dwjoy

Now that Winter is really here (in NJ anyway) has anyone experienced an inaccurate cabin thermostat? I find I have to set the temperature all the way down to about 60 to get a comfortable temperature - setting it at 68 produces heat.. and more heat until I cant stand it anymore.

stingerbtry

I have the same problem. If you put it warmer to get the car heated up inside it seems to pretty much keep blowing warm air unless you drop it down to the lowest setting. This is of course without the climate control in auto mode and without the a/c on since I really don't like the idea of driving around with the a/c on all the time. Kind of annoying.

vp911

I noticed this the last couple days also. I have set it at like 75 to get warm and then it just gets FAR too hot to bear. If I put it down to 70 or something it still is blowing too much heat to be bearable. I have to turn it down to the low 60's to make the cabin comfortable again.

Rob L

I have my temp set at 21-22 C during the winter. I dunno what that is in F but think it is around 70 or so. I find that to be a good temp and doesnt get too hot. Maybe you guys have crazy clothes on.

needspeed

I have the same problem its driving me nutz .....car goes in next week to see what is wrong.......Steve

hondamore

I also follow RobL's "set it and forget it" approach to the HVAC system (except for window defrosting). The problem that the posters describe seems to be related to cranking up the temperature to warm up the car and then turning it down when it gets to the desired temperature. The system may function best when an ideal temperature is set and the system is allowed to attain and maintain that temperature automatically. It is certainly human nature to want to turn up the heat when you are cold, but I find that the automatic system really does a good job of warming things up quickly when it is cold and then maintaining a comfortable setting.
Just a gut feeling, but many automatic thermostat systems currently in use employ "fuzzy logic" memories that try to anticipate the needs of the vehicle occupants. By straying from your desired temperature, the fuzzy logic "memory" may be trying to keep you warmer than you really want to be in response to your commands to increase the temperature above your true desired level. That is, the system is designed to be so smart in the set it and forget it mode, that you are actually confusing it by cranking up the temperature. Purely a guess. Keep us posted if a software glitch turns out to be the true cause of your "sweaty" situation.

dwjoy

Hmmm... interesting idea about employing fuzzy logic although I would have thought that a more direct linkage between thermostat and heating valve would be better.
Anyway, I drive in auto mode all the time and I have tried starting the car with the temperature set on 68 and keeping it there. I know that there is a tendancy to 'overshoot' the mark so I let it go even when I can feel that its way above 68. Problem is .. heat just keeps on flowing until I turn it off

Rab

Besides the prob's sited above I have a problem with defrosting. When the outside temp is around 32 the windows fog up and I need to use the defrost mode. This even though I have the system set on auto. I do not have any of these prob's with my 04 TL.

Nocturnal

Ouch, this would be bad. Haven't noticed it on mine yet but 'cold' over here means 40s and low 50s in the morning and evening so I haven't been in your situation yet.

I did notice that after about 15 minutes of driving the ac all of a sudden starts pumping in fresh air when it's been quietly doing its job for the first bit. Weird. My S4 did something similar. I thought it had to do with the oil finally reaching operating temps and messing with the computer. It was more annoying in the S4 as the air was colder. On the other hand the S has an electric backup heater so that you get warm air right after starting the car. That sure was nice. The seat heaters worked much better too. I guess the Germans understand cold weather driving better than the Japanese.

Gitch

I have the same complaints but this issue isn't unique to the RL. Both my BMW and Audi with auto climate did the same thing. Once the outside temp got below a certain threshold (I think @ 62 degrees or so) they would also start pumping in warm air and roast you. I keep my temp set at 67 and always leave in auto mode. Seems like there's some kind of logic (flawed) that assumes you want to extra heat if it's cold outside.

I do think, however, that the RL climate system is a bit odd because it will suddenly switch over and start pumping in cold air. This is usually after 15 or 20 minutes, especially if I'm driving on the freeway. Also, will do this if you stop the car for a few minutes and then start up again. It will start cooling down the car to an uncomfortable level.

1HOT NSX

The A/C is designed to be ON together with the heater so it removes the moisture from the air and keeps the windows fog free. I keep the AUTO setting on at all times and the system has worked flawlessly for me - even at below freezing temperatures in Lake Tahoe about a week ago.

lflorack

I agree. I normally kept the temperature of my '04 TL set at 68 year round. Although I turned the A/C off during the winter, I still had the system in automatic -- and it worked great.

On the other hand, my RL seems to have a temperature over-shoot problem. So much so, that during the winter - and after running the car set a 68 for a while, I have to drop the teperature down to 66 and it still continues to climb. With it now set at 66, it will (at a time of it's own choosing) finally decide to start pumping cold air into the car.

It's on my list of things to take to the dealer.

getakey

Agree that Auto does not work that well. I'm in SF Bay Area.
During the summer, I had to set it at 69 in the morning or it would keep blowing hot air (temp outside around 50). Sometimes, I had to keep putting it lower and lower (down to 60) just to get it to stop blowing hot air.

Then in afternoon, had to adjust up to 75/76 (temp outside around 75).
I also notice a distinct change in the system after 15 minutes of driving. I think they may have put too much material around the heat sensor. It does not react quickly enough to the change inside the car.

lbfcpa

The auto feature is horrible at keeping the car the right temperature. For no reason at all, cold air starts blowing with the heater on. On a 45 minute ride to work, I need to adjust the temperature 3-4 times. Of course, the dealer says everthing is fine...as with all the quirks in this car.

Nocturnal

The Audi system uses a small fan to pull air onto the inside temp sensor. Sounds like a great idea until that fan becomes noisy and you have to take the damn thing to the dealer 3 times before they finally recognize the sound and replace the whole HVAC unit. Can't win with this stuff.

For all it's fancy GPS guided air blowers I guess Acura needs to go back to the basics and simply make the AC/heat work properly. I suppose the benefit of these computer controlled systems is that at least "it's just software". They *should* be able to reprogram the controller. But it's probably a rip-replace job. Shudder.

PeterL1

Currently have a 2005 RL, works flawlessly, very happy.
You might check out what happened with my 2004 TL. Might be your problem. Had the same issues when I purchased the TL. Temperature regulation was terrible. Dealer could not figure it out. Being the smart guy I am, I reserched how the system worked and narrowed it down to the temp sensor. The senser was working, but the hose that connects it to the cabin air was disconnected! Saw it with a mirror. Took the dealer 6 hours to drop the dash under the steering wheel. They verified the hose was disconnected by holding a small piece of tissue paper in front of the 1" square grill(air intake) on the lower dash( Almost opposite your right knee). I did not "stick" to the grill. After they reconnected the hose, the paper "stuck" to the grill because of the air being pulled in to pass by the sensor. And the TL tempature system worked perfectly.
Same system in the RL.

Nocturnal

Good tip PeterL1! That's an easy test for all of us to do. Damn I hope the dealer doesn't have to drop the dash to fix that. They'll never put it back together again.

jftjr

My RL has always been fine, I think I put it on 68 the day I got it and haven't touched it at all, except one morning to run the defroster.

The loaner TL I was driving last week, though, while my RL was in the shop was perpetually set on "convection roast" and I was getting a nice brown glaze on me.... if I had it set above 65, I roasted, if it was below 65 it was freezing.

Ugh.

Nocturnal

"convection roast", good one!

Motown2006RL

Yup - noticed this as well. Have it set 11 degrees below (62 vs. 73) my other vehicle's climate setting to keep from frying!

dwjoy

Anyone got a reaction from their dealer yet on the 'roasting' issue?

vp911

Actually - I havn't gone to the dealer, mine seems normal now. Maybe I was just imagining things. I paid closer attention yesterday and today, felt perfectly normal to me

dwjoy

I think it has something to do with the outside temperature. The system seems to work well when the outside temp is 30F or above but if it gets below 15 ... thats when it starts to roast. Probably, some very sophisticated computer is computing the heat loss through the windows, etc at such low temps and decides that max heat is required to compensate.

NJRonbo

I must be doing something wrong....

I have had my RL for only 5 months and have yet
to find time to read the manual fully....so please
bear with me....

For the winter, I set my temperature to 80 degrees.
I like it warm. I hit the SPEAK button on the steering
wheel and bark out "80 degrees." I see the dash display
above the navigator screen go to 80. I like the car warm.

Now....

Does that mean I am setting the temperature so that
the car maintains heat up to 80 degrees?

I am never sure I am doing it right as I generally have
the seat heater on HIGH and that keeps me warm on
cold morning drives.

I also go into the NAV->A/C screen and set the fan
to blow heat from the vents near the floor rather than
the front vents.

Again....am I doing this right?

vp911

Yes, that means the cabin will be set to be heated and stay at 80 degrees.

Yep, you are doing it right. If I am not mistaken, however, when you put the fan to blow from the bottom, I think it still blows out of the side vents also.

khoifl

I think so, and the side vent is weak when you set to blow from the bottom. But I think it's nicer, because you don't get the heat blows to your face.

hondamore

I've been doing a lot of driving lately (with Christmas party season in full swing) and in response to this thread, I've been experimenting with the heating system. My findings are that the "set it and forget it" use of the automatic mode is by far the best way to use the RL's system. If your comfortable setting is 70 degrees, but you get into a cold car and crank up the heat to say 80 degrees, the system is trying to attain and maintan a cabin temperature of 80 degrees and thus blows hot air into the cabin that is hotter than 80 degrees resulting in the "roasting" effect that some have mentioned. If you just leave the setting at 70 degrees and use the heated seats to warm your butt while the cabin is attaining the desired temperature, you will find yourself in a very comfortable 70 degree cabin in no time. Just my

bkw

I may be totally off here but here's what I think is happening here.

The RL in Auto mode uses the outside ambient temp to determine whether or not to blow cold or warm air.

Here in the NE, it's been in the 30's for quite some time now. With the climate control set to 71F-Auto, it gets really nice and toasty inside. When I switched it from Auto to manual w/ AC, I noticed that the car began blowing cold air into the cabin.

I really like the Auto setting, but it has a few irksome attributes which I wish there were a workaround for. Auto = A/C ON.. I wish I could choose to switch the AC off sometimes to conserve gasoline, but thats not what bothers me the most. The part I really dont like is when I'm driving through manhattan or central jersey and I want to turn the recirculation off in order to keep the odors out. The moment I click on the recirc button, it switches it from auto to manual and like I mentioned above, it goes from blowing warm 71F degree air to cold 71F degree air.

lflorack

I may be wrong, but if you turn the system to auto and then turn only the A/C off, it'll still be in auto (temperature control only). You won't get the A/C and it's moisture removal, etc but it's still in automatic mode -- as far as temperature is concerned. It should have the capability to use outside cold air, etc to balance the temperature to what's been set. Obviously, if it's too warm outside, the system can't perform magic when you turn A/C off, but I think you get my drift.

At least that's how my TL's (0'3 and '04) worked. I think that's how the RL tries to work too but the RL's inside sensor seems to be a little slow in it's reaction times. When the temperature is supposed to be rising (as in morning warm up), it pumps heat into the car well past when it's needed. If I get toasted too much and turn the setting down, the RL will eventually start pumping cold air in from outside. It then runs cold air too much and I have to reverse the process. I have a 35 minute daily commute each way. This problem doesn't seem to show up during this short of a drive time. If I take the car for a longer ride -- say 1 hour or more -- it begins to display the symptoms I mentioned above.

Anyway, my main point is that you should still have temperature control by turning the system to auto and then turn only the A/C off. At least that's how my past two TL's worked.

bkw

When in auto and when you turn off the a/c manually, the "auto" light turns off.. dunno if that means it's still in auto mode or not, but a hunch tells me it isnt.

Regardless, the auto feature on the car is good 95% of the time. All other Honda's I've owned were always too damn cold or too damn hot. There was never a middle ground.

hondamore

My RL was outside in 5 degree Farenheit weather last night (while I was at the hockey game - go Oilers) and I left it set in auto mode set to 22 degrees celsius (71.6 F) as I drove home. I turned the heated seats on to take the chill out of the seats and monitored the heating system. Initially, the system seemed to be off, no fan activity. As the engine warmed up, the fan speed slowly increased in response to the heat available but still wasn't blasting hot air into the cabin. A few minutes into the drive home I suddenly realized that the system had done it's job nearly silently and I was sitting in a very comfortable cabin. I turned the heated seats down a notch and had a very pleasant drive home. The point that I am making is to trust the Auto setting and let it do it's job. No matter how hot you set the temperature, the car isn't going to heat up any quicker. It still has to wait until the engine generates enough heat to warm the heater's core and in fact my experience has been that Honda's tend to warm up quicker than any other car.

lflorack

The light indicates that it's in FULL auto mode. This includes the A/C unit being on. With the A/C unit (and the auto light) off, the RL will still keep the car temperature at your setting -- or do it's best trying anyway -- by using heat and outside air in the correct combination. Of course, it doesn't have the added benefit of moisture removal, but it still tries to keep the temperature at your setting.

So, you are correct. When the Auto light is out, you are not in full auto mode because the A/C unit is off.

lbfcpa

I really do find it hard to believe that the temperatuure control in the RL is as bad as it is and that this thread even exists.

I'm not talking about turning it way up to get heat and them backing it off. The whole idea of automatic temperature control is to set it and leave it alone. That's what I do each morning; set the temp at 65 degrees. After about 20 minutes, it is pumping enough hot air to drive me right out of the car. Turn it down a few degrees, and it feels like the AC is on. Sometimes if I don't turn it down, it will realize that it's pumping too much hot air and start blowing cold air all by itself.

I'm sorry, this is bullshit by any standard. This is the top of the line Acura and it does not even do the small things right.

lbfcpa

And one more thing on this topic...as you would expect, the dealer said that everything was just fine. When I picked the car up, some wise-ass service tech had written on the paperwork, "what are the customer's expectations?" Well, my expectation is that something as simple as automatic temperature control which has been a feature on cars for the last 30 years, work as designed in a $50,000 tecnologically advanced vehicle. Sorry if that's asking too much.

hondamore

lbfcpa, are you using the defrost setting?? The defrost setting does heat the air beyond the set temperature since it is designed to rapidly defrost the windows. If you leave the defrost on for a while, it can overheat the cabin (since you have chosen such a low setting of 65 degrees) and thus the system will then turn on the cooling to try to attain your desired low temperature. If you set your system at 68-70 degrees, you may find less of a problem - even when using the defrost mode. If your problem is occuring without the defrost mode, then there is a malfunction.

1HOT NSX

It is either you doing something different from the rest of us or the car has a malfunction. The design I believe is fine because practically all the rest of us have no trouble with it at all. When I first bought the car I found many things that did not work as I thought they should - or they were poorly designed - only to find out later that the problem was really only my own lack of understanding of how the systems worked.

lbfcpa

Several folks are having trouble with it based on the posts in this thread. As for not understanding how the systems work in the car, that is not the problem....that sounds like dealer-speak.

bmac

I have the same exact issue. The temperature will be initially set at 72°, on auto mode, but after a while it gets extremely warm in the cabin and we have to move the temperature down to 62 or 63°. Something is obviously wrong.

stingerbtry

Same here. I had it on 70 last night and it got really hot in the car. We ended up having to lower it to 65 (which did nothing at all) and roll down the windows to cool the car down. It gets annoying. I would love to set it and forget it but the system seems to do random things and even with the temperature outside being the same, on different days it will either blow really hot air or cold air making it either hotter or colder then what I actually set it to. I agree that there has to be a problem with it and the way it works.

lbfcpa

No, not using defrost setting. Have tried it in Auto Mode with/without air on and in Dual Mode and get the same result. Today on the way to work set it at 62 degrees and it overheated about 20 minutes into the ride...finally just shut it off.