Automatic (digital) A/C issue
Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:58 am
I have a 2001 SLE with an automatic air conditioner / HVAC control unit. Up until this weekend, my car sat unused for about 3 weeks. Before that, everything was fine. Now, I have this issue where the A/C doesn't blow cold unless I set the digital dial to read "COLD". Even at the lowest number before "COLD", the air is just ambient temperature. At "COLD" it is decent (not as cold as it has always been, but it is hot outside at the moment). At the same time after this 3 week no-run, I smelled a bit of rubber and I think the serp belt might have cracked a bit, though it is only 10K miles and less than 2 years, and there is no squeal from the belt. I took the console control unit out of the car, both to see if there was any obvious issue, and to take a look at the lights for a future color light swap. I saw nothing obvious. All buttons appear to be working just fine on the control unit. I had a spare self serve spray bottle of modern r134a "freon", and it seems like there was and still is plenty of "freon" in the line.
Anyone have any ideas? Is there some internal car temperature sensor that might be busted or unplugged? When I have a bit of free time I will swap out the serp belt anyway, but I don't think that is the problem. I am hoping for something other than "swap the control unit", though that is probably cheaper than valves or other controls.
Related ... anyone have an auto control unit I can borrow with a deposit?
Anyone have any ideas? Is there some internal car temperature sensor that might be busted or unplugged? When I have a bit of free time I will swap out the serp belt anyway, but I don't think that is the problem. I am hoping for something other than "swap the control unit", though that is probably cheaper than valves or other controls.
Related ... anyone have an auto control unit I can borrow with a deposit?