What's the skinny on the air conditioner situation where it cycles from cold to warm every 5-6 seconds? I've search and found lots of threads, but getting the bottom line answer is difficult. Any updates on whether Mazda will fix anything?

 

There used to be a fair amount of discussion on this, especially with people who got early production vehicles. That topic seemed to die off lately, not sure if the newer cars have less incidence of the problem. I have an early production car and I don't seem to have a problem with it... Are you having the problem, do you have an older or more recent vehicle (within the last couple months)?

 

mine still does it....and it sucks

 

Have you tried this baller? Read mazdabob's tip on evacuating and recharging the freon...

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...mazdabob+freon

 

Car was purchased mid November (probably an older model). It's not so much that the air is not cold enough, it's just that it cycles between cold and "not cold" every 5 seconds! I've timed it numerous times, and it just keeps cycling, making it very difficult to get the interior cool (and it's only 76 degrees here).

 

What settings is it on exactly ?

I want to check the car I just got a few weeks ago for the same thing. I'm in Austin, and its in the 70-83 degree range around here right now (soon to get much warmer). So far I haven't noticed that effect. But I did notice the air coming in is noticably warmer than the air outside when its around 67 F and the settings were AC-off Circulate-outside air.

 

Mine has a production date of 10/03. No problems as of yet. Quite happy, actually. I've only had to run twice but, both times the cab got cold quick and stayed cold. No cycling. Greg

 

With a production date of 11/03, my a/c is working great too!
Tested in 90+ degree heat about a week ago....

 

The reson it cycles so much on earlier models is that the PCM told it to turn off at 4k rpms. With our rotaries we are always going past 4k which shuts it down. The newer flashes changes this cycle point up to 6000 or 6500rpm. This was told to me by my very knowledgable service manager.

 

That can't be right. I sit most of the time stationary in traffic in my mobile sauna. I go more for one of the earlier theories that there isn't enough power to run it below 2000rpm. Still there is no admission of a problem in Japan. Going to argue the point again when I go in for the gearbox recall and plead with them to recharge the freon.

 

My AC cycled warm/cold prior to getting the L ECU update and it still does it following the update. I think there's something more going on here...

I have an early build 5/03 car also.

 

Sorry but I dont think that this is it either, Mine cycles on/off
every 10 seconds at engine idle. Im going to try the Freon recharge thing next week when I have my recalls done. Mine is also a early production unit. Had my A/C reprogrammed by the dealer last October. Seems to have helped but still does not get cold enough.

 

Also keep in mind the RX8 has a a/c cut off at low RPM so you have enough HP/Tourque to help acceleration in stop and go traffic. If you watched the RX8 tech video it explains how this works.

 

For mine, it makes no difference what RMP I'm running (sitting still, 3-4000, 9 zillion!), it cycles constantly. Now, I really wouldn't care if it cycled every 1 second, it's just that it does not cool efficiently. I'm taking in today for recall, and will talk to dealer about problem....

 

The weather here is just now starting to get into the 70's so I will have to try it out. I do know that with the amount of heat that comes out of the vents, it will be very important for my whimpy butt to have cold AC.

 

The weather here in Phoenix is 95 and sunny..The way this car pumps out the A/C is not acceptable. The reason I say that is I drive a 02 Camry XLE V6 three days a week to work an hour each way and the air is great!! I don't even have the windows tinted!! With the RX8 it's cold, then cool, back to cold, then warm. You get the point. I even tinted the windows.. I have never driven a car with such a wide change in the A/C fluctuation. I bought back in early Oct and knew the A/C would be a issue. I had hoped that Mazda would be pro-active and had a fix for this. I guess not. Any others having A/C issues that have some answers??

 

My AC does the cycle business as well. Last Sept when I got the car the dealer tried to tell me it was normal. I think not! The few seconds the compressor is on nice cold air, but 5 seconds every minute or so doesn't give much time to cool the car down. Especially here in NM.

This can not be right and like everyone else with this issue I'm hoping Mazda comes up with a fix....quick!

 

Others have mentioned this, but I think it deserves attention along with the A/C problems. In recent Spring days, with outside temperature in the 60s and low seventies, it would be nice to get outside air into the car through the ventilation system. Not in my 8. With A/C off, the air coming through the vents is warm, even though you can stick your hand out the window and feel that it was cool when it hit the intake. This has two bad results. First, it deprives us of ideal ventilation that doesn't involve the power drain of A/C. Second, it makes the A/C work harder when you have to turn it on.

This is not just an RX8 problem. I had 87 and 94 Acura Integras. Great cars in many ways, but both of them had that hot-intake problem, along with marginal (87) and just-adequate (94) A/C.

 

Went in for my recall and discussed the aircon with the dealer for the third time in the last year. Same results as before: no fix from Mazda, disagree that there is anything deficient, nothing they can do even if I pay them as it's all controlled by the computer programming and another (bigger) A/C unit won't fit.

I'm going to start writing letters to Mazda as it's going to be really embarassing this summer at the lights when I'm driving around naked to keep cool!

 

I've got the same issue with my A/C... I'll mention it to my service guy when I bring it in this week for my cupholder insulation - I dont know whether or not freon is the issue, but there's no reason for me to spend time and money recharging the system on a brand new car. Mazda needs to step up to the plate on this one - this car's gonna be pretty uncomfortable in July.

Just for statistical purposes: Mine's a 5/03 build, second boat over.

 

Took my 8 in for the recall work last week and mentioned the air conditioner problem to the manager. He agrees something is not right, and is going to talk to Mazda about it. He says as a dealer, they get "first" notice of recall work, etc., and he has seen nothing about the A/C. Just so happens, that while I was on the lot, a newer 8 was being test driven. I took the manager to that car, turned the A/C on, and it worked perfectly (no cycling every 5 seconds). He saw it first hand! I also had the freon re-charged, which did nothing to improve the situation.....

 

I don't think our cars have Freon in the AC, something to do with the ozone layer guys.... don't know exactly what gas in in there though. BTW got my car in 08 2003 and the AC sucks but the dealer does nothing...

 

Yes they do have freon - it's just not R12, it's R134a. R134a is purportedly less harmful to the ozone layer. Everything's been R134a since around 1995. As a minor side note, R12 systems also worked substantially better in most applications. That isn't to say that R134a is totally inferior, it's just harder to find R134a systems that work exceptionally well.

 

I started to notice the same… first cold air then cool then warm and cold again in 93 F weather. I asked my coworker which is a master tech for 30 years and ready to retire. By the way he drives a beautiful 1960ish Mustang Mach 1 and he mentioned that the A/C cycling is normal… more often in hotter weather. Now the reason of cycling is because over pressure in the high side line or the orifice become frozen preventing the freon from expanding. The over pressure is due that the condenser is not cooling enough. During the period that the compressor is off, the pressure in the line is reduced or the ice build up in the expansion orifice is melted. If there moisture in the line the dryer should take care of it. Another observation is that in his mustang he has the A/C lines that goes from the compressor to the firewall insulated with pipe insulation material (Home Depot) to increase the system efficiency since the engine runs a bit in the hot side… you know a Hot rod. Some “American” cars and trucks have insulation in their lines. I am kind of wondering why some don’t…. cost? By the way, my wife’s civic is pretty much the same story. … not quite good compared to my brother in law’s Buik…Anyway, regarding the 8 because it also runs quite hot, the low side line (cold line) is exposed with such heat (even the strut brace is quite hot) thus reducing its efficiency. I will try putting some insulation material in the low side line to see if that makes any difference. If everything seems to run ok, hopefully I will make a DIY thread

 

Basic question (apologies if it has been asked before): How many people with "cycling" A/C have climate control? My RX-8 does not have climate control, and I have not noted the cycling phenomenon.