I'm a little stuck. I'm in Chicago and this summer has not been particularly hot but we have had some warm days.

My AC is not keeping the cabin as cool as I would like. I took it to my independent shop and they replaced the resistor for the front fan which he says is the cause 9 out of 10 times.

I got the car back and it seems the same to me.

The air is cold, when I drive it get's down to 29 degrees on recirc but it still doesn't get cool enough inside. I'm comparing it to my 2009 Jeep, 2013 Lincoln Navigator and my 1985 Mercedes. He thinks there may be something in the box or lint or something else against the cooling coil. We replaced the cabin filter and he says there's ample suction at the blower. The freon is not leaking and he replaced it to be sure the pressures were correct, not too high and not too low for the 4 zone system.

Anyone have any idea how difficult it is to tear the dash apart to get to the cooling coil unit? I'm thinking if I can get to it and blow it out or clean it off or something. I'm thinking it's tough but I have a couple days I can spend doing it, just don't know where to start exactly. If someone could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

 

What happens if you run it on 'Auto" ? If the car starts off hot, the CC will default to recirculation mode until the air in the car gets cooler then switch to the vent. If I'm too hot, I put it on 21C and let it get on with it. Is the external temperature value displayed and correct ?

Other thing to check is the inlet to the internal air temperature module. This is a small inlet vent about 1" square and I think there is a little fan on this to suck in the air but I may be wrong. If this gives a false value the CC cannot work correctly.

 

Hi Fraser. Thank you. The outside temp is reading correctly. When the system is on recirc and Lo and the fan is HI it does get cooler. Same as when on Auto and the system set these itself.

I hate driving around with stale air all the time and the fan blowing on it's highest. I'm hoping this car was designed to keep the cabin comfortable without all the max settings. I'm planning to find some other cars in the area for sale and test drive them to feel what they are like. I'll determine if its my car or a design thing. If it's my car, I'm going to fix it. If it's a design deficiency I'll have to sell it. Really love the car otherwise so I hope it's just something that can be fixed.

Can you tell me where the internal air duct you mentioned is? "Is it one of the openings in the dash around the seat heater switches?

BTW, I've ordered a 5' USB camera with LED light probe to snake down the vents from inside and through the cabin filter box from the outside to see if I can "see" if there's something blocking the passage. It's overnighting from Amazon and was only $20. We'll see tomorrow. If I find something or lint or blockage on the coil I'm determined to fix it myself if I can.

So far, everything I've needed to fix I've found in this forum, love it. Perhaps heater core threads or other items in the area of the box, where ever that is. Not very much regarding AC on here though, that I've found.

It's curious, when I bought the car in Sacramento in February there was an issue with the heater not getting hot. The dealer I bought the car from pulled the dash and replaced the heater core so I'm hoping they didn't leave something in there. Hopefully the probe will help determine.

If I do find something, that will be the kicker, how to no destroy my dash or systems without having pulled it out or seen it done previously. One more thing I could try is You tube, surely someone else has done something similar that will show me how to DIY without ending up with leftover parts and different items not working via trial and error.

Thanks again.