Doctor Bob

Guys-My AC on max cold will get very cold for 10-12 seconds then will get warmer but still cool for 5-10 seconds then will get very cold again. This cycle will go on indefinitely and is associated with hearing engagement of AC clutch intermittently. Is this totally normal and not related to TSB? My VIN falls just after the ones in the TSB.

Thanks!

Bob

d0va

dr what about the water dripping inside

Doctor Bob

Dear d0va,

No water dripping inside. Seems to be same whether on fresh or recirc.

Thanks,

Bob

d0va

no actually water drops felt on her sandals and toe like 3 drops.....

Atacdad

It is normal for an AC to have water drip outside, under the car from the condensation on the coils... It is not normal for it to drip inside the car and those cases should be looked at.

That said, I've run my AC for hours and not noticed any water undere the car when I stop...has me wondering about it, since every other vehicle I've ever seen drips water when the AC is running.

TybeeRX-8

I just had my a/c module (or whatever they charged Mazda $469 for) replaced last week. Mine was a pre-order so it was within the vin numbers. Now the thing is, just before I took it in, the a/c started working great even in 90+ temps. I took it in and it still seems to blow cold, but more so when moving. And the default is now recirculate which I change to flow thru as soon as it cold. I guess it's a little better than my Miata, but not nearly to the level of my wife's Benz which is a "Climate Control set and forget."
In the final analysis, the a/c works ok and keeps the interior comfortable if not freezing. One other thing though is that I now notice that the engine cooling fans run far longer after shutdown on a hot day. I don't think this is a problem (Benz does this too), but it's a difference after the TSB fix.

epitrochoid

mine's doing the same thing..

i took it in last week for them to order the amp, but now the AC blows comfortably cool

91vert

I noticed that too one day after having my A/C amp replaced. Did you notice if you move the temp control **** one "click" from the coldest setting towards warm that the recirc automatically switched to fresh air? Mine does that.

The new amp did not fix the issue in my car either. It seemed to have helped a little, but I still get the cold-warm cycling. The warm is just not AS warm. I'm going to wait until we get a nice hot humid day here and see how it performs.....if it sucks, it is going right back to the dealership.

I saw where some people posted that their freon was a little low from the factory and had to be "topped off". I'm wondering if that might be the case with some of us who still have shitty A/C even after the amp replacement?

Boozehound

There is a performance test for your AC that they're supposed to check to see how yours stacks up. It involves rolling up all the glass, set to recirc, idling in the shade, blower on 3, cold set to max, and seeing what the temp is right at the two center vents. I would use that to measure how well your AC does. (I think the max temp in the target range is 46F, but I haven't looked in the shop manual in a while) I tried to capture the cycling this way, but my thermometer didn't respond nearly fast enough to the changes.

Other than emperical evidence, I had the amp replaced and when I'm at speed it seems to cool better, but idling, it's just as bad as it ever was. Oh well, it's like everyone says, comfortable but not cold. As soon as I find someplace to put on 30% ceramic tint, I think my problems will go away.

DJ Freon

If only ceramic tint wasn't so expensive! I have a friend that owns a tint shop, and I told him that I want to have a ceramic tint. He knows I like it cool in my house and my car (my thermostat at my house is set at 65 or lower year round). He told me to let him know when, and only then would he order the box of tint. Apparently it's so expensive he doesn't want it sitting around his shop eating up his open to buy! At least the RX-8 has some ceramic tint (or something resembling it) on the moonroof. Otherwise we'd all be cooking.


Speaking of which, anyone have a pic of a car with ceramic aftermarket tint? I'm sure it's not easy to see, but anything would be nice to see. It's not that common...

RAM

My air cools to a lower temperature after the fix. I measured it at 48 degrees at the vent and now it cools to around 40.

The compressor seems to cut out when at idle . . . I had the same thing happen in my rx7. I think it is designed to do that. Part of the "fix" was to have the system default to recirculate when the tempurature control is set at max (which makes sense I guess).

blue flash

my a/c will freeze your *** off. the only thing i dont like about it is when your at a red light the fan slows down. you can give it gas and it will speed up again

rx8cited

They (the Mazda dealer I took my car to) did this test and said everything was fine - but they agreed to replace the AC amp which I'm still waiting for.

Apparently their thermostat did not respond to the temperature cycling cold-warm-cold... every 2-3 seconds. So in my experience, the test your described was totally useless with the AC amp problem.

rx8cited

Doctor Bob

Guys-I live in Huntington Beach, CA where temp is always less than 80 F. Past week more tepid than cold air blows and I finally took car in today to dealer even though my VIN did not apply. After leaving car all day AC amplifier is on special order and may take a month to arrive! Glad I do not live in Las Vegas. This was my first visit to local service and gave them box of baked goods to go with their coffee-produced immediate smiling and very positive attitude on their part. Not saying we should all do this but goes a long way for good will.

Bob

boarder

Yeah, mine is great when moving at normal speeds. But at idle, when it is extremely hot outside (> 90 here in Austin), its kind of luke-warm. It always seems to be a problem when idling. Once the car moves for a bit, it seems to get much colder.

epitrochoid

yep, thats it...my civic did the same thing, but not nearly to this extent.

RAM

The compressor cuts out at idle . . . as it did on my Rx7.

former_s2k'r

Just got mine back from having them check the warm air problem at idle. At first they said the computer said everything was fine, but then I told the service guy to get of his lazy azz and drive it . He called me back and said he ordered the AC amplifier but it is on a 1 month backorder...grrrr

So is the amplifier not fixing the warm air at idle problem?

Air Force RX8

The TSB did not fix mine either, but I would rather have that right now...the high today here in the desert is 112 degrees with 75% humidity! Not fun, but hopefully enough feedback will get to MNA and they will put some effort into a real fix.

tintagel

Hey! It's over 100F here in Phoenix, AZ ! Now that's hot.

Interior car temperatures can approach 170F in a car left in the sun so what we've learned to do out here is to start with the AC on fresh air with the windows down and sun roof open for 1-2 minutes. This lets the superheated interior air escape. No point in trying to cool 170F air when fresh is only 115F!

Kewl

I had the AC Amp changed and it did improve, but Mazda needs to continue to work a fix. This level of performance is unacceptable.

91vert

This is what I'm experiencing.....which is in no way acceptable in my opinion. Any car that I have had prior to this one has never had an issue like this, so even after the new amp something is still apparently not fixed "all the way" with this. If I get stuck in traffic idling for an extended time, mine will eventually blow lukewarm humid air.


I will most likely be sending mine right back into the dealership again to see if there is anything they can do with it. I AM NOT putting up with this again all of this summer. I about freeze in my 1991 RX-7 convertible (black on black even!) with the A/C on fresh air and the blower running mid-speed. I don't think the A/C has ever even been charged or anything on that car and it has 96k on the odometer. A/C works 10 times better on that car than on the RX-8. Guess I'll be driving that car a lot more this summer if they cannot come up with a fix for this.

MNA.....you reading this??? FIX THIS PROBLEM!!

Tired of sweating in my car.......

Ron Rotor

Same problem w/my A/C. Dealer says TSB does not apply to me because my cars' build date is after 09/03. The A/C amplifier is already updated and Mazda says all is fine. I've talked to other RX-8 owners w/same issues. Not happy w/a/c and I will continue to complain

Doctor Bob

Dear Ron Rotor,

I have same issues and my build date is 11/03. I took into dealer and they ordered AC Amp-either they do not know and will not help or will. My VIN is not within MNA says is affected cars but am hoping will help but back-ordered till July. Maybe that's why your dealer is balking?

Bob

eXentric

I recently took my car in because it got flooded (fuel). I got it unflooded and got it flashed up to 'M'. I also had them work on the annoyance of the running water sound. All seems fixed.

Also bitched about the A/C and they supposidly order a "thermistor". Thermistors are defined as "thermally sensitive resistors and have, according to type, a negative (NTC), or positive (PTC) resistance/temperature coefficient". They say it's on back-order, which sounds familliar to what you are all saying about the AC amp, but are they the same thing?

I'm having the exact same problem where it cycles on and off. If it always stayed on the 'on' part of the cycle I'd freeze parts of my body off even in the Houston weather. But it cycles off for far too long in my opinion.

Anyway, just thought the work they're performing on mine sounded a little different then what they're doing for you so I figured I'd mention it. Like I said, the part is on back-order for an undetermined amount of time, but I'll let you know if it made a difference when they finally do get it installed.

Regards