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Weak/inconsistent A/C 2013 Sierra

zedbear

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zedbear Enthusiast

zedbear

Posted
Posted

Been having an issue with my A/C. Bought the truck new this past winter. Has auto climate controls. It was a cold spring but we got one good 80+ degree day in April and was finally able to try out the A/C for a bit. Worked great. I stopped for gas and then restarted and drove off. Noticed the A/C was blowing warm. Played with the controls a bit but nothing. Stopped and popped hood and found the compressor wasn't running. Drove it 15 miles home and the whole way it still wouldn't work. Parked it and 2 hours later drove it again and it was suddenly working again.... :dunno:

 

The rest of the spring and into early summer was pretty cool and the a/c was barely used. When it finally started warming up, I started using it more and noticed a few things. First, often when I let off the gas and am coasting, it will start blowing warm humid air for 5-10 seconds. If I'm coasting to a stop and sit there at a light for a bit, it will often not recover sufficiently until I start driving again. For example, the other day I made a left turn and then had to stop suddenly behind a stopped car making a left. Warm humid air started coming out. It didn't really start cooling well again until I punched it after the car finally turned and got a sudden blast of ice cold air......

 

I also have noticed it takes forever to really start blowing cold when I first start it after sitting. It will blow coolish but not cold. I have confirmed the cooling fans are working. Temp probe in center vent shows 40 degrees when its cooling right, sometimes a little less. When it starts blowing warm, it rises to 50+ before it recovers. Something is not right. Never had a vehicle that behaved like this before. I took it to the dealer and they gave me the usual "operating as designed" BS. When I asked, they didn't even hook a gauge set up to it. Its driving me crazy, especially in traffic when it keeps blowing clammy air almost every time I let off the gas. I've noticed at idle that if I raise the rpm to 1000+, it will blow pretty cold. I understand cooling performance will degrade a bit at idle but this seems messed up.

 

 

scooby5121 Enthusiast

scooby5121

Posted
Posted

Your problem is not normal....

I would think the blend door is opening under a vacum leak.meaning the heater core is throwing warm air into your vents. Just enough to piss you off....

I just changed the switches in a ford that had the same problem your describing.

 

Compressor not running could mean low on gas, bad wiring connectiion, or faulty clutch on compressor.

 

Anyways bring it to another Dealership . Good Luck Scooby

  • 2 weeks later...
PH-Wolf Enthusiast

PH-Wolf

Posted
Posted

It could be alot of things causing this, from restrictive air flow threw the condenser, low Freon, restriction in the system, Cooling fans not coming on soon enough or pulling enough air threw. In my 2011 my A/C is ICE cold, too cold IMO and I have to turn the temp up a bit or shut if off and on cause after a few minutes I'm shivering, even at idle.

MikeNH Senior Enthusiast

MikeNH

Posted
Posted
You have a "normally weak" A/C.

 

Hardly. Something is wrong. My AC is ice cold within moments of turning on.

 

To the OP- are you using auto mode? If so it sometimes backs off on cooling as the setpoint is reached.

zedbear Enthusiast

zedbear

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Its very cold if I've been driving it for awhile. The most annoying thing is when it seems to cut out for a moment when coasting. It has to be related to the time when it wouldn't work at all for a couple hours. I wish it would just quit working again so they could find the problem.

 

I was in Texas last week and it was hot. It seemed to perform pretty well except for that coasting thing sometimes. I'm just going to let it go for now and see what develops.

 

I use auto mode but sometimes manual. Doesn't seem to make a difference.

  • 2 weeks later...
primered92 Enthusiast

primered92

Posted
Posted

Mine has been acting up as well in my 2010. I took it back before my bumper to bumper was out and they replaced the high side fitting. They told me it was leaking and recharged it. Well now, a couple of weeks later, it's doing the same thing. It won't cool off at idle, I have to drive it around, and still it doesn't blow cold unless I've been driving for 20+minutes. When I get out on the highway and step on it, it goes back to blowing cool air instead of cold air. Well now my truck is 2,100 miles out of warranty, and the dealership won't bite the bullet on the fact that they didn't fix it the first time! I'm gonna have to deal with someone a little higher up when I take it back next week.

Bad Bowtie2 Enthusiast

Bad Bowtie2

Posted
Posted

Yes, keep persuing this. It all falls back on this last "warranty" repair.

 

You DO have a leg to stand on per say..... :driving:

primered92 Enthusiast

primered92

Posted
Posted

I get my truck back today, they told me it was the high pressure switch, again. The service rep told me that the one they put on must have gotten damaged during shipping. How does something like this get damaged during shipping? If its that fragile, what's it doing on a truck?

  • 11 months later...
primered92 Enthusiast

primered92

Posted
Posted

I hate to bring up a year old thread but I'm STILL having this problem and now I'm out of warranty. I bought the extended master tech warranty but my service director tells me that the dealership needs it to check for the problem and if they find one they have to call master tech to see if it's covered. What's the point in the extended warranty if it won't cover it? Then there's a deductible IF master tech decides to take care of it, if not, I'm out 107$. I really wish my ac worked but I just don't have the money right now to have it even looked at. Texas heat SUCKS. Maybe I'll get my old 92 out of the trees and go back to driving it for a little while. It gets better mileage and I KNOW the ac blows cold, way colder than my 4 year old truck. Anyone else have the same problems?

00Silverado4x4 Senior Enthusiast

00Silverado4x4

Posted
Posted

Did you ever have the AC charge checked? It may be as simple as under/overcharged refrigerant. You can pick up a gauge and hose from auto parts store pretty cheap so you can check for yourself. When I first moved from Alaska to Georgia both my truck and my wife's Jeep were pretty weak in the AC area so I checked them both and both were just barely in the "good" zone for charge. I added a little to both and my truck works great, the wife's Jeep still takes some time because of the cargo area but still blows cold.

  • 10 months later...
AZCHEV New Member

AZCHEV

Posted
Posted

zedbear,

 

Has yours been fixed??. What did they do. I need some help, please.

 

 

I'm having the same issue with my 2013 Chevy. Let off the throttle to slow down or come to a stop, A/C temp rises to 48-50F. Just had it in the shop for the second time, they pulled the Freon out, pulled a vacuum and recharged it, adding another ounce or two of Freon. Works worse now, the coldest it gets is 45F. It has less of a temp swing now, but still doesn't get to 40F.

 

My 1990 K-1500 would get down to 36-38F, you could get ice cubes coming out of those vents. R134 sucks.

Bad Bowtie2 Enthusiast

Bad Bowtie2

Posted
Posted

And that is the reason I tell all of my family & friends, if your going to buy ANY extended warranty, make sure it is the manufactures warranty. Not some mickey mouse "aftermarket" warranty. Heck, some dealerships/repair shops will not even deal with these idiots. Imagine you are on vacation & something happens? Your 3 states away from home, where you bought this "Master Tech" extended warranty, the shops there might not have even heard of these goons before. They would tell you it's on your dime, "You can fight with the extended warranty company when you get back home".

 

With a GM, Dodge, Ford extended warranty (as an example), it's good in all 50 US States!! It's a no brainer. Plus they usually extend the roadside assistance, pay for a wrecker service, rental car, and hotel stay if you are away from home. Then some for food, etc.

 

Buying anything other than a manufacturers extended warranty is like playing Russian Roulette IMHO. :happysad:

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