Air Conditioner, is mine cold enough?

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I am not sure that my 2008 PRHT air conditioner is cooling the cabin properly. It takes a long time to get cool. The vents blow cool air, but other cars I own get much colder. I live in Fort Lauderdale and it is hot right now.
The car is automatic. Maybe the rpms are not as high as driving with a manual transmission and the compressor runs too slow? What temperature should come out of the vents? I want to stick a thermometer into the vent an check it before I go to the dealer. Thanks, Gerhard

Anything in the 40'sF is fine.

Why NOT take it to the dealer, especially if the car is still under warranty? Only takes them a second to check it and if it needs some work, under warranty, get it scheduled and done.

The a/c in my 08 prht is weak too.  I'm pretty sure there's nothing the dealer would do for you.  
One member has found away to make the a/c blow colder from the vents.  Search if that interests you

The A/C is weak in my 06 as well. compared to my suzuki. lol. I think is just normal.

yep, last I checked 43 is what comes out of the center vent. My acura does 38-40. Plus there is no roof insulation, so on very hot days, in city traffic the air can be weak.

My '07 PRHT.......A/C works great for 3 years.......BUT, this year, if car bakes in driveway for a few hours when temps are 90-100 F....
....it never seems to get COLD.....eventually cooler, but not COLD, for the 1/2 hour we'll be driving !
Will check with dealer, but with over 36,000 miles am expecting a big bill.
Hate to do it, but mechanical I'm not.

With the outside air closed the car should get cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. I cannot run mine this way even when the outside temp is in the high 90s or above for very long before it gets too cold. Of course this also depends on if the sun is coming at you through the windshield in a big way or not..

Using a good sun shield or cabin cover (or parking in the shade) makes a huge difference.  Once the dashboard area heats up it takes a lot to cool it off.  I use a California Pop-Top cabin cover and even after sitting in the sun all day the A/C is instantly cold (just run it on recirc as John points out).  
I did have to add a little freon last year.  It was at the low end of nominal.

When the car has been sitting in the sun all the duct work gets heat soaked, but even then my car becomes comfortable in about 15 minutes. My AC measured at the center vent in the garage where the temp is 85, reads 42. I agree that anything in the 40s is OK.

hmmm....then I guess my hot AC was not my imagination. I added what I had left of a recharge kit, but that took it from 62° down to 56°. Granted, this was out in the sun, with the top down on one of the hottest days of the year. Guess I need another can!
-Jac

1. My AC sometimes seems a little weak, but I assume like aemericas that it is all the heat soaked into the ductwork and dash. Also, we know that even on quot;ventquot; the air is hotter than ambient, so I assume the AC has to overcome that also.
2. Those who have added refrigerant: It was my understanding that the system is sealed and any loss of refrigerant indicates a problem. I guess Mazda could have been cheap and filled to the low end of normal to save money (oh! and weight! Yeah, that's it.).

Find the thread on heater core bypass. The cold AC air passes through the heater core and gets warmed before it gets to you. The thread discusses a simple plumbing fix. It's on my list of things to do, but so far opening the roof has been easier for me.

Something. Else to keep in mind: the AC needs air flowing thru the condenser to cool effectively.  Sitting still, even with the fan running,  will limit AC performance.  When sitting at a traffic light,  putting the system on recirc. helps a lot.


Originally Posted by dwest1023
yep, last I checked 43 is what comes out of the center vent. ....

Some where here, a year or so ago, there was a mod described to lower the AC temperature by putting a resistor in series with the thermistor on the evaporator.
This fools the control system into working the compressor a little longer each cycle, to make the evaporator a little colder.
Have to be careful though that the evaporator doesn't get so cold that moisture freezes on it.

I think it would be safer to just put the system on recirc when you need more cooling.

Gerhard,
I also have a 2008 PHRT, but mine's a manual.  Copper red with a black interior.  Without question, the A/C in it is the worst of any new car I've owned in the past decade, and (including the wife and kid), that's two hybrid Camrys, 4 Priuses, a Mazda3, and a Honda Accord.  Very surprising to me, given the miniscule cabin.
I can live with it, though.  Just have to run it on recirc, on the highest (damn noisy, too) fan setting for a bit longer than I'm used to.  I have not taken it to the dealer to be checked, nor do I plan to.
That's probably the only complaint I have about the car!
RPM
Minneapolis

It's High Summer here in Texas.  Temps around 100 and dewpoints around 70.  Down in Houston, it's only in the mid 90s, but dewpoints are in the mid to high 70s - very humid.  Ugly.  
The NC's AC only barely keeps up under these conditions, even on recirc.  However, it's good enough.  
I've never ridden in a Japanese car with AC that can rival what GM makes.  We had a late 70s vintage Olds with an AC that would freeze you out, even during the heat wave of 1980.

I'm coming into this discussion a little late, but fwiw, my 2008 auto prht has very good AC.  We've been well into the 90's and hit 100 once or twice recently, and on recycle and with the fan at half speed, it actually gets a little chilly in the car.  Once cooled down, I can take it off recycle, set the fan at about 1/4, and I'm really comfortable.

My 09 takes a while to start blowing cold air after it's been sitting in the sun on a hot day. Definetly takes longer to blow cold that the othe cars we have. But my recently sold 08 Mazda5 was the same way.  
No one does really cold air like US cars - always seems to be that way.

Well, had dealer check AC along with recent oil change.
Came in in 43 degrees measurement.......meaning system is functioning as built.
It means that our sportscar has a weaker than expected AC.....which does EVENTUALLY get there even when outside temps are 90-100.
This is our hottest summer in history..so we forgive.  Love this go-cart !


Originally Posted by meyerweb
Something. Else to keep in mind: the AC needs air flowing thru the condenser to cool effectively.  Sitting still, even with the fan running,  will limit AC performance.  When sitting at a traffic light,  putting the system on recirc. helps a lot.

Mine is particularly sensitive to this.  I can barely keep it comfortable when the suns out full force and I am sitting in traffic, but once I get moving it gets real cold.  The most annoying part is I usually put the top up and turn on the AC when traffic sucks and I am not moving

Is there anything that can be done to improve the A/C, then? If the air is as cold as it's supposed to be, then can it be made to blow harder/faster?
I'm gearing up (no pun intended) to do a lot of mods to my 2007 6AT, starting with FM's stage 2 suspension; performance mods will follow, and if there's a mod I can do to improve the A/C, then I'll do it in a heartbeat. I've learned a lot from reading these forums and am still learning more (and, oddly enough, coming up with even more questions).
The main complaint I have with my NC (apart from a little lack of power, which I'll be correcting ) is the weak A/C. It needs to be improved, and I know it's working quot;properlyquot; (temp is in the 40's). But here in Charleston, SC, where the heat index has been over 105 for the last two weeks (and we're not even in the worst part of summer yet), it just doesn't cut it.
Someone help! There has to be something I can do to make this system work better or more efficiently. Thanks for any help!


Originally Posted by trbostwick
Is there anything that can be done to improve the A/C, then?  ...

There is a thermistor that controls the temperature of the evaporator.  Once it is cold enough it switches off the compressor.  A year or so ago there was a thread with detailed instructions on how to put a resistor in series (or was it parallel?) with this thermistor to fool the control unit into letting the evaporator get colder.
The only caveat with this is you don't want the evaporator getting down to freezing, else it could ice up.
If the air from the vent isn't well below 40°F this could be a viable fix.

Here's the thread.  Interesting reading.
vb/showthread.php?t=181477