It's been around 80 here the last week and humid, and I've been running mostly with the following settings: fan set on 1, thermostat set all the way to cool, non-recirculate mode, air going to feet only, AC Off, windows closed. The air going to my feet consistently feels colder than the outside air, and condensation keeps forming on the windshield in front of the windshield vents. It's like I have the AC on, but the button is not pressed. I don't have either the front or rear defog turned on.

Is this abnormal? I did search the forum, but the posts I found on AC all related to the cycling problem.

 

There is your culprit. When it is humid outside and you have any bit of cool or just blowing air on the glass, you will get condensation form on the outside window. The air coming from the vents don't have to be A/C.

 

IT IS IN THE MANUAL.

Everything is explained in the book, the a/c stays on in some situations (defrost or recirc) EVEN WHEN THE SWITCH IS OFF, AND THE LIGHT IS OUT.

Check it out, it is an eye opener.
.
.
.
doc

 

Yep, the doc is right, I'll second that prognosis.

 

When the air selector is at anything other than face-only (or possibly face-only and face+feet), the AC is engaged. The indicator will not light up to let you know this.

However - it's in the manual as was previously stated.

Simon.

 

Ok, you're right, it's in the manual. However, this seems like totally braindamaged behavior.

1. The manual says that in feet only circulation mode and feet only w/ windhshield icon mode, that the AC will be on. So what is the difference between these two modes?

2. Why turn the AC on without telling the user? If it is going to be turned on, why not turn on the AC light as well?

It shouldn't be necessary to look in the manual to know when the AC is engaged.

 

All this is, is another way our RX-8 is different than any other make of vehicle.

Enjoy its uniqueness.

 

You mean the way I enjoy the uniqueness of having to warm the car up before I turn it off?

There are a lot of good unique things about the car I enjoy very much, but this just seems stupid.

 

Depending on the extent of the humidity level in your area, I think if you just turn the vents towards the inside and away from the glass, you wouldn't get this problem anymore. I get this all the time in my other vehicle and it seems to work.

 

I agree with you 100%. Also, I don't like the fact that you cannot even turn off the AC in the two air positions mentioned - a very stupid feature indeed.

rx8cited

 

I know what is in the manual, but mine seems to put cooler air at my feet in the face/foot mode with the AC off. maybe it is just the airflow?

I would prefer to control the AC rather then have a somewhat hidden automatic AC mode.

Wonder if the folks that are so upset about the MPG are aware of how their AC works?

 

Call me crazy, but windshield defrost in any car runs the AC. As for the feet only that is news to me.

 

In my car when the air is off -- fan set to 0 -- and it is not set to recirculate mode -- green light insteadof orange light-- I can still feel a tiny bit of cool air blowing from the vents. But Imnever in feet only mode. This is in FACE ONLYy mode. Im guessing its b/c of the same reason as Jerry. Its probablyb/c its always hot as helldown here in Miami.

 

Any car? Okay crazy , you've owned or driven all the cars in the world? Apparently not.

This is the first one I've owned that feels the need to turn on the AC in certain modes, not bother showing me with the AC light that it's doing that, and won't even let me override it.

If I'm trying to defrost the car because it's cold as hell outside, why am I forced to have colder AC'd air blowing on the windshield? Yes, I know if it starts getting humid in the car, I'd want the compressor on - but I'd like to decide that.

rx8cited

 

moRotor - these are the wide slit vents where the windshield meets the top of the dash. They aren't turnable, and besides, the problem isn't the condensation really, it's that I can't turn the AC off in this mode.

rx8cited - thank you! finally some support here.

pico - windshield defrost running the AC is fine. That makes sense. The foot mode running the AC is crazy. And so are you (hey, you asked)

After staring at page 6-4 in the manual some more, it looks like the _only_ difference between Defrost, Defrost and Floor Vents, and Floor Vents modes is how big the arrows going to the windshield are vs. how big the arrows going to the floor are. As far as I can tell, all three of these modes turn on the AC, so what we have are three fine-grained controls of how quickly the windshield gets defrosted, and no way whatsoever to send non-conditioned air to the feet only. Why? Why would someone design the climate control like this? I wonder if an ECU flash would be able to change the behavior.

 

Wrong

 

Im pretty sure it did in my 94 ranger and my 98 explorer. Not sure about my 01 civic. Now Im going to have to test my Explorer out tomorrow dammit!

 

Yep, even our '92 Explorer runs the AC when you select defrost, and like the RX-8, it doesn't give any visible indication that it's doing it.

The reason is because of the dehumidifying effect of A/C. If you want hot air on your windshield, crank up the temp dial and you'll get both heat and dehumidification for double the benefit.

 

But are there any other cars that run the AC in a non-defrost mode?

 

See...I knew I wasnt completly crazy! Just partially:p

 

Shhh.... it's not a bug. It's a feeeaaatuuureeee.

 

Even my 1997 Jeep Wrangler would run the A/C when defrost mode was selected.

Those wishing for automatic climate control should also know that in most cars with it the A/C compressor is always enabled unless the outside temperature is below 40°F or so...

 

All American made cars will automatically turn on the A/C when you select windshield defrost mode - so you're not crazy if you say yours does and you don't have to tell us.

I don't know what % of imports have this feature - but we all know the RX-8 does! It happens to be my first car with this feature.

If you're used to having this feature, its no surprise in the RX-8, but if you're not, it like "whoa, what's going on here?".

rx8cited

 

Sure, anything's possible!:D Now what the hello is the "mdg problem"?

rx8cited