I have a used TL with about 55K on it. My air conditioner feels mediocre. Is there anything I can do to improve its performance? Can I do it myself or should I go to a shop? I suck with cars, the most I ever did was change the cabin air filter and my girl gave me a hand.

The fans suck too but I doubt theres a fix for that.

 

Try replacing the air filter if you havent yet.

 

Already changed the cabin air filter and the engine air filter.

 

Go to the dealer or any shop and have them recharge the ac unit. I drove from Charlotte, NC to Charleston, SC today and the outside temp was at 100 degrees. I would have never known it. I have the same make and model as you and the AC works like a champ. I can hang meet in my armrest compartment. There is something up with your unit.

 

same here bro.

 

R134a is very sensitive to charge level. you might have a slow leak in the system or the automatic climate control system is not operating properly

 

Yeah i bought my car used 2 months ago, 30k on it and the a/c seems like it could be colder.

I was looking for do it yourself stuff on here, I'm pretty sure they sell the cans of refrigerant at local auto stores. I also think there is somekind of pressure gauge to see what is in the system.

I'll probably see if i can get this stuff tomorrow and let you know.

 

So I'm not crazy?

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I'm not kidding....

Close the rear seat A/C vents, and cooling in the front improves like 50%. I've had an '05 and an '07, and the same thing applies to both.

I don't think the Accord compressor and condensor in our cars is capable of cooling through all of the extra vents.

Just try it....you'll be amazed at the difference.

 

Make sure you use the recirc button

 

It shouldn't suck. Go drive an old Saab if you want to see a really crappy AC system.

I just got back from a trip out in >90F and humid. Pretty much can give myself a "freezy headache" from the cold blast. And, BG74, I had the rear vent open too, I checked.

Another thing is if the car has sat outside all day and you don't close the sun shade and use a shade in the windshield it will take much longer to cool the car since everything inside is much warmer.

So Crazyace718, go get it checked.

 

use your auto temp in full auto mode, and it will do that when needed.

Also, black interior? Makes the A/C work harder and seem worse.

And yes do your a/c may need a evac, vacuum the system and a fresh charge, it actually helps alot sometimes. I do mine every year because I have immediate access to a machine to do it myself.

 

I have the same problem. The first summer, it was ok, not great. The second summer, it sucks. I have black interior but use all the tricks. Shade in the windshield, tinted windows all the way around, crack the rear windows to let the heat out for the first minute or so then roll the windows up and use the recirc and it still sucks. Airflow is not the problem, the air coming out just isn't that cold. I can charge if for the price of freon so that might happen this weekend. I'll report back if I do.

 

dont have recirc on and blast on full a/c for a good 5-10 min. and crack the rear and tilt the sunroof.

after 5-10 min close everything up let it blast for a few more min and then hit the recirc button, always works

 

Ok, I gave in and did it after work today. I forget how many pounds the TL holds but my friend that does AC was surprised at how little it holds. Mine happened to be 35% low. We evacuated it and recharged to the full amount.

I can not believe the difference. Outside temp was 95 degrees and the air coming out of the vents was 38 degrees. It cools off much, much faster. After starting the engine, the air starts getting cool within a second or two whereas it used to take a minute. The other thing I noticed is the compressor has always made a loud clunk when it engaged but not any more.

This is much, much better than it ever cooled when new which tells me it was under charged from the factory.

Usually if an AC system is at it's capacity, the air coming out of the vents will get colder when you have the fan on a lower setting but mine remained constant at 38 degrees from low to high so I'm confident it will stay this way when it hits 105 during the summer.

Tomorrow, I'm going to leave it in the sun without the visor and see how much of a difference it makes.

 

Thanks for this post! I just bought my car and the AC is liked you described. I'm going to get it recharged and see if it makes as big of difference for me.

 

It's one of those things that once you do it you want to kick yourself for not doing it sooner. Let us know how yours turns out.

 

I've always heard NOT to use the recirculate button for lengthy periods of time once you get moving because you just run stale air around over and over again. I find it somewhat interesting, at least when I remember to look, to see when the "Auto" mode for the TL's climate control turns on recirculation and when it doesn't. Most of the time I find it's not using that mode.

 

It never really cool down to "cold" even you set it to the lowest temp when outside is 90+ in local driving. My car usually take 15 to 20 minutes to cool down the temp to the acceptable level in highway but usually it meant the end of the trips .

I brought the car to the dealers place three time and complained about it since first summer which was 3 months old, but the dealer's technician said it was normal and couldn't find the problem.

I really missed my last car's "COLD" feeling.

 

Read my posts above. Have it evacuated and recharged by an independant shop and you won't believe the difference. Mine had to have been undercharged from the factory because it never cooled very well. It didn't get worse, just never cooled very well. Now it's ice cold on a 100 degree day and only takes a couple minutes to get that way.