Anyone have the specs or link to the specs on long it should take the high and lo to equalize out? Father has a 2014 Cruze, 1.4T, complains that takes a fair amount of time to actually start cooling the interior down/blow cold out the vents on these warmer days(he used my mothers RDX as a reference as its with in minutes its cold, his car will take 10-15 minutes) trying to see if the expansion valve/orifice tube/whatever its called it blocked, pressures when running are good (35/40 on low 200/210) on high
A/C marginal...
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Here's one thing to check:
www.cruzetalk.com
This flap should automatically close with the temp dial in the coldest setting, and will respond to the recirc switch (closed/open) when the temp dial is one click up from coldest (will go into fresh air mode if recirc switch is off).
You may also just want to take it to a shop and have it evacuated/filled by weight and checked for any visible leaks...the car is a few years old now and may have leaked out some. The 1st gens have a blower/duct setup that doesn't really move much air around the cabin, which makes the A/C a little weak, but they should start blowing cold air out of the vents within a minute at least.
FIX: Excessive Moisture/Condensation/Frost on Windows
For some time now there have been many Cruze owners posting about excess moisture inside their Cruze, leading to foggy or frosted up windows that compromise outward visibility. My car was no different and I assumed, as most did, that it was somehow related to the small engine not putting out a...
www.cruzetalk.com
This flap should automatically close with the temp dial in the coldest setting, and will respond to the recirc switch (closed/open) when the temp dial is one click up from coldest (will go into fresh air mode if recirc switch is off).
You may also just want to take it to a shop and have it evacuated/filled by weight and checked for any visible leaks...the car is a few years old now and may have leaked out some. The 1st gens have a blower/duct setup that doesn't really move much air around the cabin, which makes the A/C a little weak, but they should start blowing cold air out of the vents within a minute at least.
It blows strong, just air is not as cold as it was, with 80* air temp and 45% humidity, pressure low was 37, high started at 210 and was climbing slowly towards 240, after 10 minutes of running, we then shut car off and after 5 minutes there was still a difference of 60 psi between high and low with car off. I was gonna do the cheat where you put the readings into higher end of limits when i noticed high side was climbing and low stayed between 35/37.Here's one thing to check:
FIX: Excessive Moisture/Condensation/Frost on Windows
For some time now there have been many Cruze owners posting about excess moisture inside their Cruze, leading to foggy or frosted up windows that compromise outward visibility. My car was no different and I assumed, as most did, that it was somehow related to the small engine not putting out a...
This flap should automatically close with the temp dial in the coldest setting, and will respond to the recirc switch (closed/open) when the temp dial is one click up from coldest (will go into fresh air mode if recirc switch is off).
You may also just want to take it to a shop and have it evacuated/filled by weight and checked for any visible leaks...the car is a few years old now and may have leaked out some. The 1st gens have a blower/duct setup that doesn't really move much air around the cabin, which makes the A/C a little weak, but they should start blowing cold air out of the vents within a minute at least.
Sounds like you need to evacuate the system and recharge with 22 oz of refrigerant.
The gen1 holds 20 oz.
The gen2 holds 17 oz
It takes a few hours for hi and low to equalize. Today's systems are different then yesterday's system that equalized in 10 minutes. Some cars could sit all night and not equalize.
Motor running at 2000 rpm..not idle. You're simulating driving conditions. Where the car spends 99% of its life.
At 80* 210 is about right. WITH THE FAN RUNNING. I wouldn't go higher then 225 tops. Equalized you should be about 110ish low and high.
134 expands as the air gets warmer. At 100* your pressures will be higher.
Fan kick on is 335 psi at 100*. Lower as the air gets cooler.
I wouldn't add any more then ONE ounce.
And make sure the cabin filter is clean. That can make a HUGE difference.
When everything works like it's supposed. I've got 3 vehicles that all blow 42*.out the vents at 100*. Fresh air.
I never use recirculate. That makes it warmer.
The gen2 holds 17 oz
It takes a few hours for hi and low to equalize. Today's systems are different then yesterday's system that equalized in 10 minutes. Some cars could sit all night and not equalize.
Motor running at 2000 rpm..not idle. You're simulating driving conditions. Where the car spends 99% of its life.
At 80* 210 is about right. WITH THE FAN RUNNING. I wouldn't go higher then 225 tops. Equalized you should be about 110ish low and high.
134 expands as the air gets warmer. At 100* your pressures will be higher.
Fan kick on is 335 psi at 100*. Lower as the air gets cooler.
I wouldn't add any more then ONE ounce.
And make sure the cabin filter is clean. That can make a HUGE difference.
When everything works like it's supposed. I've got 3 vehicles that all blow 42*.out the vents at 100*. Fresh air.
I never use recirculate. That makes it warmer.
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** Something to think about **
I've noticed even when the AC works well, some things will affect the cooling abilities of these cars.
If the car is sitting in the sun for a few hours the Dashboard tends to get "Heat-Soaked" and will warm the cold air from the AC. (takes a little longer to cool the cabin).
A window shield helps, or Ceramic Tint which blocks the heat as well.
You can also "slightly" crack open a couple windows which allows heat to migrate out of the car. (helps keep interior from heating up too much).
AGAIN: These things can help "IF" the AC is working correctly !!
I've noticed even when the AC works well, some things will affect the cooling abilities of these cars.
If the car is sitting in the sun for a few hours the Dashboard tends to get "Heat-Soaked" and will warm the cold air from the AC. (takes a little longer to cool the cabin).
A window shield helps, or Ceramic Tint which blocks the heat as well.
You can also "slightly" crack open a couple windows which allows heat to migrate out of the car. (helps keep interior from heating up too much).
AGAIN: These things can help "IF" the AC is working correctly !!
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Keep in mind the Gen 2's A/C moves a lot more air around than the Gen 1's. I would compare a properly working Gen 1's AC to most 90's Honda A/C systems - mediocre at best, and I've owned and rented tons of the things.
My black Gen 1 without tinted windows was unbearable on a 95* humid day, and vent temps were plenty cold. Unless you cranked it to max fan speed, next to nothing happened, and at that point you could barely drive the car. It needed fan speed 3 out of 4 to even keep up and keep occupants comfortable once the interior of the car was cooled off when it was 95-100 out. The ceramic tint really did help keep interior temps down a good bit when parked, and kept it comfortable when being driven.
OP, I DID have a blocked expansion valve (from a compressor that later grenaded), and my symptoms were a screaming engine fan (high speed), high high side pressures, and A/C that didn't work - at all - when it was more than 85 outside.
Your pressures look fine, and as long as the engine fan is running - on low or medium speed, constantly - not high-off-high (high speed fan means that the lower speeds have failed; this is a very common issue with these cars) - I'd start with an evac and recharge of the system with the correct weight of refrigerant listed under the hood. Take a hose or air hose and spray out the condenser at the front of the car too.
If at that point you see weird pressures, etc, then a deeper dive or other components may be to blame.
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Agreed. In fact, before you spend too much time looking at the A/C you may want to just look at the cabin filter. Last week when it was hot here, it wasn't taking that long to get cold air at the vents, but was taking quite a while to actually cool off the car on those hot days. Honestly the car never seemed to have quite enough flow from the vents since I got it like 4 or 5 years ago, a 2013 model. I didn't realize Chevy's had a cabin filter(!), so I switched that sucker out last week and I get more airflow on speed 5 now than I got before on speed 6. Don't get me wrong, the car has small vents, I probably still got double the airflow on by 2000 Buick Regal that I get on here, but it's much better than it was, the vents seem to blow cool air faster (not surprising since there's not a wall of leaves and dirt in the middle of the ventilation system any more...) and quite a bit more volume.
If you're not sure, look at the filter anyway -- I was shocked at how easy it is. You open the glove box, pull this "clip" through a hole on the right side, (there's a string connected to that to control motion of the glove box. ) You pop out two clips that clip in near the back of the glove box. That's it, the glovebox pops out and the air filter is right there when you pop the glove box out. I think it took me under 10 minutes (about 8 of it was trying to find the tracks the clips slid into to hold the glove box -- there aren't any, the holes in the dash are the right shape to accept the clips directly.)
If you're not sure, look at the filter anyway -- I was shocked at how easy it is. You open the glove box, pull this "clip" through a hole on the right side, (there's a string connected to that to control motion of the glove box. ) You pop out two clips that clip in near the back of the glove box. That's it, the glovebox pops out and the air filter is right there when you pop the glove box out. I think it took me under 10 minutes (about 8 of it was trying to find the tracks the clips slid into to hold the glove box -- there aren't any, the holes in the dash are the right shape to accept the clips directly.)
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