hondamore

This may be an issue where "rebooting" the system may provide relief - ie disconnect the battery and reset all memories. Just a guess, but the HVAC system's may be trying to anticipate your heating and cooling needs based on the temperature settings you have selected in the past and is now totally confused by the high and low settings. This may be a case where the system is too smart for its own good.
I should relate, however, that my own HVAC system has worked flawlessly, and in fact, the other day when I was driving around on a sunny day, I noticed that when the sun came out, the system actually lowered the temperature of the air blowing through the vents in response to the sunshine while at the same time blowing warmer air at foot level to maintain the desired temperature. That is, it sensed that my upper body was being warmed by the sunshine and automatically cooled the air coming out of the vents and at the same time realized that my feet were not being warmed by the sunshine and maintained the warming level that had been selected. I only noticed this effect because I have been cognizant of the HVAC workings because of this thread. The system is high tech and complicated and in some of your cases may be "thinking too hard" and causing your overheating problem.

needspeed

There IS something wrong and my dealer has acknowledged many complaints from many owners. I am bringing in my car next week to get it looked at. If the dealer can not determine the problem, I will take it up a level and will not stop until ACURA resolves this issue which does exist and is not caused by operator error.

If I set it to 68 degrees and leave it there untouched the cabin should not be at over 80 twenty minutes later and then suddenly blow ice cold air into my face for no reason. The system is f***d up and needs to be fixed.

I am happy for those of you who have not had this problem but please do not doubt those who have it or consider us as idiots. Some of the responses above are less then helpful and are rather condescending.

Thanks to those who actually care and understand that on a car of this quality there are no excuses for such a basic function to perform this poorly......Steve

getakey

Steve - Agree.
There is something faulty with the system for at least seom of us. Mine does not seem as severe as yours, but it is annoying. In my situation, I have to change the temp depending on time of the day. In the morning commute, I generally set it to 69/70 otherwise I get the overheat problem. In the evening commute, 75 otherwise I get cold air flowing. At lunch, somewhere in between. My commute is about an hour each way. Fortunately, I can leave it at one of these settings during the entire commute.

My thinking is that it is taking too much account of the outside temp. Could also be a sensor problem for some of us. I don't think I could get the Dealer to even look at this, but my problem does not seem to be as bad as yours. Although, I live in a much more moderate climate than you (SF, CA), so if my theory of outside temp is right being in Chicago in the winter may make the problem worse.

needspeed

I think it does have something to do with extreme outside temps since it worked better in the summer and fall. But now that it's really cold out it just does not work. My wifes Ford Focus with manual control works a million times better. So I will hope that the dealer will find something that can be fixed.....Steve

getakey

One other thing to try - there is a somewhat hidden option to adjust the vent air temp. If you are in Auto, go the the A/C screen and use the control know to select "Mode". I believe it is a down movement. It will then give you the option to select Driver or Passenger side air temp. You can then adjust the temp from a "cool" setting to a "warm" setting. Cool and Warm are my terms - the screen shows color settings from blue to red. I think there are 5 settings (cool to warm). I tried adjusting, but it did not seem to affect the problem I previously described. However, I wonder for those that are getting really roasted whether that setting somehow got set to warm.

bluemule

Mine's doing that too, and I'm also having the random blowing warm air/cold air. It'll get pretty warm, then the a/c will send cold air out of the center vents.

I've noticed that the temperature near the floor (putting my hand behind the seat) is much warmer than the rest of the car. There's a lot of warm air under the seats. I keep items on the back seat floor and wonder whether this is causing some of this. Anybody else having these problems keep items on the floor there?

I generally keep the temperature set between 68 and 72, and have noticed on occasion that the temperature seems to be more erratic when the car changes direction. On auto the system is supposed to adjust each side of the cabin according to GPS and sun, etc.

Venting the moonroof clears out the cabin.

Sure glad to see this thread. I thought I was having hot flashes...or had met some new woman who subconciously was causing my hormones to peg. Heh. I'm much too young to be going through the change of life!

needspeed

I brought my RL in to have the climate control looked at and even though I described the problem, they did not take the time to really check it out. They did the normal BS checks and then the service advisor calls and says it is operating correctly ("the system has a long recovery time"). I wanted to B***ch Slap him for thinking I am a common idiot and will accept this defect as normal functionality.

I called the dealership GM and explained to him that his service guy treated me like a fool and I expected them to really look into the problem and if necessary get a regional rep out to discuss. We will see what happens tomorrow. In the mean time, they gave me a brand new TL where ironically enough the climate control works perfectly.

For some reason I would not feel this bad if my car were a BMW or MB since these cars speak for themself, but this is an Acura they have to try harder if they expect to play the luxury game.

I just can't believe that service guys think We/I are that gullible that they can pawn off an issue as grossly suboptimal as this.

catsailr

I have never had any problem with the auto temp control on my RL or Honda Pilot. Both work flawlessly, but I would be just as happy with a manual control system. One problem is that we humans are not always comfortable at the same temperature. We might feel comfortable one day at 68 and the next at 72. I keep my Honda set at 70 all the time. When I'm driving the RL I usually keep the driver side on 68 and my wife keeps hers on 72.

needspeed

I really think it has something to do with cold weather. It really got bad in my car when the temp got below 30 and stayed there for days on end going down into the single digits. So for those in more moderate climates you may not experience the issue. I am telling you that I set mine to 67 and leave it there and it goes over 80 in the cabin and stays there. I have to set it down below 64 before the cabin cools off and then it gets cold so I set it back to 67 and the cycle begins anew.......Steve

lbfcpa

Steve...my experience is very similar to yours. It has gotten much worse as the outside temperatures have dropped. I originally got the same treatment when bringing the car in for service and have complained to the service manager and GM of the dealership. Will be meeting with Acura factory rep shortly and am not going to let this go until it is fixed. My 1999 Honda CRV with manual temperature control works better than this. For those who do not experience this problem, be thankful.

needspeed

The Service Manager told me after service that all checks out and the system is functioning normally. After much debate I finally got him to admit that the design is flawed. And he alse admitted that he has had told me he has had many complaints but Acura engineering refuses to acknowledge this issue.

To tell a customer that the temperature settings don't really mean anything pisses me off. He suggests as does Acura that you set it to 64-65 and see if that works. I don’t expect the setting to be spot on but it should work within a couple of degrees.

Currently when it is really cold out all I have is an on/off switch. If I set it to 67 it gets up and over 80. I have to move it down to 64 before it will cool off and then it gets cold and stays cold. Acura unfortunately has tried to design a overly slick solution but for me it does not work. They need to acknowledge this and design a remedy.

I will not let this condition go either and will make the biggest stink I can until Acura acknowledges the problem. I am waiting until the regional rep gets back next week. I expect my service manager to set up a meeting with him/her.....Steve

hondamore

As mentioned earlier, it may be time to try rebooting the system by having your dealer disconnect the battery for a few minutes. I'd also get Acura customer service involved to see if they have a solution.
I don't think that there is a fundamental flaw in the system since the system in my RL and many others is still working flawlessly. There may be a glitch in the software that causes your problem when a certain pattern of temperature settings is used which confuses the systems memory. Rebooting may reset the program such that a "set it and forget it" temperature setting is effective and functional. Good luck.

needspeed

Out of curiosity, what is the difference between a "glitch" and a "fundamental flaw". Unless the system is designed by Microsoft, it should not need a CTL+ALT+DEL to make it work again.

I design systems and systems software so if this system is not self healing within given design parameters, then yes it is considered a fundamental design flaw, if after scrutiny, all components of the system checkout as normal.

A "properly" designed system (hardware and software) will not be harmed by users interacting with it in a normal way (i.e. adjusting the temp up and down). Poorly designed systems will ultimately degrade and or fail in performance via entropy, thus your suggestion of a reboot to get it back to "Normal" may help, but does not dismiss the root cause problem......Steve

hondamore

What I was trying to say was that if the design of the heating system was flawed, the majority of RL owners (myself included) would not be enjoying trouble-free performance from their systems. There does appear to be a glitch (software bug), however,that causes problems in a few cases. I'm not trying to absolve Acura of blame with your problem, but in trying to determine the cause, thought that it might help to reboot the system and then try and see if the problem returns and if so what type of commands were used prior to the return of the problem. I am sincerely only trying to help you figure out the "root cause" so that you don't have to roast in your RL and thought that the reboot was a good place to start.
I recently helped my brother's company with an electronics engineering project and if there is one thing that I took out of the experience, it is that it is impossible to anticipate 100% of the reactions that the software will have to user input. It could very well be that if the temperature is adjusted upward while in defrost mode on a Tuesday in November when the outside temperature is above 48 degrees and this is done immediately after the system was removed from the manual mode, that the software glitches and the memory changes the set temperature readings when not in defrost mode to be 20 degrees above the set temperature. It could be that listening to a certain channel on the XM radio emits a frequency that disrupts the function of a power module related to the temperature sensor. This is the reason that I also suggested calling Acura Customer Service, since the more information they get, the more likely they are to fix your problem. Dealers may or may not pass on this information.

Gitch

I had a ride in a family member's Honda Pilot last week. The climate control did the same as the RL -- periodically switched to blowing cold air. It seems this is simply a design flaw in Honda's climate control.

AcuraJim

I have yet to see to "cabin overheating" problem in the 05 RL, but do have the problem with the X3. It is periodical, but we normaly keep the auto climate control on and sometimes it is like an "oven" in the car especially down around the "feet" area