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Heat related issues?

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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 07:13 PM
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Heat related issues?

Couple problems today on my way home.

Today of course the outside temp gauge said it was 113 degrees so maybe thats the part of the reason but for like 2 minutes at a stoplight my A/C stopped blowing cold air and started to blow hot air, after I started going it started to blow cold again, my temp control was replaced a few months ago since my no heat would come out at all.

Second thing, lately ive been noticing when coming to a stop and I would see my rpm's slowly drop like normal but once it hit 900-1k it would dip to 650-750 level and cause the car to shake and then it would rise back up again. I recently had a tune-up and the cars runs strong so im not sure if this is just heat related or what. My wife was driving the car for the last month and told me at times she would lose alot of power when it was above 100 degrees with the A/C on but to me it runs strong.
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 07:15 PM
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I would check your Coil Packs, Plug Wires, and Spark Plugs if the RPM's are dropping like that.

My AC was doing that after a very hard run at the track once.
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Renesis SE3P
I would check your Coil Packs, Plug Wires, and Spark Plugs if the RPM's are dropping like that.

My AC was doing that after a very hard run at the track once.
Well my plugs were changed recently, dealer said my coil packs were fine and if one went bad it would trigger a cell. It use to do it alot when I first got the car, but after the tune-up it went away until last couple days when temps been 100+
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 07:19 PM
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It never triggers a CEL unless it's COMPLETELY FRIED.
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 08:16 PM
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Nothing wrong. Its the heat.

It has been reported several times that at 100 degrees the AC is preety much worthless.
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 08:50 PM
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anything above 80F I don't turn on the A/C, I might be hot but my 8 doesn't have to work so hard.
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Old Jul 9, 2009 | 08:52 PM
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The 8 has an auto shut off during hard acceleration so the car really dosen't work hard.
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Old Jul 10, 2009 | 09:20 PM
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Well today I noticed the A/C not blowing as cold when I would be sitting idle at a light, when I start to rev up and move the cold air blows again, I dont have a clue maybe the compressor is going. Also when the A/C is on I notice the dip at idle more, turn it off and idle doesnt dip as far.
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Old Jul 10, 2009 | 09:21 PM
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me thinks this is normal in that heat
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Old Jul 11, 2009 | 09:40 AM
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Has anybody had any problems with AC that doesn't blow cold air at all?
Had it checked by local garage...they couldn't fix it. recommended dealer to look into dash...possible expansion valve or restriction possible behind dash.

Thanks
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Old Jul 11, 2009 | 07:17 PM
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when you're at a light there is not air moving across the condenser so it's not that cool of air....once u start moving air moves across the condenser and starts getting cold......

oh and the A/C doesturn off under like WOT or heavy load so it can give all the power to the wheels instead of the A/c starving some horses
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Old Jul 11, 2009 | 07:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Razz1
Nothing wrong. Its the heat.

It has been reported several times that at 100 degrees the AC is pretty much worthless.
My AC works fine in 110+ degrees. It's 116 out today aand it works just fine.
If your AC goes off look at the engine temp gauge. If it moved to the center of the gauge, or past, then your coolant temps have gone above 230 degrees. This will shut the AC off too.

Originally Posted by Morphius
Has anybody had any problems with AC that doesn't blow cold air at all?
Had it checked by local garage...they couldn't fix it. recommended dealer to look into dash...possible expansion valve or restriction possible behind dash.

Thanks
Turn your radio on. Now push the on off radio button down and hold it. At the same time push the top of the SCAN button down. Check your digital radio display and it should tell you what the AC potentiometer is set to. 1 being cold and 16 being hot.
Rotate the temp control **** and see if it changes the value. If it doesn't then your temp control **** has failed. Push the radio on/off button to reset the radio controls.
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Morphius
Has anybody had any problems with AC that doesn't blow cold air at all?
Had it checked by local garage...they couldn't fix it. recommended dealer to look into dash...possible expansion valve or restriction possible behind dash.

Thanks
Have the dealer check your circuit for your temp control ****. Mine fried a few months back.
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:33 PM
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Easy E1....Thanks for the knowledge....However, when I initially do what you say...,.the setting is initially on zero...I set to 1 as you suggest...but after I shutoff engine it goes back to zero.
When running it doesn't get cold enough...Is there a way I can check freon level?

Grimicus, When your circuit fried...Did you experience the same above about resetting to zero after shutoff?

TIA
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Morphius
when I initially do what you say...,.the setting is initially on zero...I set to 1 as you suggest...but after I shutoff engine it goes back to zero.
But as you turned the ****, did it go all the way up to 16?
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:49 PM
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Never knew about the reset thing, I tried to turn the temp **** from cold to hot and it wouldnt change it just blew cold air, being it was winter.
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:51 PM
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If the numbers don't go up to 16, you'll have to get the soldering iron out.
I had to do this on a local's 8.

Here is the DIY on how to do it.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-no-heat-repair-heater-control-158200/
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:56 PM
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I kinda have a similar problem when it's warm and I'm highway driving hot air comes out of the a/c vents and from under the steering wheel, and I don't have any cold air it's either warm or hot so I don't know what's wrong.
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Old Jul 12, 2009 | 07:58 PM
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I tried the reset but when I do it all I get is a full screen with every funtion on it then none of my ***** do anything???
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Old Jul 13, 2009 | 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Jon316G
If the numbers don't go up to 16, you'll have to get the soldering iron out.
I had to do this on a local's 8.
Yes, it does go to 16...I tried to set it to 16 and then reset it back to 1 just to make sure everything was working properly.


Does anyone (Grimicus?) know what the cost of this would be at the dealer if I am not so good at soldering circuit boards?
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Old Jul 13, 2009 | 08:22 AM
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Also, just wanted say that my heat works like a furnace.
Would this be happening if it WAS the temp ****?

TIA
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Old Jul 13, 2009 | 09:00 AM
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If you are still in the bumper to bumper warranty, then it is a warranty fix, mine was no-charge. When my control **** started going out, it would only occasionally stop working correctly, and then it was consistent, but everythin was normal, getting hotter (this was in the winter for me) up to #15, but turning it to full heat #16 would revert back to #1, cold. After a week or so, nothing I could do would get it off of #1.

So it isn't a all fail or no fail, it could be partially bad. Even the test, if you watch the numbers carefully, they should change smoothly. If they flicker between numbers or seem to go past some faster than others, then your connection is going, even if it hasn't failed yet.

Originally Posted by Morphius
Also, just wanted say that my heat works like a furnace.
Would this be happening if it WAS the temp ****?

TIA
It all depends on how it fails. Some get it stuck on heat, some get it stuck on cold, some in the middle. It doesn't affect the actual heat / AC at all, just the connection on the board behind the **** fails, so the computer has no idea which one you want.

Last edited by RIWWP; Jul 13, 2009 at 09:03 AM.
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Old Jul 13, 2009 | 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Morphius
Yes, it does go to 16...I tried to set it to 16 and then reset it back to 1 just to make sure everything was working properly.


Does anyone (Grimicus?) know what the cost of this would be at the dealer if I am not so good at soldering circuit boards?
Mine was covered under warranty, just wish they replaced the stereo too, probably half of my cd's dont play the first few tracks and any minor bump causes it to skip like mad.
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Old Jul 15, 2009 | 09:56 AM
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Hey guys---

Thanks for the replies!
However, I don't think it's a **** problem...1-16 DOES work and in fact it doesn't reset to zero on shutoff as I initially thought...it was just me turning the know all the way to the cold side and that brought the temp setting down to zero.

I'll have to take it to the dealer and hope they don't rape me or try and steer me into getting a new car...I already have 150k awesome miles with my 04...I think I can hit 300k with it.
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Old Jul 15, 2009 | 10:05 AM
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Wow, 150k, awesome. Might be one of the highest mileage ones on here. Should post in the over 100k thread. Everyone we get up there is another hole is the 'unreliability' bucket
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