Mazda to fix A/C
 

This may be old news, but I was just advised by Mazda that they WILL BE making a production change on the A/C. No specifics were given. Hopefully, the one thing keeping me from buying an 8 will be resolved soon.

Where did you get that info? From Mazda NA? That would be great because mine cycles ALL the time. ( not now as it's -500C for the last month here. ) :-)

Yes - Linda Lasky with E-Customer Relations, Mazda, NA

Thanks , i will make sure it is done in Canada as well.

Re: Mazda to fix A/C
 

Just because they make a production change, doesn't mean they'll do anything for those of us that already own the car. :(

Yeah. I asked them if and when the fix would be done. They only told me a production change WILL be done. Doesn't help me decide when to buy. (Although she did say that the fix will ALSO be on 2005 - which is kinda stupid to say. Why only change 2004????)

I think they made a change to the A/C system a while ago.. I think cars made after Sept 03, might be the start of it.. read it here somewhere...

If anyone knows more specifics of the A/C fix (when done, what was fixed) please post. I'm going nuts waiting on buying an 8 to keep my miata company.

My air conditioner has been a major disappointment and I havent had to drive it in hot weather yet. I live in Florida and am very concerned about what will happen come warm weather (which of course should be in about a month) . . . . I am hope there is a real fix and it is available for all vehicles.

I'm curious. I have tried running my A/C and it was so damn cold that I had to keep it at fan level #1. Maybe they fixed it on my 8's production date? What do you think? I got my 8 a week ago. I dont know when it was made. Is there any way of finding out?

The production date should be on the sticker on the drivers side door close to the latch. I think this is where it is I haven't really looked yet.

for what its worth . . . .
 

I had my Rx8 delivered in November and have issues with the air conditioner.

Outside temperature was 52 F this morning and the system blows air at 130 F with the air off, vents open and the temperature dial centered. At full "heat" it was blowing 160 F. At the other end it was blowing 75 F. This is while doing 50 mph on the highway.

With the air on and centered it is still blowing air at above outside temperature . . . close to 100F. It is when the temperature dial was at maximum cold with air on that it appears to actually cool outside air.

I took the measurements because opinions on other threads seems so subjective to be less than helpful. Has anyone actually tested the air temp or know what the design specs are? My 88 RX7 did a better job of cooling after 15 years of use.

The air at the vent seems to be set to blow at 47 F and cycles so often to be ineffective.

well the engine is like 2 inches away......

"Outside temperature was 52 F this morning and the system blows air at 130 F with the air off, vents open and the temperature dial centered. At full "heat" it was blowing 160 F. At the other end it was blowing 75 F. This is while doing 50 mph on the highway."

If the Temp dial is centered you have the heat on. If you want no heat you would put the dial all they way left. the engine and ducts in this car will heat the outside air 5 to 15 deg higher or more. If you want cool air you have to put the A/C on. You should get more then 72 deg out of the A/C. Mine seems to cool OK just don't stand in traffic to long. I don't think it pulls enough cool outside air in. They really screwed up the US version not putting auto climate control on. They probably save $50 by cutting it out. Yet got to love the bean counters.

just spent to days in naples, got up to 84. ac kept up fine. i know thats not 98,
but the best i can do.

beers

I believe the source of a lot of the A/C complaints is that the intake for the HVAC system is "too" near the engine, with the result that when you shut off the A/C compressor you don't get outside temperature air as would be the case with most cars but rather heated air as the air coming in has flowed past the (rather hot) rotary engine first.

I supect the production change will be to reroute the intake for the HVAC system to somewhere its easier to get "normal" outside air into the system.

Maybe it's years of living in Houston (the birthplace of humidity) but I NEVER set my controls to pick up outside air. Recirculate is the only way to go here. I'm assuming that habit will avoid the problems that stem from the location of the outside air intake, described above.

if your ac doesn't work correctly, Mazda will take care of it under warranty....

Did you have yours taken care of under warranty? What was done? Did it fix all the problems?

Mazda (dealer) basically said there was nothing wrong with my AC twice already... they will have me there as soon as it's not
minus 400 here... BTW, what does HVAC means? (for this french Canadian)

Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning

How would I say that in French? :)

My guess is that you would say

air climatisé à ventilation de chaleur

I've purchased my 6-speed 8 mid-September '03 and I have an interesting A/C problem. Starting from the driver side vent there should be four sents where #2 and #3 are the center vents. When the A/C is set at 25% cold duty cycle (fan speed 1 and up) my #2 vent blows warmer air vs #1, #3, #4. I thought if #2 and #3 both blew warm air compared to #1 and #4 it would seem normal, but only my #2 blows warmer air than the other three vents. When the duty cycle is set colder #2 vent is still "warmer" whereas #1, #,3, #4 are cold.

I went to my local dealer service and they are going to take it in next week (no loaner cae available today).

Is this the type of problem you guys are getting too?

That is correct. You can see the build date right there.

Those who DO NOT have any problems with A/C pls post your build dates here.

Chauffage et système de ventilation d'air climatisé. Very good guys, A+

and thanks for the info.

Hey guys/gals,

I just called Mazda NA to check on some build dates for cars I'm looking at, and asked the guy if he had heard about any production changes to the A/C. He checked with some people who know better, and those people in turn made some phone calls to those who would know even better, and to the best of their knowledge, Mazda NA has not been informed of any such production changes.

This worries me because I was informed a week ago by a Mazda customer service rep that she had just gotten an email sent to all reps instructing them that all flooding problems will be taken care of under warranty. Noone has tried to verify that yet as far as I know. I am NOT trying to start talking about flooding in this post - there are plenty for that. I'm merely trying to point out that I don't know who knows what and what the truth is. I don't think anyone is trying to be deceptive, it's just that information does not appear to flow evenly at that company. Argh. Oh well, still not going to stop me from getting one.

Build date May 03, delivered in July 03. NO problems with AC, did a road trip in August to California where the temps were low to high 90s every day. AC had no problem cooling car, never needed fan on full, usually never used the coldest setting. It took a while to cool down, but once cool it was great.

Regards,
Gordon

I asked Mazda about the production change in regards to the HVAC routing, to address the hot air issue. The lady said there has been NO production change and NONE are planned for model year 2004.

Wait, call me stupid, but what's wrong with the A/C?

Build date Jan 2004. So far it's only gotten up to 90 degrees. A/C handled it just fine at fan setting 3, fresh air setting. With fan4 and recirculate in reserve I think I'm ok for triple-digits. It gets up to 110 or so here every so often. If I start running out of cooling power I'll probably be getting some window film with V-Kool, which rejects almost all infrared (heat) while keeping light transmission at 70%.

Heck, I'm in heaven; this is the first car I've had since the 70's that has A/C :D

If intake location is an issue it shouldn't be too difficult to mod that...?