TLC03

In the last 2 years since I bought my 2003 Acura TL used, I've had problems with the temperature settings and it still isn't solved yet. This is somewhat of a follow up to what I wrote last year.. but I'm trying to explain it in a different way this time.

In short, the problem is that the inside of the car gets way too hot and it never auto adjusts. I realize that a cold car will pump out very hot air until the cabin stabilizes, but the difference here is that even 1 hour later the temperature measured at the vent is still about 120 to 130 degrees! Since it keeps pumping this air, the car gets up to about 90 or 100 degrees inside where people sit, (not near the vents).. I have to turn the HVAC unit off and give it a break to cool it down. This is on a setting of 70 degrees.. If I turn it down to 65 it's still too hot and over 100 at the vents.

The lowest number I can set it to is 61 and this is better but still too warm. That would be almost acceptable, but it causes me other problems like defrost problems, fogging windows and to much to get into here. At 61 the vent temps stay about 90.. If I turn it down one more degree to 60 suddenly the temperature at the vent drops all the way down to 48 degrees as the AC kicks into full force.. This isn't acceptable because I get cold within about 2 minutes. So I have to drive around turning it ON, OFF, ON, OFF etc.

I realize most people will say, "It's a sensor", but I already suspect that. My problem is that I have no idea which sensor, or even where it's located, or what to do for that matter. One big handicap is that if the temperature outside goes above 55 or 60 the problem doesn't show up.. Actually it still has problems, but they are no longer obvious ones like hot air.

The acura dealership was wasn't that helpful. They said they fixed the problem but in reality I found out they never read what I wrote.. It was under warranty for 2 more weeks and their delays caused me to go beyond my warranty. Planned? LOL..

Actually, I am not even 100% sure it's even a sensor. But whatever it is, I wish someone with more understanding could help guess what the problem might be. I know Acurazine sometimes has Howto's with pictures, but I suppose there isn't one for this on here. So I am wondering, what things could cause a problem like this? Is it something I can fix myself? Also is there a way to diagnose an HVAC system with a problem like this in hot weather? Don't they have special testing procedures that can detect these problems any weather?

Here's how I reproduce the problem:
The car doesn't have NAVI and the controls are just an LCD readout and some buttons.

Providing it's roughly 55 or below outside, I start the car and let it warm up with the HVAC off for 7 minutes.
Next Press the Auto button and set the temperature to 70. I also push the recirculate button and turn up the fan speed manually. Turning up the fan speed helps me feel the air more, but I don't have to do that.. It would be hot in just FULL AUTO with no adjustments.
I measure the temperature at the vent and get about 120F.. Even 30 minutes later, it's still 120!

If I press the AC button it will go into AC OFF mode manually and the temperature will cool down some at the vents to about 110.. If I turn the AC back ON, it will get even hotter and jump up to 130 on thermometer. This is probably why I have troubles with defrost as well.

I really wish I could get to the bottom of this. Any help, or ideas to test this or find the problem would be very appreciated. I may have to learn to live with this, but I'd hate to think that no one can solve it. Hopefully I can solve it without buying a new car, LOL. Please help!

Luke7

If you had you car at the Acura garage while under warranty and it did not get fixed correctly, then they are obligated to fix it even if the warranty ran out. Just have documentation, talk to the service MANAGER=not the write up person and ask for them to do what you had asked them to do while it was under warranty. If he does not agree-talk with the dealership manager/then acrua services.