Hi all,

I have a MT RX8 GT vin# 0119173 and the engine cover is off the car (Awaiting a new one).

I live on Long Island, N.Y. where we are having temps in the mid 60's, low 70's occasionally.

I noticed that the cabin gets pretty hot inside and that the air coming in from the vents (speed set to 2 or 3) is much warmer than the cool outside air temperature.

Is this noticeably warmer air from the vents caused by me not having the engine cover in place?

I also notice that even with the AC on (Fan at 3 or higher/ventilation is not set to recylce the cabin air) the cabin never really gets cool. Seems the AC is not all that strong.

Based on my vin# I am not in need of AC amplifier replacement or the such.

I know I can set the ventilation to recycle the cabin air and that would help, but it just seems that at mid 60's and low 70's I shouldn't be breaking a sweat without the AC on. Also seems to me that one shouldn't have to turn up the fan so high just to get a reasonable interior temperature.

The only recall I got was for the air bag.


The dealer checked and said the AC was within specs.

Any suggestions,

Thanks,

Claude H.

 

above is my post from last december. It appears to be normal for the air to get "heated" passing thru to the cabin. I did have the amplifier fix done and it cools better but forget about expecting to cool the interior using fresh air . . .

 

I wonder if the heater control is completely shutting-off the heat. How can that be checked? Pinch-closed the heater supply hose with some kind of clamp maybe?

 

We're going to have an obscene amount of threads that look just like this one in no time, as well as AC threads. I don't even own the damn car and they're starting to get to me. :p

 

Yep, the AC situation will be a popular topic soon. And to add my 2¢, I have found that when I park the car warm, then get back in the air is very hot in the vents. If I run the ac for a few minutes to cool the air ducts, then turn it back to fan, it blows reasonably cool air.

 

My AC is cold, seriously, I've never had anything done to it, it cools better with recycled air but it cools from the vented air also. Been mid 80's off and on for the past two weeks.

 

Ditto

 

Someone should make a sticky about the A/C TSB here as well as the Tech forum.

 

For A/C see:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...07-002-04.html

 

If it's 60 to 70 degree's outside open a WINDOW!

 

.. it was 90 here yesterday when i left work and i had the windows and sunroof open. Once I got into stop and go traffic though, I closed them and turned on the air.

Summer heat is gonna be nasty. I'm so glad I got the windows tinted.

 

Houston here and the hottest so far has been about 89°F oustide the car. Humidity is low (for Houston) so far and I'm getting edgey about the a/c already. I wouldn't say it's faling, but it's ****-poor compared to what I'm used to (name any standard American-made care here). Granted, I like the cabin of any car I drive to be cold enough to hang meat in but even making allowances for this slight eccentricity, I'm beginning to worry about the 8. I keep meaning to place a thermocouple in the vent to measure the air temp but to the touch, it seems to be okay (on recycle air). What does seem lacking is "fan-power". It's like a whisper of air coming out of only 4 rather small vents. As others have indicated (well, some others), it eventually does get cool but the low air-volume-handling capability seems to be the root of the problem. I deal with it so far by opening the sunroof about 1/3 of the way and driving the first half mile or so with the roof open, hoping to give the hot air a place to go. It's working (somewhat) but we're about 14 degrees below summer temps and the humidity isn't EVEN beginning to get fired up for the summer yet. I'm expecting to suffer somewhat; hopefully not to an extent that will make me wish I'd bought another type of car. Don't get me wrong, I love the 8 and I can't think of driving it without a big smile crossing my face; but I am going to be stressing if the air conditioner is sub-par.

 

I'm so looking forward to the summer, driving around in my RX8! :D Have to still test out my AC, since its been pretty cool around here most of the days.

 

Same here! Mine hs been working like a champ. My windows are not tinted other than factory but when I am away from home I do park my car facing the sun and put in one of those foil covered sunshields in the windshield. This way the sun never directly enters the car and is reflected away by the sunshield.

 

Well, it has been well over 100 the past week here in Los Angeles. The A/C does work OK, only if you keep it on recirculate. There is a big difference between fresh air and recirculated when it's hot outside. I guess we just have to realize they didn't do a great job with the HVAC system. Oh well, that's life. If I want to drive in a meat-locker cold car, I just take the Lexus....but if I want to brave the heat and have fun...it's the RX8.

 

Tinted windows help a lot to keep the interior cool while driving or while parked. Also, take advatage of your sunroof and leave it in the "vent" position and your windows cracked while parked, this will let some of that heat out.