nate0123]

it doesn't blow hot air sitting in traffic... it's just not as cold as it is when the engine is turning more than 600 rpms

 

[Mmmmmken]

Well, I think, bottom line: If it's not blowing as cold as when new, seems like it needs to get charged to proper pressure. DIY, or have it done professionally, just do it right.

 

[Erci]

My AC never worked *great*. I got the car brand new and definitely noticed that AC is not as efficient in some of the other cars I've had. My wife has a 05 Legacy.. her AC cools the car down in 1/2 the time and keeps it ice cold. P5 was never able to do it.
Still love my car though

 

[Lt. Dan]

I'm actually thinking aobut converting the R134 system in the 5 over to the new "freeze12" that's on the market...

 

[TheMAN]

putting ANYTHING but manufacturer approved refrigerants into an AC system = DUMB

if your s*** ever ***** up and you have freeze 12, good luck finding a shop who will fix it for you

 

[laracroft]

Meh, my idle jumps around because of the Haltech. So it ranges anywhere from 1000 to under 300. Its crazy like that. Its not any more cold when it gets to 1000 while sitting still than the 300. Its all the same. Reving it up will only burn oil and gas. My a/c just sucks... thats all. Boo for me.

 

[Lt. Dan]

putting ANYTHING but manufacturer approved refrigerants into an AC system = DUMB

if your s*** ever ***** up and you have freeze 12, good luck finding a shop who will fix it for you

Freeze 12 IS an approved refrigerant. That, and I don't have to find a shop to fix anything..... I run a shop.

Dan

 

[TheMAN]

I didn't just say "approved", I said "manufacturer approved"....
just because it's EPA approved doesn't mean its worth a damn... all the EPA cares about is it doesn't make a hole in the ozone layer and blow up/catch on fire, they could give two s**** about A/C performance

NO auto manufacturer approves of anything but R12 or R134a simply because all the dozens of alternate refrigerants out there are either bad, have crazy s*** in it that can **** up s***, have flamable gas, causes very high line pressures in order to perform effectively, or simply because it's a PITA to deal with

if you run your own shop, then I as well as the EPA assume you have a dedicated recovery machine for freeze 12? if you don't then you have already forgotten your EPA section 609 certification test... that's also assuming you're certified

 

[Glowspeedp5]

Correct........ I got my car new in 2002. Never check A/C feron. I am the orginal owner. I work on Coach's and have my A/C license. Well any ways I recovered my 134 and lo and be hold it was 1lb 20 oz.... I since put in 1lb and 6oz. Blows cold now. Before was cold. Also the MAN at 65mph to 80 mph blows warm/cold not all warm. Is this normal....

because modern cars like the protege uses a high efficency "low refrigerant charge" system... the system MUST be charged EXACTLY to the correct weight or the system will NOT operate efficiently (in otherwords, it won't cool worth s***)... "topping off" a system will result in an incorrect charge regardless of who does it...

furthermore, those DIY "kits" usually contain sealants in the cans which are NOT recommended additives for an A/C system, it WILL clog the expansion valves further increasing head pressures and reducing cooling efficiency.. not to mention those kits ONLY have a low side gauge which means if your system is fubar to begin with (high side restriction for example), trying to recharge/top off the system may result in blowing a refrigerant hose or releasing the overpressure poppet valve on the compressor, venting all the money you spent on refrigerant away (which is also a greenhouse gas) as well as most of the refrigerant oil! as I said, even if everything "goes OK", you still won't have an accurate charge

the PROPER way to top off a high efficiency system (which many modern cars do) is to recover ALL the refrigerant in the system, notating the amount that was recovered, and then recharging the system from empty to the proper weight (which is 1lbs 5oz IIRC)..... then the person performing the system recharge can charge the customer accordingly to the amount of refrigerant topped off (for example, if only 0.5lbs came out, then you are billed for 0.81lbs of refrigerant PLUS labor)

1lbs 5oz is NOT a lot of refrigerant... that's just basically a little over 1 can of R134a.... overcharging will result in higher system pressures, and that mean higher heat exchanger temperatures which means you'll be sweating longer!

 

[P5w3kids]

Mine takes a while to cool the interior, with recirc and blower on 4. So sounds like it's weaker than some here.

Is this covered under the warranty?