A/C takes too long to get cold... diagnosis???
 

The A/C on my wife's 1998 Maxima works perfectly, gets the car nice and
cool, blows cold air, etc. Exactly like it should. The refrigerant
level is exactly correct. The one, single problem it has is: it takes
too long to get cold. It's been this way for several years now.

On a hot summer day (95+) when the car's been sitting in the driveway
for several hours, it just blows hot air for 3 or 4 minutes, and then
starts gradually getting cool. It doesn't start blowing real, "cold
air" for at least 6 to 8 minutes. After that, it's fine, even if we
stop somewhere and shut off the engine for 20-30 minutes.

Any suggested diagnoses?

Thanks,
Ron M.

Sounds like every ac equipped car I ever owned, make sure you crack a rear
window to let the hot air exhaust. There are ac charts out there that that
have ideal vent temps based on outside air temp and humidity, this will
allow to compare normal performance to what you are getting.
"Ron M." > wrote in message
oups.com...
> The A/C on my wife's 1998 Maxima works perfectly, gets the car nice and
> cool, blows cold air, etc. Exactly like it should. The refrigerant
> level is exactly correct. The one, single problem it has is: it takes
> too long to get cold. It's been this way for several years now.
>
> On a hot summer day (95+) when the car's been sitting in the driveway
> for several hours, it just blows hot air for 3 or 4 minutes, and then
> starts gradually getting cool. It doesn't start blowing real, "cold
> air" for at least 6 to 8 minutes. After that, it's fine, even if we
> stop somewhere and shut off the engine for 20-30 minutes.
>
> Any suggested diagnoses?
>
> Thanks,
> Ron M.
>
>



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"Ron M." > wrote in message
oups.com...
> The A/C on my wife's 1998 Maxima works perfectly, gets the car nice
and
> cool, blows cold air, etc. Exactly like it should. The refrigerant
> level is exactly correct. The one, single problem it has is: it takes
> too long to get cold. It's been this way for several years now.
>
> On a hot summer day (95+) when the car's been sitting in the driveway
> for several hours, it just blows hot air for 3 or 4 minutes, and then
> starts gradually getting cool. It doesn't start blowing real, "cold
> air" for at least 6 to 8 minutes. After that, it's fine, even if we
> stop somewhere and shut off the engine for 20-30 minutes.
>
> Any suggested diagnoses?
>
> Thanks,
> Ron M.
>

Sounds OK to me. You need to keep in mind that all the ductwork in the
system is also hot. That is why the air takes a bit to get really cold.
That plastic has to cool off first.
About the only way to stop this is to park the car in a BIG freezer unit
instead of out in the heat.

Steve W.



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"Steve W." > wrote in message
...

> Sounds OK to me. You need to keep in mind that all the ductwork in the
> system is also hot. That is why the air takes a bit to get really cold.
> That plastic has to cool off first.
> About the only way to stop this is to park the car in a BIG freezer unit
> instead of out in the heat.
>
> Steve W.

That is an excellent point. Anything you can do to decrease the temperature
or heat load inside the
car will help.

If it is 100F outside, the temperature inside the car parked in full sun can
easily be 140 or higher.

Leaving windows slightly open, dash shades, tinted film, or just parking
under a shade tree can all help.

I had considered rigging a misting device for my condensor for days like
this but got enough relief
from tinted film that I lost interest in going further with it.

dark interiors make it hotter too.
takes a while to cool all that stuff down. Its not instantaneous.

"ed" > wrote in message
...
> dark interiors make it hotter too.
> takes a while to cool all that stuff down. Its not instantaneous.
>
>

I typically leave the A/C on fresh air for a minute or two to allow the
system to purge the hot air in the passenger compartment before switching to
recirculate. Cooling the recirculated hot air inside makes the system work
harder than just cooling the air from outside. Once the inside air has
cooled some, switching to recirculate later let's the system cool the
already cooled air and work easier. For my car, Max A/C is recirculate
while just A/C is fresh air.