A/C hasnt been cold enough but it has been 95+ outside every day-is that the cause?

 

Not sure. We've been hovering at 90+ here in Toronto (100+ with the humidex) and my AC blows as cold as ever. Best AC I've ever had.

 

It also helps (in multiple ways) to turn off your climate control system BEFORE you turn your car off everytime.

Also, use the auto button.

 

The past couple of days, I have been rolling down the windows with the remote when I walk to the car, to vent the heat out and then when I get into the car I turn on the A/C and close all the windows. When it is really hot I also have the sun/moonroof shade closed until the car's interior is at a comfortable temperature.

 

That brings me to a related question... I've heard before that it's better to turn off the AC and let the fan blow for a while (not sure for how long??) before shutting the car. True? True for our TSX as well? Problem is that it's somewhat difficult to put that into practice and remember to shut off AC just two blocks (or whatever time needed) away from arriving... don't feel like sitting in the car after parking it


As for AC unit on TSX, it has been the best AC I've had on all cars I've had / driven. Plus the auto-climate is WAY smarter than the stupid one on the E46 before.

 

They let the fan running for awhile to dry the condensor coil. So that, it helps to slow anything to grow in there and make the AC smell bad.

 

95 here and my A/C is incredibly cold and I don't do anything special turning off the car. Are you putting it on auto ZtotallynakedZ... maybe try turning down the temperature.

 

I keep mine on 65, auto, and its as cold as ice

 

90+ here as well...and humid. AC was very cold...had it at 71 degrees...

 

no problems with the AC - it rocks! i just use the touch screen and punch it up to 5, it comes on quick!!!

 

Yeah, make sure you're not just idling in traffic; I've noticed that the low idle doesn't spin the compressor enough to do much chillin'. Once haulin' at 80, colder than the dark side of mars.

 

No problems here in Jersey either. I just keep the temp at 70 and the system on Auto (or Recirc since driving through Newark is frickin ).

 

I think TSX has the best A/C out of all the cars I have driven so far.

I recirculate the air inside the car and set the fan at 2nd lowest setting. It's more than enough even when it's 90o outside.

 

It's usually 90 and humid where I live and I park my car for upwards of 4 hours. I find the A/C to be great and it does the job well. Sometimes it gets too cold IMO...

 

Its 94 degrees here in Houston daily. Heat index puts us at 100 +or- 2 degrees. Humidity at 44%. I keep mine on auto, it takes about 2 minutes to cool down the car. I always crank mine down to "Lo" setting. 4-5 minutes of this and Im freezing my butt off. Thats with no tint on the car yet.

 

I know what you mean by "not cool enough".

You're feeling the "not cool enough" air because the air gets warmed by the sun and heat before it hits you. Next time, try putting your hands directly on the vent, it'll feel very cold.

 

When you ask yourself that question, there is only one answer: You are low on refrigerant. Investigate for a leak.

 

tried the auto option, and the temp is at "lo"; its not cold and doesn't get colder as i drive; i remember from last summer how cold the ac was for the tsx-must have a problem that needs to be checked-thanks everyone!

 

Let us know what the dealer says.

EDIT: And if you can bring a camera see if you can take a pic of the problem that they find and post it here on the forum.

 

I've noticed that my A/C seems kinda cool but not cold at first........and takes a while before it really gets cold.........I have it set for "lo" and high fan. Seems like it should get cold pretty quick, but it doesn't...........

 

Get it checked.

 

Definitely get it checked by the sound of it. Make sure you have the recirculate button on too. That makes the biggest difference in the world.

 

Vent the car first (lowering all the windows before getting in helps) and drive the car for a short while with the windows down to draw the heat out, then close all the windows. Some people leave a gap in the window when running a/c which is bad... a/c is not efficient when cooling a car like that. If your car has been baking in the sun, it will take a while to cool..since the interior is still hot to the touch.

 

might want to look at the dust & pollen filter...I just changed mine (30k miles) and it was quite dirty. dont know if its just me but the a/c seems to be cooling better.

 

lol...actually the reason why it cools better is because of the ram air effect across the condensor (the radiator looking thing in front of the radiator) which is obviously more prominent as you are driving and not idling in traffic. Inside the condensor, your refrigerant is actually switching phases from a gas to a liquid, hence the name "condensor" as it is condensing your refrigerant. Your compressor helps by increasing gas pressure so the condensing effect is more effective, but the cooler the condensor, the more efficient that more of the refrigerant will be condensed. Especially, with the R-134a systems, ram effect is critical in the condensor.

To the above mentioned individual, an A/C system is generally operating to design intent if the vent temperature is at least 20 degrees below outside ambient temperator. I have this thing called a "Raytech" gun that I just shoot and get an instant temp to get duct temperator, but any simple thermometer will work. Get your outside temp, then stick the thermometer in the center vents, if it's a difference of at least 20 deg, your A/C is working.

 

I developed an interesting problem on my '04 yesterday. The passenger side AC is blowing cold air, but the driver side is blowing 'normal', ie. uncooled. In some cases this wouldn't be odd, but this is while not running in Dual climate mode. I've tested Auto, Dual mode on/off, various temp settings, recirc on/off, AC on/off, everything.

Yeah, I'm bringing it in to have it checked out. Any thoughts in the meantime?

 

Only thought here is that the electronics (software?) got confused and running dual temp setting even though you didn't select it.

Please update on what the service people say.

 

I've had this last year, and it turned out I was missing 13oz of R134. This was because I had a leaky compressor. DO get it checked.

 

Yea... if it's on max cold and it doesn't even feel cold even when you've been driving, you need to take it into the dealer to get checked. Hopefully you'll still be under warranty. It's possibly just a leak. Hopefully they'll find it, replace the leaking part, and recharge the system for you and you should be good as new.

 

You know, I've been thinking it must be a leak of some type, but I'm usually very diligent about checking under my car in the various places I park to make sure nothing is dripping. I haven't noticed any marks in my driveway, or the most common place I park at work, etc.

In your case, was it covered under warranty? I'm not sure about the location of the compressor...is it something that can get damaged by a rock kicking up or somesuch?

Thanks for the info.! I'll keep folks posted on what they find in my case, though my appointment isn't until the 25th.

 

If R134 is leaking, it's unlikely you'll see anything leaking onto the floor. R134 is mainly a gas. It may have a % of liquid, but it's mainly a gas form. So... no leaks on the floor for the most part.

 

Aah, that makes sense...and now that you mention it, I should have realized it before even asking the question...

 

Yup. R134 is colorless and odorless, and if it leaks, it will be in the form of gas, although at some stages of the AC circuit (when compressed), it is in liquid form.

 

so how do i find out if my system is leaky without going to dealer? i felt my A/C wan't cool as last year.

 

so one side blow warm/normal air when there is a leak? thanks..

 

Generally in the shop, there is a guideline performance check, and if it is within spec, then you notate as such. Of course you're thinking "Well duh...I coulda told you that stupid!"... lol, what i mean by this is there is a chart that you go by with by comparing outside average humidty, temperature,with the center vent/duct output temp. Generally, it is supposed to be 20 degrees lower than outside temp (that's the minimum for most vehicles). So having said that, measure your outside temp, then stick a turkey thermometer in the center duct and measure that temp (make sure your a/c is on the coldest setting and in "recirculate" mode). If it's 20 below your outside temp, it's probably a good assumption that your a/c is working to "design intent".

Another way is to compare high side and low side pressures. Uh...i wouldn't recommend this method if you haven't had prior a/c experience, but you hook up gauges to your low side and high side ports. You can rent these for free at Autozone (no joke). I forget the ranges but high side is something in the 190+ psi (someone correct me on this), and low side is minimum 60+ psi? It's been so long since I've done this method.

If you really want to be accurate in your a/c refrigerant, the only way to do it is to completely evacuate your system and see how much refrigerant you recover on the a/c machine. Then you simply dial in the amount recommended for the system and volia machine charges your system (you of course also might want to add oil to your system).

Quite honestly, the TSX surprises me in it's a/c. I have a black TSX with black leather and today was a wooping 108 degs. My a/c was very efficient in cooling down the interior (just use max fan speed and lowest a/c setting with recirculate, or just simply hit the "AUTO" button with "Lo" as the setting). Remember though your a/c only works well when you are moving as that ram air effect hits your condensor at a cooler pace and that's where more gases are changed to vapors, hence the name "condensor". Sitting in traffic, your gonna have lousy air output because all you have now is just the condensor fan blow air on the condensor coils.

 

If one side blows warm/normal air and other side blows cold air, it's probably the result of a door/vent acutator that is malfunctioned, not likely an a/c leak.

However if both sides blow warm/normal air, and you have cold setting, it is possible it could be a leak.

 

Please refer to post #28. It does happen you know.

 

Now that the heats been turned on in my area (95+ yesterday), I have noticed that the a/c takes quite some time before it turns real cold. Leaving from work yesterday, I'd say it took about 5 mins to get really cold. I had it set to Auto, and droped the temp all the way down to LO

The a/c in my old Tacoma was much better, that thing got cold quick. I've noticed too that the TSX's a/c is very engine dependent. When I'm moving, it seems to start to get cold, but if im stting at a light, it dosent feel like its getting any colder.

 

Strange, mine takes about 10 sec. to get to full coldness, I'm always shocked how quick it is. But it definatley is tied to the engine, getting on the throttle blasts the AC