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So we had some real high temps past few weeks and noticed a/c is not cold enough even on lowest setting. So i bought A/C pro refill and tried to refill in the low line like it says on the can but it wont attach. Am i missing something? I tried to attach on my other car and it works must be different attachment on Acura? Have anyone done a refill or should i just tell my dealer to do on my next service in next few week.
1) I would never do a "refill" on any A/C system I was not technically familiar with, had complete specifications for and which I did not have a gauge set connected to so I could get proper readings.
2) Note that not all cars use the 134a that the common "fill up" kits you buy at Walmart or AutoZone sell. For the past several years auto makers have been switching over to R1234yf. Note that it is common when we switch refrigerants we change the design of the fittings to prevent people from accidentally filling a system with the wrong gas, something that can in some cases cause damage and even dangerous conditions like excessive pressures and such.
If your AC is not cooling properly on a 2019 Acura the best solution is to see your dealer. The car is likely still under warranty. There are many things that can cause an AC not to cool properly besides being low on refrigerant. Without the proper manifold gauge set, specifications and training no repair attempt should be made on the vehicle.
If you need to refill freon on a 2-3 year old car, it means you have a leak in the system. If car is under warranty, attempting to refilll is a bar idea.
From my experience, and what some others have posted (but not all) the AC on the RDX is not THAT cold, but of course that also depends on what you have to compare it to. We have a 2003 Accord and until a few months ago a 2006 LR3, and both of this blew much colder. We took it to the dealer once to have the AC checked, but of course it was "within specs" so what are you gonna do? Maybe not live in Vegas, which we do now, where another 'heat dome' is settling on our little desert town for the next week, with a record 115 coming up.
First, refrigerant is not a consumable. If it's low it indicates a leak in the system somewhere.
The only way to know for sure if it's low is with a proper set of gauges. There are many reasons for a system to not cool properly beside low refrigerant.
There are dangerous pressures in the A/C system. You can do major (i.e. expensive) damage to the system if you don't know what you're doing. You can also do major damage to yourself. Leave A/C service to someone who has the proper equipment and knows how to use it.
A/C professionals call those DIY refill cans 'Death Kits' because they can kill an A/C system (and maybe you too).
FWIW, the A/C in ours seems to work fine, or perhaps I should say, as expected. Sure, it takes a while to start cooling the car but if it's sat in the sun for a while there's a lot of heat accumulated so it takes a while to remove it. We keep it garaged when home and it will usually start cooling before we reach the end of the driveway even tho it's over 100F in the garage. Then again, we live in AZ where 110+ days are common (supposed to be over 110 all this week) so perhaps we have a different perspective on it. Covered or shady parking spots in parking lots are much coveted.
So we had some real high temps past few weeks and noticed a/c is not cold enough even on lowest setting. So i bought A/C pro refill and tried to refill in the low line like it says on the can but it wont attach. Am i missing something? I tried to attach on my other car and it works must be different attachment on Acura? Have anyone done a refill or should i just tell my dealer to do on my next service in next few week.
The RDX DOES NOT USE R-134a it uses R-1234yf and it has a different connector. That’s why A/C Pro won’t work. I just went through this with my RDX. There is a sticker on the underside of the hood that identifies this. The R-1234yf is way more expensive and it comes in a smaller can.
Yeah i better take it to dealer and have them take a look while its in service. Funny my much older 2011 Toyota A/C is so cold that i have to turn it down sometimes. Lets hope they can find the issue and fix it!! Thanks for all the input.
I’ve always attributed the poor AC to the big moon roof and overall space that it need to cool, but it is a little weak. Of a recharge could fix it, I’d be pleased but given how it came from the factory I’m less than hopeful.
One thing you should check is to make sure the 2nd row vents are fully open. Otherwise, the cabin will not cool sufficiently.
In most cases, the car is delivered with them closed. I got my car in the Winter and I didn't notice it until I needed AC. I reached back and felt nothing coming out of the upper vents. After I opened them, the whole cabin cooled fine.
Also make sure that the 2nd row vents are set to the maximum cool position. (I.e. towards the blue position)
This is the first car I have seen that will output heated air from these vents, even when the main AC is set to maximum cooling.
I didn't know that and I've never noticed heat coming out of them, only the lower vents, which you can't close as far as I know. But then, I don't sit back there and I never messed with the controls that much. I'll have to check that. Thanks.
In the front, the only way I know of to get heat out of the upper vents on the dash is to manually redirect the flow using the HVAC buttons. I wonder if that has any effect on the 2nd row.
I have the Platinum Elite model (Canadian). I'm not sure what the equivalent would be in the US, but this model has every available option.
According to the owners manual , the "Rear Temperature Control Dial" is not available on all models, so yours may not work the same as mine. As I said earlier, all the previous rear seat temperature controls, simply adjusted the amount of air flow, not temperature.
I'm just guessing that the base models will have the directional adjustments on the rear vents, but will be missing the temperature control.
The owners manual seems to imply that the middle setting of this adjustment will result in air that is the same temperature as the front seat vents, but the temperature can be made higher or lower than the front seat vents.
I also thought that my RDX had poor cooling the first couple of summer months that I owned it. After discovering this rear seat control, I have been completely happy with the cooling.
In the front, the only way I know of to get heat out of the upper vents on the dash is to manually redirect the flow using the HVAC buttons. I wonder if that has any effect on the 2nd row.??
In any car that has "automatic" AC, warm air will always be directed to the floor vents. After being sent to the floor, convection will cause it to rise towards the ceiling, effectively heating the whole vehicle. If warm air was sent to the "face" vents, it would rise upwards from that point resulting in no heat reaching your lower body.
The opposite happens when cool air is being requested. The cool air will be output from the face vents, were your body will get the most comfort from it, and then the cool air will fall towards the floor. The result is once again overall vehicle comfort.
The rear seat air vents that are located under the driver's and front passenger's seat, will only have airflow when the air is being directed to the floor vents in the front seat. So if the AC is left in "auto" mode, the under-seat vents will only blow warm air at the rear passengers feet.
The airflow from rear seat center vents (located behind the center storage compartment) should not have any dependence on the airflow destination of the front seats.
In any car that has "automatic" AC, warm air will always be directed to the floor vents. After being sent to the floor, convection will cause it to rise towards the ceiling, effectively heating the whole vehicle. If warm air was sent to the "face" vents, it would rise upwards from that point resulting in no heat reaching your lower body.
The opposite happens when cool air is being requested. The cool air will be output from the face vents, were your body will get the most comfort from it, and then the cool air will fall towards the floor. The result is once again overall vehicle comfort.
The rear seat air vents that are located under the driver's and front passenger's seat, will only have airflow when the air is being directed to the floor vents in the front seat. So if the AC is left in "auto" mode, the under-seat vents will only blow warm air at the rear passengers feet.
The airflow from rear seat center vents (located behind the center storage compartment) should not have any dependence on the airflow destination of the front seats.
This is news to me. But, I don't have an Acura HVAC manual in front of me to compare to. I worked on automotive (and truck) AC systems for over thirty years. At the largest car maker in the world (at the time) I taught the advanced HVAC class, the one that covered detailed diagnosis of all the automatic AC systems on various models that company produced. And yes, I am ASE certified in HVAC (and seventeen other specialties). On the AC systems I am familiar with there are some common operations. One of those is that on most systems the heat and AC run at the same time unless the AC is turned off by the driver on his control panel or by very low outside air tempatures. The vehicle controls the cabin temperature by taking readings from a "sniffer" that samples the air from the interior and then uses that data to adjust a "blend" door that mixes heated and cooled air. Basically the heat is running and the AC is running "wide open". By controlling the mix of the two (which is checked by another temp sensor in the air duct) the vehicle can attempt to maintain the desired temperature in the cabin. When on "max" cooling the door moves to block any air from the heater core. On max heating the blend door moves as to block any air from the evaporator from coming into the heater ducts. (Cooled air will be allowed to go to the defroster ducts but it will pass over the heater core to warm it up. The cold evaporator core "dries" the air by condensing the moisture out of it and then the heater raises the temp back up to make this dry, warm air clear the condensation off your windows. When its below a certain temp threshold, outside (as read by the "ambient temperature sensor" ...that's the same one that gives the outside temp displayed on the dash.....the AC compressor is shut down as the very cold air as its already colder than the evaporator core.
This blend door can cause poor AC performance if its not being positioned properly and is allowing too much heated air into the cabin. The HVAC control unit gets a reading from a position sensor (a potentiometer on the blend door) to determine if the blend door is in the correct position based on the programing in the controller. Computers are not "smart". They believe the data they are fed and react to it. A poor electrical connection, a defective sensor, etc. can fool the system and cause doors to not actually be in the proper position to deliver what the driver wants. This is why we don't just start guessing what is wrong wit a modern system. There are many sensors and a lot of data being sent back and forth and a lot of parts that can cause problems. With an OEM scan tool the tech can do into the HVAC data list and observe what is going on. They can also command doors to move and then observe the feed back from the sensors to verify the commands are actually working, the motors are moving and the doors go to the ;position commanded.
This is news to me. But, I don't have an Acura HVAC manual in front of me to compare to. I worked on automotive (and truck) AC systems for over thirty years......
Your statement about the AC running al the time, seems to explain how the RDX can output heated or cooled air to the backseat, despite what temperature is selected by the driver. Although it does seem that running the compressor all the time would really be bad for fuel economy. Perhaps variable displacement compressors help to address that problem.
I'm sure I haven't worked on as many systems as you have, and I certainly haven't taught anyone at all (about automobile HVAC systems), but still, my understanding of these systems, agrees with your explanation of how these systems operate.
Since you and I seem to share the same understanding of how these systems work, I am confused as to why you would say "This is news to me".
Are you saying that you were not aware that the system changes between floor vents and face vents depending on if the cabin is being cooled or heated? Or are you just trying to tell me I'm wrong in a polite way?
Although I don't design AC systems, a lifetime of using them, has shown me that the airflow destination does change depending on whether the HVAC system is heating or cooling. The system does not randomly select the output vents, or does the system just use the last setting that was made (at least not when in the "auto" mode). If we consider the physics that describe how warm air rises and cool air falls, it only makes sense that the system would work this way in order to maintain passenger comfort from head to toe. Performing this "switchover" is very easy since the computer is already aware of the airflow temperature, and it already has control of the dampers/doors.
I'm a little dense at times, so if you feel that I was wrong, let me know. Otherwise, your welcome for the news.
Sorry, it was I who made the mistake! When I read about the airflow it sounded like one could have hot air blowing on the floor at the same time cooled air was coming out the dash vents. Sorry!
The automatic HVAC system is programed to direct air to different locations based on "need". So, if one wanted to warm up the car the hot air would go to the floor. No one likes warm, dry, air blowing in their face! The same for cooling, its normally directed to the dash vents so we feel the cool air on our face and feel more comfortable. (Some vehicles actually have infrared sensors in the dash that "look" at the faces of the driver and passengers and will fine tune the amount of cooling based on those readings. Also it is common to have a "sun load sensor" in the dash as it can detect additional head load, and the need for more cooling, based on how hot the dash is. After all, a hot dash will radiate heat out to the faces of the occupants and make them feel hotter. All the inputs are processed and the data used in determining how much to cool the air. Modern automatic systems monitor a lot of factors to get the data needed to control the system and reach the desired cabin temperatures. Of course many cars now have "dual zone" systems where the passenger has the option of having a different temperature on their side than the driver. These systems add a second blend door. In sync mode both blend doors move the same. in the individual mode the blend doors can be in different positions at the same time with the corresponding differences in cabin temps from one side to the other.
As for fuel economy and the compressor: There are many variations on how compressors operate and the amount of power needed to drive them. Even within a given manufacturer you can find different systems on different models. There are many variations. Some vehicles use "TXV" (Thermo Expansion Valves) systems where the compressor runs "most" of the time. It will turn off at times when the system is very cool. We do not want the evaporator core to get too cold (near the freezing point) or the moisture in the air will freeze in the evaporator and the ice will block air flow. On some systems we use variable displacement compressors. These monitor the pressure (which is directly related to the temperature) of the low side (suction side) of the system and keep the flow to such a rate as to keep the evaporator at optimum temperature. There are several types of compressors in use and there are some variations
depending on model.
Its all fun stuff with a lot of technology working to keep it running properly.
Finally, even on an automatic system the driver still has some control over the system and can over ride the commands of the HVAC controller. You can manually change the air flow to "bi-level" for example. You can also over ride the fan speed, which duct will be used and more.
Sorry, it was I who made the mistake! When I read about the airflow it sounded like one could have hot air blowing on the floor at the same time cooled air was coming out the dash vents. Sorry!
No problem. I enjoyed reading about the complexity of the modern systems. At one point I investigated the Toyota Neural HVAC system. As the name suggests, the system does make use of many sensors and makes many decisions to make the driver more comfortable. It was just impressive looking at the "logic tree" and seeing how all the sensors, motors, and blending doors were used to make decisions on the system. For example, the sun sensor can increase cooling when the sunlight intensity changes. This results in a "feed-forward" effect which helps cool the interior before it even begins to heat up enough to flip the thermostat on. My last 2nd gen RDX even increased the blower speed when the car faced south. I don't know if the 3rd gen models do this, but I found no benefit to that feature at all.
I experimented with the RDX a little today, and this is what I observed.
The RDX has vents under the front seats which direct air at the rear passengers feet. These under-seat vents seem to be just an extension of the floor ducts at the drivers feet. These vents are like almost every car that I have seen in my lifetime.
What is different about the RDX is the air vents located at the rear of the center console. I have seen vents located in this location in other cars, and they seem to be just an extension of the "face" vents which are routed to the rear seat under the console. Usually these rear seat vents only have adjustments for direction and flow rate.
The RDX (at least some models according to the owners manual) have a rotary dial which moves from red at one end to blue at the other end. If the driver selects cool air, the rear seat passengers can actually dial up heated air in the back seat. The opposite is also true if the driver wants heat and the rear seat passenger wants cooling. It behaves like a 3rd zone, but without any additional electronics or sensors. My best guess is that both a heat duct and a cool duct run under the center console to the back seat vents. At this point the rotary selector directly control a blending door located behind the vents.
I did notice that the air speed coming from the rear vents is proportional to the fan speed of the main system. I also noticed that the air speed is much greater when the "face" vents are selected by the driver, and air speed is reduced when the driver selects the floor vents.
Getting back to the original topic about poor AC performance, this information shows that even when the OP selects maximum cooling, hot air can still be blowing into the back seat. The result is very poor cooling of the cabin.
The owners manual says that this rear seat seat temperature dial is only available on some models. It would be great if anyone can explain what models are equipped with this control. It would also be nice to see what the rear controls look like on a model which does not have this control.
"It would be great if anyone can explain what models are equipped with this control. It would also be nice to see what the rear controls look like on a model which does not have this control."
Well, I have a 2019 ASpec and there is no dial there. I was surprised that there wasn't as any car I have owned that has had rear seat vents has had a temp dial there, one even having a separate fan speed dial.. And I am more surprised that Acura decided some cars would get this and some would not. Is it just an 'Advanced' thing to get it, or another Canada thing.
"It would be great if anyone can explain what models are equipped with this control. It would also be nice to see what the rear controls look like on a model which does not have this control."
Well, I have a 2019 ASpec and there is no dial there. I was surprised that there wasn't as any car I have owned that has had rear seat vents has had a temp dial there, one even having a separate fan speed dial.. And I am more surprised that Acura decided some cars would get this and some would not. Is it just an 'Advanced' thing to get it, or another Canada thing.
We have the 2020 Advance model and it doesn't have that dial either.
And I am more surprised that Acura decided some cars would get this and some would not. Is it just an 'Advanced' thing to get it, or another Canada thing.
It could be a Canadian only thing.
Canada has 5 models of RDX. The RDX, Tech, A-Spec, Elite, and Platinum Elite. According to LINK, only the Platinum Elite has "Second-row temperature control".
The US has only 4 models of the RDX. The Standard, Technology, A-SPec, and Advance Package. I'm not sure how the 5 Canadian models relate to the 4 US models. I could not find any mention of the "Second-row temperature control at the Acura US web site.
Hopefully a few of our members will let us know if they have the control, and what model of RDX they own.
Wow, it just shocks me the things the Canadiens got on theirs vs. US models. I don't know if this kind of standard amongst the car manufacturers, that Canadien versions differ in such somewhat notable ways. Why would they incur such design and build costs for that market? I don't what the total unit sales of manufactures is of those cars sold in Canada vs. the US...I'm assuming the US is considerably higher....oops, just looked... in 2019 US had 17 million, Canada had about 2 million units sold. So, even more so, why would Acura put things on Canadien cars not available in the US?...like, this A/C-Heat dial, the retracting side mirrors..and I know there were others.
Interesting. I don't have the two seat buttons either (2019 A-Spec)....assume they are rear heated seats, which I think I remember was an Advance model feature. Over time, the more I think about my purchase the more I wish I had gone with the Advance.
My 2019 Owners Guide (not Owners Manual) shows that dial but there is no asterisk or reference to Canadian models only or if equipped. The implication is it's standard on all trims. Of course, my Advance is the same as the photo above. You open or close the vents by sliding the louvers left or right.
One more thing you should consider if your AC isn't cutting it is to charge the cabin air filter. It's easy to do. In my first gen Pilot it was a pain in the @$$. I had to remove the whole glove compartment, door and cut a plastic frame with a hacksaw. Well, just the first time. The plastic piece was just a needless artifact of the molding and assembly process for the dashboard.
07-06-2021, 10:43 PM
A/C Refill
