My A/C is acting weird. The problem is that it only blows air at the extreme temperatures. In other words, if it is anything less than 85 deg., the damn thing may as well be on 65 deg. It's ****ing me off, I'm either freezing my *** off or hot as hell. I actually had it blowing cool air and had the windows open last night to keep it at a medium temperature. I developed so much condensation on the vents that it ran into my stereo and screwed it up for a while also.

Anyways, here are my thoughts...I know that there is some sort of diverter valve or something to blow the cool air over the heater coil. It should be proportional to how I set the A/C, but I think it is either all the way closed (no heat) at anything less than 85 deg at which point it is wide open.

When I bought the car, I just *knew* that the auto A/C controls were gonna screw up at some point and now I am out of warranty. Great.

Anyone have this problem? Solutions? Suggestions?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

i never heard of that before..

 

there are many sensors.. There is one (ambient) in the grill, near the bottom right side I think), something may have struck it. There is an incabin sensor near the key on the dash.. and their is a incoming air sensor inside the airbox, near where the microair filters go. I would take a look at the one near the grill.

past that, the diagnostic on that system is a monster. Even with the FSM, it would make your head swim and take some specialized tools.

It may be something simple, hard to know.. It might be worth $60 at the dealer just to have them use their special stuff. If they try to gouge you, get your parts from DaveB.

However, sometimes its something simple... My AC had been overcharged at that factory.. 15 min fix. I told them I wouldnt ask for the money on the recaptured refrigerant

 

TimW,

Thanks for your help...I'll look for a loose wire on one of the sensors you mentioned or something simple before I take it to the dealership.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

Bumping this to see if anyone else has had this problem? The air conditioner is working fine, it just seems that no matter what temperature I set the climate control on, the air blowing out is the same temp (set at 75 is still as cold as 65), it just slows the fan speed down if its on auto. Even 83 feels as cold as 65.

When it is turned to 84 it warms up somewhat and then 85 is completely hot. It's really a pain in the winter because once the cabin has warmed up, I can only keep HOT, otherwise I will freeze to death.

 

I had this problem on my 98 I30. I don't know if the systems are similar. The problem was a broken wire on the control unit, right where it enters the harness.

Might be worth a shot

 

since you are a donating member do a searc of my posts, a couple of monts ago i posted how to do the diagnostic for the climate controll, that should identify any problems w/ sensors, or actuators

 

I got the code 24 which is the intake sensor (evap. sensor). Where is this sensor located and how can I check it more closely? I don't have the FSM.

 

Bump.. Want to further check the sensor out. Need help though

 

i have the same problem on my 01

 

The sensor is located on the condensor/evaporator. Which is next to the radiator, it is near alternator.

 

The evaporator is above the front passenger foot well. There is a large black plastic housing that includes the fan, filter (if you have it), evaporator, heater core and various doors and control motors. You can't see the evaporator, although if you remove the access hatch to change the a/c filter you can see part of it.

The evaporator sensor is a small (about 1/4" x 1") plastic gizmo with two wires located in the airstream just after the evaporator. I believe you can access it just by looking up above the footwell just to the right of the center console; you shouldn't have to remove dash panels.

If you have access to a DVM, you can check the resistance of the sensor after you disconnect it from the control unit. I only have the FSM for the 2k2/3 model but very likely it is the same for the 2k0. Resistance should be 2.65 kOhm at 68 F, 2.19 @ 77, 1.81 @ 86, rising to 9.92 @ 14 and 12.7 @ 5. If it varies considerably from these values or if the resistance does not change with temperature then the sensor is bad. If the sensor agrees with these values then you have a problem in the wiring or the control unit itself.

A previous poster said that the intake sensor is near the condenser. This is not quite correct; there is a temperature sensor near the condenser, but it is the ambient sensor.

 

Oh I see, thanks for correcting me

 

The sensor under the passenger footwell ended up being the problem for me. The part was under $15 if I remember correctly.

 

Make sure there isn't some kind of rodent in the AC chewing/or has chewed some kind of wire.

Don't laugh, it happened to my neighbors 3 gen.