I've noticed the air conditioning on my 2013 RDX is performing poorly this season. I had it in a few weeks ago to take a look at the sunroof close issue that has a TSB and asked them to look at the AC. They said it is performing as expected.

Specifically, the problem I am experiencing is that the car is having a hard time to cool the cabin. It hasn't been so hot here in NE and is worse than we had in the past. It seems to take a few minutes for the air to even be noticibly cool coming from the vent. The air comes out cooler when the car is operating under light acceleration. At idle it is only coolish.

Has anyone had a similar problem? How can I convince the dealership that something wrong? I wonder if it could be a refrigerant leak or a loose belt. Any advice / suggestions would be very helpful.

 

have you replaced the in-cabin air filter!?

 

I have, twice, since purchasing the car. This doesn't feel like a flow problem, more of a temperature problem.

 

I re-read your post after I posted and came to the conclusion that it was a temp. problem and not a flow problem!

have the refrigerant measured. it's a closed system, so there shouldnt be any missing.

 

Odd. I immediately was thinking the cabin air filter too. Same thing was happening in my wifey's car- air was coming out but it wasn't all that cool. I realized I was way past due for the cabin filter and as a temporary solution I just banged all the loose crap out of the filter for a few minutes. Worked waaaay better immediately after. Bought a new filter and replaced it the next day.

Beyond that, it might be worth your while to get the AC tested/inspected at another place. My second thought is that you have a leak starting somewhere.

 

It wouldn't be the first time a dealership "checked" something... and really did nothing at all and said it's fine. Buddy probably pushed the AC button on, felt some cool air and said it's fine.

 

The belt should always have tension on it, and you would hear it squeal if it were slipping. One area you could check is the condenser in front of the radiator to see if it packed with debris or bugs. After that, if it is fully charged with freon, there may be vacuum controlled doors under the dashboard that are hanging up.

 

I have a 2013 also and live in the deep south.When the vehicle is left in the sun for a few hours(graphite) the ac will take forever to cool off the cabin.I don't remember it being like this in years before.If I am stuck in stop and go traffic it does not cool at all,when I start moving at a steady speed it will finally cool down.Turning recirculate on or off does not help

 

I had a similar situation with the air conditioning not cooling the car. I had the dealer "check" it out, they put a dye in the system and added some freon. Not really comfortable adding freon to a system that is less than two years old, but it is much better. I will have them re-check in August when they do the state inspection.

 

Had to bring my car in for the a/c not cooling when the car wasn't moving.They found one o-ring leaking,don't know if this is a common problem or not.I hate that they had to open my a/c system,I will surely keep the paperwork on this repair.a/c is working great now,better than ever.

 

This has been a real pain for me - i took it twice to a dealer for this problem (and the bouncing moonroof in other threads) and they insisted that the A/C was performing well.

After two trips and having the dealership unable to fix either problem i was having, I took it to a second dealer. They are currently working on my car, but they found a leak in the compressor and are rebuilding the system. I suspect it is finally going to be fixed.

 

I had a similar issue. They found that road debris of some sort shot up and punctured the AC condenser. Not under warranty as it was not a defect (unless you consider a design flaw that lets this happen). $600.
Mike Todd

 

I had this happen to my wife's '96 RL - a rock came thru the opening under the license plate and took out the condenser. For a while I started putting a mesh panel behind that opening in that and the next couple of cars to prevent it from happening again, and of course nothing ever hit it. Knock on wood I haven't had a similar issue. It's a freak thing like a rock hitting a windshield - except insurance covers a windshield repair/replacement - not so on a blown condenser. Sigh...

andy

 

man don't let the dealership cheat by trying to top off the charge. Have then evacuate the system, hold it on a vacuum for at least and hour and then recharge with proper amount of refrigerant and a small amount of PAG oil to compensate for what came out with the refrigerant.