How long for cold a/c?

[RADRaze2KX]

Hey guys, I live in Arizona and the heat is ridiculous. It's currently 109F outside and it seems my AC takes upwards of 5-10 minutes before it feel colder than body temperature. My G35 was cold within 30 seconds. Does anyone here in a hot climate have the same issue? The car has 45k miles on it (black 2013 cx-5 gt)

 

[bxpretzel]

My A/C gets cold within 30 seconds to 1 minute of turning the car on, even if it was sitting in the hot sun. Granted, it doesn't get much above 90 degrees here.

 

[DBLXX]

Immediately.

 

[MikeM.]

Hey guys, I live in Arizona and the heat is ridiculous. It's currently 109F outside and it seems my AC takes upwards of 5-10 minutes before it feel colder than body temperature. My G35 was cold within 30 seconds. Does anyone here in a hot climate have the same issue? The car has 45k miles on it (black 2013 cx-5 gt)

Might have to get used to it. Projections are for many more "dangerous" weather days in the decades to come.


But why, oh why did you buy a black car in Tempe, AZ? (hand)

My 2013 CX-5 is not quite as fast as my Volvo S80 but it's not too far behind (and the S80 has one of the chillest A/Cs's I've ever had the pleasure of using). But the CX-5 is far ahead of my F-150 when it comes to speed of cold. We have had an unusually hot summer up here in the normally pleasant Pacific Northwest. It's been cooler in Hawaii! Very strange. Are you driving your car when you say it takes 5-10 minutes to get cool? The heat exchanger mounted at the front of the vehicle needs airflow to work best and, at 109 degrees, it can't start expelling heat until the refrigerant is warmer than that. Check it for bugs too.


One thing I'm impressed with about the A/C compressor on the CX-5 is I can't generally feel it kick on/off. In most cars this generally manifests itself with a noticeable shudder, clank noise and loss of power to climb hills, etc. But its barely perceptible (if at all) on the little 2.0L engine. Impressive.

 

[RADRaze2KX]

Yes, driving it around. I like the black on black haha. Once it gets cold, it is a decent cold. I'm wondering if the refrigerant is low. I'll take it to my mechanic and have him check. I got my G at 58k and had to put refrigerant in it at around 70k because it wasn't cooling fast or as cool as other cars. Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll keep you posted on what the issue is. (hopefully not the color I chose! Haha)

 

[Johnj]

Hey guys, I live in Arizona and the heat is ridiculous. It's currently 109F outside and it seems my AC takes upwards of 5-10 minutes before it feel colder than body temperature. My G35 was cold within 30 seconds. Does anyone here in a hot climate have the same issue? The car has 45k miles on it (black 2013 cx-5 gt)

My 2016 does not get cold in idle. I was waiting for someone after starting in hot weather. The air felt a bit cool but not cold the entire time I waited. Once they got in car and I put in drive, it immediately cooled off.

 

[Srad600]

I've noticed that the AC in my CX-5 pumps out cold air only if I have the temperature setting at 68 deg. or less (if it's hot out I set it to 66 deg until the car cools off, then reset to the actual desired temp). If it's above that point, the air that comes out is "somewhat cool" but not cold. When I set it for cold air, I'd say the cold air is almost immediate (within 1 minute). Of course I'm not subject to Az temps, and when it's sunny out I do use a reflective sun shade.

 

[GP 2004]

I've noticed that the AC in my CX-5 pumps out cold air only if I have the temperature setting at 68 deg. or less (if it's hot out I set it to 66 deg until the car cools off, then reset to the actual desired temp). If it's above that point, the air that comes out is "somewhat cool" but not cold. When I set it for cold air, I'd say the cold air is almost immediate (within 1 minute).

Same with mine. I set mine 69 and it will get cold fast (when moving, sitting at idle does not work so well).

 

[littlebear]

Hey guys, I live in Arizona and the heat is ridiculous. It's currently 109F outside and it seems my AC takes upwards of 5-10 minutes before it feel colder than body temperature. My G35 was cold within 30 seconds. Does anyone here in a hot climate have the same issue? The car has 45k miles on it (black 2013 cx-5 gt)

Take it in to have the refrigerant checked. It may have leaked out or something else is amiss.

Secondly, living in Phoenix, DO NOT get a black car with a black leather interior. That will make the interior hotter and the car hotter. Black absorbs all the heat and UV. White reflects heat and UV. Red's are sort of in the middle but black colored vehicles are insane.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I agree the G35's AC is like an icebox but the CX-5's AC has been more than adequate me. Granted I've only had it in 100 degree heat in Yakima and it more than kept up.

I do normally keep it at 68 degrees.

 

[craigo]

If you have climate control set it to 60, that engages a max cold mode with full fan. It should be pretty frigid blowing out in a short period of time.

 

[ALafya]

It seems to defeat the purpose of climate control if someone needs to 'help' the system do the right thing by setting it incorrectly (assuming you'll be OK with 72), or by touching it at all to set it to anything other than what you want it to be, instead of just leaving it on the same temp all the time.

 

[arunka007]

It seems to defeat the purpose of climate control if someone needs to 'help' the system do the right thing by setting it incorrectly (assuming you'll be OK with 72), or by touching it at all to set it to anything other than what you want it to be, instead of just leaving it on the same temp all the time.

Exactly.

I had a 2008 Accord prior to owning CX-5. In it, I had set the temp at 70. If the outside temp was 100 (pretty common here at Houston), the ac used to run at full power when I started the car. It will then slowly power down once the inside temp was 70. This is how it's supposed to work.

However, in the CX-5, the ac runs at the same low power when I start the car, which means it'll take forever to bring down the temp to 70. So I'm forced to turn the knob to 60 as soon as I get in, then turn it back to 70 in another 3-4 mins.

This defeats the purpose of a climate control system. The whole point of the system is to set the temp at your comfort level and then never to touch that dial again.

Is this a problem with all Mazdas or just the CX-5?


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[RADRaze2KX]

Too late for the black on black warning. I had a remote starter in my G so it never bothered me. That's the other reason for this thread, if the climate control doesn't cool correctly, it kind of negates a 3rd party remote starter for cooling/heating purposes :| I have it set to 60 most of the time anyway because I get very hot here. If it's set to 60 for max mode, does it cool better at idle during initial startup?

 

[MikeM.]

Too late for the black on black warning. I had a remote starter in my G so it never bothered me. That's the other reason for this thread, if the climate control doesn't cool correctly, it kind of negates a 3rd party remote starter for cooling/heating purposes :| I have it set to 60 most of the time anyway because I get very hot here. If it's set to 60 for max mode, does it cool better at idle during initial startup?

Newer cars all use electric radiator fans so no air is being moved before the engine is up to temperature so I suspect this is one of the few things an old school car does better than a modern one. That said, I have very little experience with idling cars in hot weather, when I start 'em, I drive 'em, I don't let them sit there idling.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Having a white car and tinted windows (not ceramic tint like my old cx5) it still gets extra hot (+100 here too). I found using the recirc function on the ac helps initially since the dash radiates a lot of heat. Invest in a quality window shade ( the fitted one) and use it regiously lol. Consider getting alevel of tint if you dont have it already. Old my old cx5 which was a darker color i had ceramic tint and that s*** worked wonders. However i did not want to pay the premium for it this time.

 

[brillo54]

Exactly.

I had a 2008 Accord prior to owning CX-5. In it, I had set the temp at 70. If the outside temp was 100 (pretty common here at Houston), the ac used to run at full power when I started the car. It will then slowly power down once the inside temp was 70. This is how it's supposed to work.

However, in the CX-5, the ac runs at the same low power when I start the car, which means it'll take forever to bring down the temp to 70. So I'm forced to turn the knob to 60 as soon as I get in, then turn it back to 70 in another 3-4 mins.

This defeats the purpose of a climate control system. The whole point of the system is to set the temp at your comfort level and then never to touch that dial again.

Is this a problem with all Mazdas or just the CX-5?

The way you describe your Honda is how my CX-5 behaves. With a high temperature differential between observed and desired temp (usually for me 72) my fan cranks automatically to near max, it goes to recirc. and airflow directed out the dash vents only. As it gets closer to setpoint, fan speed decreases and eventually it switches to outside air. Of course if I change the air flow speed or airflow mode, all bets are off, since its no longer in full auto.

 

[IHeartGroceries]

I've always felt my wife's CX-5 gets a little overwhelmed in North Texas heat. Right now, I've got two other vehicles in my garage, and the CX-5 has unfortunately been evicted to the drieway. 105 ambient temps lately, and it gets sweltering in the interior. Using my infrared thermometer, I've recorded 140 plus degrees.

Here's a breakdown of AC effectiveness at 105 degrees ambient..

It takes at least 4 or 5 minutes for the AC to cool to the point that the interior can be sat in without melting. During this time, there is easentually warm air coming from the vents the first 60 seconds. It takes another 3 minutes or so for it cool enough for it to be tolerable, and again, another few minutes after that for it to become comfortable in the interior. I'd guess it takes a total of 10 minutes on high for the the interior to become completely comfortable in these conditions.

I've found that the system must be kept on max during the entire drive on a 100 plus degree summer day, in order to keep both the front AND rear seat passengers comfortable.

Overall, and compared to other vehicles I have owned or driven, I rate the CX-5s as average.



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[yrwei52]

Too late for the black on black warning. I had a remote starter in my G so it never bothered me. That's the other reason for this thread, if the climate control doesn't cool correctly, it kind of negates a 3rd party remote starter for cooling/heating purposes :| I have it set to 60 most of the time anyway because I get very hot here. If it's set to 60 for max mode, does it cool better at idle during initial startup?

Newer cars all use electric radiator fans so no air is being moved before the engine is up to temperature so I suspect this is one of the few things an old school car does better than a modern one. That said, I have very little experience with idling cars in hot weather, when I start 'em, I drive 'em, I don't let them sit there idling.

Newer cars use dedicated electric radiator AND AC fans. Rarely a single electrical fan serves both the radiator and AC condenser like my old VW Jetta did. Either way this is a much better system as these fans, which usually have 2 or 3 speeds, are on at the selected speed only when they are needed. Even when car is idling, the AC fan will be on when you turn the AC on. It cools the condenser very effectively hence idling, even for a long period of time, will not affect AC cooling capacity. The only thing which affect the performance of AC cooling during idling is low rpm on AC compressor.

 

[mazdadude]

Yes, the 110+ degree days we get here also can really put the CX-5 A/C to it's limits. The car interior is heat soaked to 140-160 degrees, so it takes quite a lot of energy to get those hot components down to a lower temp. Add to that, the fact the sun is still blasting your interior with more heat as you are trying to cool it.

Windshield Shade / Reflector (Pain to put up and down each time, but this does help).
Venting with window or moonroof (not good in rain events, or some critters).

Our 2015 CX-5 also can take 2 or so minutes to get comfortable temps going in the weather extremes.