2011 XJ

Hot air blowing at idle. When I develop some RPMS, cold air starts blowing. When instop at a light, hot air again! I don't think it's a freon issue but not sure.
Any ideas?

 

John,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X351 forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

My first thoughts with these symptoms would be it's time for a re-gas ......

Graham

 

Sometimes mine will blow hot air for awhile. Also when I come to idle at times the windows will fog up. There may be an issue with the climate control system. I need to get mine checked out.

 

I had that and heavy steering at a stop when I was experiencing a coolant leak. It went away after a bad line under the supercharger was replaced along with the water pump being replaced. My guess was that coolant was getting on the belt.

 

Thank you so much for the quick response to my A/C question. I'll pursue the "re gas" solutions and let everyone know the results.

 

It is the AC compressor. My supercharged XJ had similar problem. Was replaced for free by my dealer

 

We look forward to your feedback. We have a number of scenarios: (1) low coolant, (2) faulty AC compressor, (3) slipping drive belt due to a leaking water pump, or (4) faulty AC controls. I will add a fifth: one of the settings on the controls were inadvertently set to a high temperature that called for heat.

 

On 2013-up XJ models with stop-start, unless you manually defeat that system, the AC compressor turns off when the engine stops but the fan keeps running. As a result, the air blowing out of the upper vents gradually becomes warmer until the engine (and AC compressor) restart and it blows cold again.

Also, note that there are two "inside air" (recirculate, instead of bringing in outside air) settings: (1) "timed" and (2) "latched". If you press that icon button quickly, it results in "timed" and will automatically revert back to outside air in a few minutes. But if you press and hold that icon button, your center display will show "latched", and it will remain so until you turn the car off, at which time it will revert back to the default outside air setting when you restart the car. Your car will get colder faster with inside air (latched recirculate) since the AC doesn't have to work as hard to dehumidify outside air.

If this was helpful, please press at the bottom right.

Stuart

 

I'm sitting in a restaurant parking lot waiting for a pizza. I have the car running as I'm listening to the ball game. 10 mins and I blow a hose and my radiator dumps all over the parking lot. Car is at the dealers lot now. I'll let everyone know the details as I find out. I could see that the main fan was not turning earlier in the day when I looked at it. The fan could be the reason for the poor A/C and also for the overheat. Thanks for everyone's contribution. The info on the latched recirc button was very valuable.

 

Btw, speaking of the recirculated air feature, does anyone face this issue that if you use that recirc feature and switch the car off while the A/C button is still on, then the next time when you turn the car back on with the A/C, the air coming out of the vents will have a foul musty odor for a few mins until it gets cleared away?


I have got into the habit of switching off the A/C a few mins before my destination, allowing the fan to continue to operate and blow semi-cooled air, and this then prevents the musty odor from developing. I guess it is similar to the home HVAC units which operate the fan blower for a few minutes after the compressor switches off.

 

LiquidIce,
That musty odor indicates that mold is growing in the climate ducts. There are 2 things to do.

First, with the AC running and drawing outside air, open the hood and generously spray Lysol disinfectant (or similar product made specially for that purpose available at your local auto parts store) into the air intake directly below the windshield.

Second, replace your cabin air filter with a new one that has an activated charcoal element. While the old one is out, generously spray Lysol (or similar) into that filter compartment.

If you park in a garage, leave your sunroof and windows open so your car can thoroughly dry out overnight.

Then install the new cabin filter.

Stuart

 

Thanks mate...I am taking it to my dealership for routine maintenance before the factory warranty expires, so will have them take a look as well.
Cheers and appreciate the advice!

 

Looks like a failed A/C compressor was the problem and everything was under warranty! I have to say that I was not impressed with the service writer at my dealership. He had not read my service report prior to my arrival and as he was telling me what had happened to my vehicle, he would contradict himself with each turn of the page. Doesn't instill a great deal of confidence for sure. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and ideas.

 

I was right , it was the AC compressor

 

To all the tech guys on the forum, both official and unofficial, I seem to have a slight problem with my A/C and I am really hoping that someone can help:


- Basically, my A/C takes quite a while to cool down the car, especially on the really hot 95+ F days (this is inspite of rolling the Windows down for the first few mins and then switching to latched recirculated air once the car cools down a bit)
- My dealer ran a pressure test on my compressor and everything seemed to be fine, but they did notice that the air coming out of the vents is barely cooling to spec (temperature at the vent reads 51 F while the A/C is set to 59 F)
- However, given that the vent temperature is still within spec, they cannot do anything


Do any of you have thoughts/ideas which I should get looked at or checked? Thank you all SO much in advance!


FYI, I drove a loaner 2012 KF while my car was in the shop, and the loaner certainly was cooling a lot quicker than mine, even though the loaner was Black in color while mine is Silver
PS: Note that I protect the windshield with a sunshade and I also have the entire car tinted (with the windshield having just a non-tinted ceramic tint screen for heat reflection), but my car still shows an interior temperature of 115 F when I first enter it, yikes!

 

How recently has your cabin filter been checked?

 

I just got it changed last August as part of my 4-year service.

 

Air conditioning systems are not Sno-Cone machines! You aren’t going to make it snow so why try? Fifty degrees Fahrenheit?!?!? A/C is not made to do that!

A reasonable expectation is for your a/c to be 10° degrees lower than the outdoor temperature. (Some climates may need it set to 15-20° less!)

Beyond that is not within designed parameters.

 

You should educate yourself first about AC systems??
All my car AC systems blow 45 F air or less by design.
.
.
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Concur with club.

Normal a/c min outlet temp should be between 35 and 45F. That does not, of course, mean that that will be the lowest stable temp that can be achieved in the car.

Why was this 6 year old post 'bumped'?

wombat