Good mornin!

Having a rather sudden issue with my 2004 Rx8.

I replaced the center unit with an aftermarket DVD player system. Had it installed by Best Buy professionally here in town.

A/C was working fine for a month, but it has always blown rather warm. One would never compare it to "cold".

Well, started driving this car this mornin out here in 102 degree Texas, and my a/c has completely started blowing hot air. Not even an ounce of cold. Being a 2004 maybe it just needs a quick recharge im hoping.

I cannot do the tests due to the aftermarket in dash system (Metra Conversion, Jensen In-Dash). Also when it used to blow cold, I could hear the A/C belt make a screetch from time to time. Im not sure if this belt is the cause, I know it is still intact because even without A/C blowing cold it still screetches from time to time. (This screetch is only when A/C is active)

Any information provided would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

Sometimes there are issues with the temperature control **** and the metra kit. In my car I have to grab my temperature control **** and turn it all the way to cold (left) and push it down at the same time. From time to time the **** moves out of place and because of its sensitivity and shitty connection it starts blowing warm air, so I have to turn it and push down to get cold air again. Try playing with your temperature control **** and see if that helps. There is a fix for this problem you just gotta search the forums. This is a known problem.

 

Sounds like the belt is a bit loose. Adjusting it may help a little but you really need to put a set of gauges on it to check out the entire system.

 

Tried this, to no avail. Trying to find a good DIY for the belt tighten, but no instruction list for the illiterate lack of tools enthusiast here.

As far as the gauges go, is this somethin an auto-zone can do for me?

 

The autozone near me did not have a set of these gauges. You can pick up a set at harbor freight for $55 AC Gauges - Save on this AC Manifold Gauge Set . These will tell you what the system has in it and can also aid in figuring out if your compressor died.

Once you figure out if your system is still charged or not and whatever the problem is check craigslist for an AC person. I got a system recharged out here for $60 by someone working out of their homes garage with a nice AC system.

Have you tried to spin your AC compressor wheel? If possible go out and see if you can spin it, try and spin the outside disc not the pulley itself. That is the part that spins the actual compressor and if it wont spin then you probably have a failed one. When my compressor went on another car it totally seized up and the AC clutch also went at the same time so it made a screeching noise at all times the engine was on. If it only screeches when the AC clutch is engaged then maybe your compressor seized? I guess it just depends on what the noise sounds like exactly.

It could also be something simpler than all of this.

 

You can also visually see the compressor spin when the ac is turned on, that way you can know whether your compressor is turning on or not. If it turns on and is shooting hot air, then it probably means you just need a recharge. If it doesn't spin when you turn the ac on, then your compressor might be gone. You should take it to a place that specializes on ac systems.

 

Yes he should do that first. The reason I suggested just spinning the outside plate on the pulley by hand is that if the compressors clutch has gone then turning the AC on wont do anything. In that case the compressor may still be ok and it might just need a new clutch. Depending on the cost of a replacement AC clutch with installation it is usually cheaper to just find a used compressor. I'm not really familiar with the rx8s compressor but I cant imagine it being much different than any other cars. In my other car when the AC clutch went there was a bunch of black residue flung onto the hood right above the compressor, I was told that is what can happen when they fail

I agree he should take it somewhere, it is more expensive that way but the AC system should generally not be messed with by someone that doesn't know about it. I had to replace a compressor in another car and just did it with a used junkyard one. It was a huge pain in the *** but ~$80 vs around $1200+ the dealership wanted made it worth it. It was my first time working on an AC system and I got lucky because I was able to only replace the compressor and nothing else and the system worked fine. Luckily for me when my compressor died it didn't shoot a bunch of crap through the system.

 

Do an advanced search on a/c belt adjust.

 

had the same thing happen to me . my 8 started blowing hot air and i went to get it checked at the local shop and they advised me that my compressor went outi noticed the clutch on the compressor was not engaging and it would really feel like straight engine heat blowing at you .. went and got a new compressor and condenser evacuated the system and put parts on then rechared the system and now she is blowing cold and im in texas too.best advice is to get a ac specialist to look at it..
if you need a new condenser i have one sitting in my other room i will give you a good deal on the first one parts geek sent me was damaged after reading the reviews for parts geek i gave up on that order a. i ordered another one from jc whitney and the day that the one from jc whitney got here the replacement for the one for parts geek showed up that being said. i have a extra i will give you a good price on..

 

Heres just an update, thank you guys for the information.

Had a buddy look at the car. He actually clamped both sides of my heater hoses so no liquid could go through, now my AC blows perfectly cold. The minute the clamps leave, back to hot air.

Any ideas what this means?

 

bump?

 

Sounds like the temp control is messed up; do an advanced search on HVAC Temp Control.

 

Doing a little bit more research, I spoke with a mechanic via phone call. He says that if I'm clamping both the heater hoses and that is allowing the AC to blow cold then it might be "blend door actuator".. Cannot find any threads on how to replace this. Any ideas?

 

Here is the manual: M A Z D A