Mine works so-so. I think the all-black interior does not help at all when it comes to keeping the car cool. I have driven in cars with worse air conditioning.

Anyhow, I like the natural AC....windows down, and sunroof open!

 

I prefer that, too...during the 4 months a year it's available.

 

my AC is garbage

forget about feeling comfortable after having the car sitting under the sun for the day...its not happening unless you have it on full blast for 20 - 30 mins

i measured the blowing air temp. my cobalt is at 0C and my bros 03 civic can go as low as -5C

 

How / where / what do you measure it with? I'd love to check mine out just for ***** and giggles.

 

My A/C is decent but not freeze you out cold where you have to turn if off. I tend to never use it anyways for some odd reason.

 

Well, if you get 0 C which is 32 F, there is definately something wrong with mine. Because, it only goes to 61 F. This is nuts. I have had them check it twice so far. The first time they changed my fan, the second time they topped the coolant off. But it is still at 61 degrees.

TomTWTWTW, just use a small therometer with a stem that takes the temp. Just slip it in a vent.

 

Makes sense...but someone's actually gotten a below-freezing reading by doing that?

 

i just use one of those infared thermometer and point it directly into the air vents

 

My AC is pretty good, for the past three days here in Tucson, AZ. The temperature is about 105-107 F. I put my AC on level 3 to start out with, then put it to level 2 and re-circulate after its cool inside.

 

Go to a parts store, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, A/C) supply store or somewhere like a WM and purchase a fairly cheap mechanical thermometer that is used for checking out HVAC systems and insert it in the vent. OR You can by a cheap digital thermometer and instert the outdoor probe into a vent and check the outdoor reading.

 

TXRLU
I would take your car in and have it checked.
One thing I've noticed is these cars use only 0.9lb of refrigerant so if there's even been minute leak resulting in a loss of even .1-.2lbs of 134a they start to perform poorly.
This can be easily confirmed with a thermometer placed into the 2 center ducts at FULL COLD - RECIRC AIR-DASH VENT DELIVERY
If the RH duct temperature is a few degrees warmer than the left- Low charge is the likely culprit. If your off warranty just take it in for a recharge.

HTH
WopOnTour

PS> MAKE SURE they Recover>Evacuate>Recharge the system and not just test it!
Depending on ambient temperatures the GM ACR2000 tool used to test/recharge the refrigeration system "steals" about 0.05-.1 refrigerant from the car whenever it's used for a performance test or "check" likely making your condition WORSE! Unfortunately the only way to insure you have the correct refrigerant charge is to recharge it.

 

I would suspect your thermometer is a bit "off"
0C is generally the COLDEST delivered air you will EVER see out of an automotive refrigeration system is 32F/0C. This is by design so that the moisture being pulled from the air and collecting on the evaporator doesnt freeze- blocking all airflow through it.
WOT

 

Question for you since you seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. On my g/f car, the a/c recently started cycling, turning on and off at idle, blowing cold and hot. When she gets on the highway and is moving, it stays on and blows cold. The compressor is fairly new - about 3 years old - as it died a while back and she got it replaced under warranty. Is that something a simple re-charge may fix, or perhaps a belt slipping, or something? Looking for ideas before we take it to the shop...for now I told her not to run it at all for fear of making it worse.

She hates me for it.

 

"Quick Cycling" (less than 5-10 seconds of clutch ON time) on a cycling clutch type AC almost always indicates a low charge. I would not advise a "top up", but instead a Recover>Evacuate>Recharge and then reasess
Regards
WOT

 

I see a lot of places that offer a "$25! Recharge your a/c!" deal. (Hey, it's AZ after all) Would you recommend something like that, or any type of special mechanic? I mean, even if it's not the root cause, $25 isn't much money, even for a guess, especially compared to the cost of any serious a/c repairs. (her compressor/evap failure would have been over $1k if not for warranty coverage)

edit: as mentioned, the compressor is only 3 years old, but the car itself is a '97 with about 100k miles. Sound old enough to require a recharge?

 

That's a good price, but sometimes just a ploy to get you into the shop so they can up-sell the **** outta ya. But for that (usually refirgerant is "extra" in those deals but it's only 0.9lb of R134a so...)
But you could have a leak in the system so a leak check would be a good idea.
WOT

 

Thanks for all the info! I don't think it's an upsell deal, only because they're offering this at a tire shop. lol

"While we were checking your a/c, we noticed your tire is bald, you need 3 wheels balanced, and your alignment is off, and your struts are bad!"

"Huh? You could tall all that just from driving it 20 feet into your garage? Wow..."

Anyway, I'm wondering if it may indeed be a leak, only because it came on so suddenly. It went straight from blowing ice cubes one day to this crap the next. We'll be sure to have that checked, too.

 

I have an 06 LT Coupe, Black on Black,and the A/C is friggin horrible, I live in West Palm Beach,FL when I go to school and it doesn't even blow that hard and the air isnt that cold. My old 96 Cutlass felt like a leaf blower,lol. I think GM needs to do a recall on this.

 

run your ac full on hot with the air deflected to the windshield. After about a minute switch to the cold air and start your drive. You need to do what you can to remove the humid stagnant air in the car first so that the air cools you more effectively.

 

Yea i usually crack a window. I've noticed this weird whirring sound from my AC that I never heard before. It started last thursday and It almost sounds like my compressor is spazzing out. Anybody hear any weird noises from their AC?

 

mine wines in the low gears ... think its normal though

 

ok at least im not the only one with that weird noise,lol.

 

I live in Wichita Falls, TX and the temps here get to around 105F. I orginally had a Cobalt LS Sedan, but upgraded to the SS in Sunburst Orange. I too am unhappy with the A/C performance, however, I don't think that its the A/C itself. In my experiences with my prior Cobalt and the SS, its has been the vents. I also own a 2002 Silverado Z71 and I position the vents so they blow right on me. It makes a huge difference went the air is focused on you.

The Cobalt vents do not allow this capability and continues to be my BIGGEST pet peeve with the car series. No matter how hard I try to adjust the vents to have them blow on me, I can barely ever feel it. The vents hardly focus any air and actually diffuse it into the air. One thing I do that does help is close off the passenger vents to force more air on the driver.

I wish I had a sunroof to leave cracked so the ambient air temp would be lower. Tinting does help dramatically.

Other than that, I think the A/C does perform well. In a recent trip to Las Vegas, I had to turn it down as well and even adjust the temp since it was freezing me out. Remember, we are all at a disadvantage due to the small car platform/engine. My Silverado has no prob at all and freezes me out.

 

I too have found the AC in my SS coup completly inadequate. I have taken it in 3 times to be "fixed" and so far it is still unable to keep the car comfortable when 90+. It is so weak nobody will ride with me on a hot day. So has anyone else with poor AC performance been able to get GM to fix it? I have taken it to 2 different dealers, and so far It still is unable to keep the car comfortable. If you were ale to get yours fixed, what was it? So far they replaced the compressor and recharged it , but still only cool not cold air comes out?

Thanks!

 

Mine has worked wonderfully. I just hope I can say the same thing in the winter when it might get a bit nippy here.