Hi everyone, I'm a long time viewer of the forum, just not a big poster.

I own a 04 TL non-navi. The other day after my lunch break I noticed my air coming from my vents wasn't as cold as it should be. The airflow in the vents (the blower) is strong. I thought, "Perfect, I have a leak somewhere and my refrigerant is low." I went and got that checked using a tool and it's actually charged well. This was 2 days ago.
I've noticed that if I get on the interstate, out of city traffic, the air becomes cold. I can hear the compressor coming on when the system is on, no matter the speed of the car, even at a stop light or sitting in my driveway. I can see the compressor engage and spin. The radiator fan comes on as well when the AC is on.

Tonight when I got home, for the first time ever since I've owned the car, the radiator fan came on by itself after I went inside my house. The fan started after the car was off and sitting in the driveway for a few minutes. I opened the hood and it just felt that the engine was hotter than normal.
My temp gauge on my dash isn't getting above half-way. I have coolant in my overflow tank. (haven't checked radiator yet).

Does the TL have some kind of safety so the AC system won't come on when the engine is excessively hot? I can't understand why the air is cold, and the system will operate properly when I'm going fast - other than the fact more air is entering the engine area and cooling it. I've thought about replacing the thermostat, but not sure if it's worth my time and wanted to get some opinions.

Thanks in advance.

 

Since the compressor spins faster when the engine does, its normal to get more cooling at speed.
You also get more air flow through the radiators, which also helps.

If you have the system on outside air, the air going into the system will be much hotter in slow traffic, as the engine heats things up somewhat.


I would check that your radiators are clean, stuff can build up between the ac condensor and engine rad, or a plastic bag can get sucked in without you knowing about it, along withthe usual bug and leaf buildup.

Brett

 

what were the pressure readings you got? that tells all
Check the radiator level is full with the engine COLD
Is the rubber hose inside the res/overflow bottle cap attched to the inside of the cap?
It has to go from the cap into the fluid or the whole system stops!

The passenger side fan is tied to the ac ON and must come on with it- it pulls cooler air thru the ac's radiator so it will work at low speeds

the Driver side fan is temp sensor controlled, and will come on for a `few minutes` after shutdown on occassion .
If its on 10-15 minutes- you have a problem
Either a leak in the cooling system- and air in the system-
or a bad sensor-
those are cheap and easy to replace- had to believe on the TL eh!

 

Definately seems like one or both of your fans aren't coming on. When you turn the AC on, one of the fans will come on even if the engine is cold. This is to pull air through the condensor otherwise the AC won't work when the car is sitting still.

The temperature guage is buffered in the middle. It takes a pretty good temperature swing to get it to move off of normal.

First step would be to see if the fan comes on when the AC is on. If it doesn't, let the engine warm up and make sure at least one fan comes on once the engine is hot. This may take a while after the temp guage hits normal.