The Mrs DD is a 11 Mazda3 Hatchback in black. It has a pitiful AC system that is completely in spec according to dealer. No leaks, drew the system down to check balance of R134 and oil. Still won't cool down the car. Car is still under warranty, (barely).
Would it be worth it to try and add a pusher fan to the front of the car to help out? AC is best on the freeway with lots of air over the condenser. Any other ideas? Have brand new baby in car, in summer, in Phoenix.
Have you replaced the cabin air filter? It's a bit funky to get to (you need to remove part of the glove box, but it's not too bad.
If you drive in a dusty area, or are around trees alot, it could get pretty funky.
Make sure it's set to recirculate so that you're cooling down air that has already been cooled.
former520 wrote: Any other ideas? Have brand new baby in car, in summer, in Phoenix.
Mist water on the condenser? It works on intercoolers.
Tint the windows as dark as legal.
Definitely check the cabin filter if you haven't already. And possibly dented fins or debris on the heat exchanger.
psychic_mechanic wrote: Tint the windows as dark as legal.
This.
crack the windows just a bit and open the sunroof if you have one when you first start the car. put the controls on "vent" or shut of the compressor for a minute or so before hitting the AC. this will push the hot air out of the car and replace it with not quite as hot air that can be more easily cooled by the AC.
Tint the windows and vinyl wrap the roof white.
Not helpful now but never buy a black car in a hot climate. Silver or white is the way to go.
When tinting windows, shop around for the high end thermal protective stuff instead of just making them dark. Costs more up front, works WAY better.
Go get an in-vent thermometer from a parts store, a metal one with a clip on it, and put it in a center dash vent. Run the AC on high and have her drive it. Meanwhile someone sits in the passenger seat and records temps on the thermometer every 30 seconds for 20 minutes. Come back here with the numbers.
Watch this video and try doing this to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_em9lm69HQ
If the dealer says everything is in spec, who knows why it's not cooling well? 
everything I'd say has been covered fairly well.
high quality tint helps a ton... I also read here on GRM about some clear tint you can place use on the windshield that is supposed to help a lot...
a $3 windshield sun visor helps SOO much at keeping the heat out of the car especially when mixed with good tint.
someone else mentioned cracking windows, I like to crack at least 2 of mine just a 1/4-1/2 inch when I park it... I can remember back in the day in the novelty catalogs seeing a solar powered blower fan that would clip to the window before you rolled it up, solar panel would make the fan push air out... I always wondered how well that would work but haven't seen them for years.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: If the dealer says everything is in spec, who knows why it's not cooling well?
Maybe you just don't like spec.
The current acceptable is "cools 30 degrees lower than ambient". So if it is 120 degrees, then 90 degrees in the car is working fine.
The trend is not "refrigerate the occupants" but "make the heat more tolerable".
Knurled wrote:Mr_Clutch42 wrote: If the dealer says everything is in spec, who knows why it's not cooling well?Maybe you just don't like spec. The current acceptable is "cools 30 degrees lower than ambient". So if it is 120 degrees, then 90 degrees in the car is working fine. The trend is not "refrigerate the occupants" but "make the heat more tolerable".
berkeley the trend, I live in Georgia. If the AC can't blow air out the vents cold enough to give me an ice cream headache, I don't want the damn car!
the clear tint is a 3M product that does 100% UV blocking. Other than that I think they've hit most of the highlights here.
I agree on the no black car, Mrs will do what Mrs will do. Sun shade is used and car is parked in garage or in covered parking at the hospital she works at. It is already as dark as possible.
The spec the service writer referred to was 50* below outside air. As he told me, the 'official test procedure' was to close all of the vents but one, use a 6" deep probe and place it as close to the core as possible in the dash with the recirc on and air set to speed 1. It will read cold at the coil with no air going, he was sitting in the car sweating trying to tell me it was in spec. I asked him to show me that test procedure and he was unable to comply.
While I was there, I called another dealer on speaker phone and asked them how I should test to see how it work and was given a different procedure. A tech walked in and I asked him what the test was and he mentioned another. Both the service writer and service manager told me that closing all the vents and not using speeds beyond 2 was how they cooler their cars. When I said I would leave with no further argument to take me to their cars and show me the fan set on 2, I didn't get any takers.
I would run a sprayer on the condenser core, but do not want to refill all the time. May try an additional pusher fan just for giggles to see if it helps.
In reply to donalson: IIRC the solar panel on a prius powers a vent fan. I would LOVE to do something like that with my Previa. Ambient would be so much better than the billion degrees it gets inside when parked in the sun.
OP: If you measure your windshield you can usually find a two piece shiny fabric style sunshade and run each piece vertically and get a really snug fit with great coverage.
Why are we talking about jury rigging reflective stuff or a sprayer to a car when it sounds like the A/C system simply isn't working properly? Why have a warranty if it's not going to be exercised? The car sounds broken. My idea was to get some recorded data to prove as such and, if the numbers came out pretty obviously wrong, call Mazda of America and talk about how they're going to make it right.
In reply to pres589:
Because a lot of Japanese cars really do have weak/undersized air conditioners?
If they did their test in the shop bay rather than after it had sat in the parking lot for 3 hours then I would call their test flawed.
OP, what was the thermometer reading on the vents? There's a world of difference between a weak flow of cold air, and a large flow of tepid air.
Air tests were performed on a low humidity day, a "comfortable" 105*. Car was outside, but in the shade.
With all the vents closed and fan set on lowest speed, set to recirc, it would fluctuate between 44-48* with compressor cycle.
With all vents open, set to recirc and fan at full blast, it would fluctuate between 62-68*.
I agree, this is a warranty item, but they have taken the car in twice, drawn it down and refilled it, check everything over twice and this is as good as it gets and meets specs. Mazda is done with it as far as they are concerned. They are citing user error because I want to cool down the entire car interior and not just the inside of the dash. I should not be using fan speeds beyond low for the AC is what the service adviser and manager are telling me.
I will give the fins a cleaning this weekend and see if it helps.
I'd be blowing up Mazda USA's facebook, twitter, etc... Or just calling Mazda USA.
Unless the thing really is operating at its fullest ability, in which case Japanese vehicles always have really poor AC units.
Sounds like that service guy gamed the test to get the best result instead of dealing with the problem. My 91 Chevy 1500 will blow 46-48 out the drivers left vent on a high humidity 100 day with all the vents open. This is from a converted system on the original compressor. Granted it's an extended cab pickup truck, but I think a new car's ac system should at least match that. (Hope I didn't jinx myself, go out to the truck after work and the systems dead
) My 2011 Kia Sorrento will literally blow ice cubes from the vents if you push it hard enough. I think you need to find another Mazda dealer for service at the very least, and definitely call Mazda USA.
OK, those temps are about right. So is the air flow (volume) sufficient or restricted? The service adviser and manager are correct if the objective is the coldest air stream possible, it just won't be much of an air stream.
You can do the simple jumper wire to the a/c compressor clutch and leave it on constantly (no cycling). The evaporator will eventually ice up, but it will maximize cold until then.
donalson wrote: I can remember back in the day in the novelty catalogs seeing a solar powered blower fan that would clip to the window before you rolled it up, solar panel would make the fan push air out... I always wondered how well that would work but haven't seen them for years.
Have you seen any Nissan Leafs driving around? They all come from the factory with a system like this. I'd like to get something like it on my 'rolla.
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