Mazda5 - A/C Suddenly Erratic (Mostly Doesn't Blow Cold Air - Then Suddenly Does)
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I have had the filler pipe rubber o-ring on the needle valve ( looks like the valve stem on your tires) dry out. Tech drained the system and pressure tested it. All was well, no leaks detected, so one had to assume it was the filler valve that was now connected to his machine. He changed the valve ( $5.00) recharged the system and all is now well.
Well I fixed my problem. When the winter months arrived,my wife would say the heat smelled musty when it was 1st turned onto the floor mode. I had my suspicions about the cabin filters,but no one carried them in stock,so I decided to wait til this spring to replace. Found the how-to on here and got to work. After I got the covers removed to access the filters,I knew my issue would be resolved. A pile of leaves fell out onto the floor,and after removing the filters they were jammed with leaves. The hardest part of the whole job was holding the top filter in place while putting the bottom one in. No more musty smell and the AC is rocking. Filters were like $12 off of ebay.
Another problem that can be is blend door actuator.
Something would overheat inside or what ever can make it go wild and it would move the position from AC only to HEAT only or any place in between.
Changing the temperature with the dial would make no difference as actuator had mind of its own.
I had this happen on my other car. It would happen sporadically, as any good electrical problem would.
Something would overheat inside or what ever can make it go wild and it would move the position from AC only to HEAT only or any place in between.
Changing the temperature with the dial would make no difference as actuator had mind of its own.
I had this happen on my other car. It would happen sporadically, as any good electrical problem would.
Just got back from Mazda dealer for this problem. There is a TSB that affects certain VIN 3's and 5's from 2006-2009. The TSB reads just like the write-up I gave to the dealer when I dropped it off last night.
"At highway speeds for extended periods of time during high ambient temperatures and high humidity, A/C may become erratic in operation. Heavy frost might appear on high pressure line and system may stop blowing cold air or working."
Saw this two weeks ago after 2 hours at 80 mph with the temps in the 80's. First the airflow was less, then warm and then not at all. Turned "Auto" function off which helped, but then just warm air came out.
There is a kit to fix this issue. The condenser gets too cold and freezes up at highway speeds, so the kit changes the airflow to the condenser, replaces the cabin filter with a different one and some sensor for the system so it doesn't get as cold. This is from the service manager at the Mazda dealer, who knows I do a lot of my own maintenance. I saw the TSB myself, but didn't get to read much of it.
$365 parts,labor and tax. Not happy about that, but each car has its issues and since it's out of warranty, I expect some hassles.
Update: I emailed Mazda about my problem and said though I'd like for Mazda to pay for the whole thing, I'd be willing to work with them. They responded quickly and have agreed to pay for parts and I pay for labor, cutting the bill in half for me.
That's way better service than I was expecting by all accounts. Wonder if I send them an email about putting the the Skyactiv diesel in the 5 what will happen
"At highway speeds for extended periods of time during high ambient temperatures and high humidity, A/C may become erratic in operation. Heavy frost might appear on high pressure line and system may stop blowing cold air or working."
Saw this two weeks ago after 2 hours at 80 mph with the temps in the 80's. First the airflow was less, then warm and then not at all. Turned "Auto" function off which helped, but then just warm air came out.
There is a kit to fix this issue. The condenser gets too cold and freezes up at highway speeds, so the kit changes the airflow to the condenser, replaces the cabin filter with a different one and some sensor for the system so it doesn't get as cold. This is from the service manager at the Mazda dealer, who knows I do a lot of my own maintenance. I saw the TSB myself, but didn't get to read much of it.
$365 parts,labor and tax. Not happy about that, but each car has its issues and since it's out of warranty, I expect some hassles.
Update: I emailed Mazda about my problem and said though I'd like for Mazda to pay for the whole thing, I'd be willing to work with them. They responded quickly and have agreed to pay for parts and I pay for labor, cutting the bill in half for me.
That's way better service than I was expecting by all accounts. Wonder if I send them an email about putting the the Skyactiv diesel in the 5 what will happen
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Had the "fix" performed a few weeks ago. As I expected, the air doesn't function as well around town as i thought it used to, though it seems to be improving. A/C still not a strong point in Japanese cars, not truly Japanese cars anyway. My '10 Altima gets very cold on max.
Anyway, haven't had on a long highway voyage to test it out, hopefully it was worth it.
Anyway, haven't had on a long highway voyage to test it out, hopefully it was worth it.
rodslinger
Member
I've had the same issue in the past and had the TSB performed on my 06 and 08 models. Coincidentially I had the same symptoms pop up on my 2010. Ended up being the belt. It would sometimes slip but wasn't making any noises when it did it. It would usually happen on the highway similar to the TSB description. Except that this wasn't an issue with frost. Seemed when the compressor clutch would engage at higher engine speeds the belt would just slip and not turn the compressor at all or turn it slowly until the load on the system dropped slightly and the torque required to turn the compressor dropped off.
Okay, here is a new one. 2012 Mazda5 GT. For the past 2 days when we first turn the ignition,
1. no response from fan, a/c, auto fan anything...
2. all of a sudden,literally, a couple of minutes later...it's on.
This has only happened for the past 2 days......
I know, people are going to say "bring it in" but I just wanting to see what the replies will be; has anyone experienced this before, any solutions?. Dealership is a 45 minute drive away and a bit of an inconvenience with the vehicle being my wife's work car.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
1. no response from fan, a/c, auto fan anything...
2. all of a sudden,literally, a couple of minutes later...it's on.
This has only happened for the past 2 days......
I know, people are going to say "bring it in" but I just wanting to see what the replies will be; has anyone experienced this before, any solutions?. Dealership is a 45 minute drive away and a bit of an inconvenience with the vehicle being my wife's work car.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
If it's a 2012 under warranty, bring it in. Or just watch it for a week and decide what to do then, especially if it's going to be a big hassle for you. Play with the settings and see what it does. Leave it in Auto for a trip, then in manual mode,etc. But it sounds like it could be a bad sensor,relay or something like that.
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I was directed to this thread when I posted about my issue. So I'm having intermittent ac blowing ambient temp air. The clutch isn't engaging when the air goes warm. It's still working sometimes. I tested the low pressure reading with a gauge off a store bought freon can and it read 100psi without the compressor cycling. I couldn't get it to cycle though. Anyone have any ideas?
Does the AC work when the car is moving and not when you are stuck on traffic and moving slowly? When checking the clutch did you notice that the AC fan on at the outside condenser at radiator running or not?
The clutch will not engage if the lo side pressure is too high, this can be caused by the fan not rumning or a bad pressure switch. Also the clutch on the 5 are known to be the weak point. .
You can check if the fan will kick in if you run the AC with the car idling for a few minutes. The pressure switch can be bypassed to see if the clutch is good or bad (have not tried this myself)
Good with your testing.
The clutch will not engage if the lo side pressure is too high, this can be caused by the fan not rumning or a bad pressure switch. Also the clutch on the 5 are known to be the weak point. .
You can check if the fan will kick in if you run the AC with the car idling for a few minutes. The pressure switch can be bypassed to see if the clutch is good or bad (have not tried this myself)
Good with your testing.
