Assuming this is the way climate control is supposed to work, but hoping it's not... when the cabin temp reaches set limit, (cold weather) the air conditioner kicks in blasting cold air through the dash vents. Normal? gets a bit uncomfortable for the passenger. (for whom it's never warm enough- ) Input welcomed... Thanks

 

The only way your HVAC (Duel Climate Control) can change temp is to move the temperature control damper doors. The damper doors either BLOCK off the heater coil, block off the cooling coils or use a combination of both heat and cooling for somewhere in between.

That being said,, The FIRST thing that I would do is pull up the HVAC DTCs and see if you have any actuator control DTCs. When the damper door actuators reset them selves, they cycle fully in the heat and cold positions and then go to the drivers settings. If your dampers are having to reset each time you turn on the engine, you are going to get that blast of cold air or blast of hot air. or both

Something else to look at is,,, what MODE do you have the system set to or what mode does it go to when you unlock the car???

If your in automatic mode, the AC Compressor can come on any time. If you are in the DEFROST mode, the AC Compressor runs all the time (Above 32 deg).

Something that can change the HVAC Mode automaticly is FOB Memory.
If you press the MEM-1 or MEM-2 or MEM-3 and the HVAC is in a specific mode (say deforst),, each time you unlock the car, it sets the defrost mode.

Set all your fobs to the same settings (specific settings that you know what they were) and see if they change on their own when you unlock the car with the FOB.

If they do, you can have a weak (low charge) or bad 12 VDC battery. When the battery voltage drops LOW, all the memory settings revert back to the FACTORY DEFAULT settings. One of them is the defrost mode for the HVAC System!

Give that a look see and let me know if it makes sense.

See if you have HVAC B0361, B0363, B0441, B0446 DTCs after the burst of cold air.

Bill

 

It doesn't sound right. It should cut back the fan and it can also mix the air blowing out so it's a little cooler, but it shouldn't switch from blowing heat to blowing cold air. That sounds like one (passenger side) of the temperature control motors isn't working right and switching from full hot to full cold instead of regulating somewhere in between.

 

When it is at temperature, the air coming out of my vents is cool, but I wouldn't consider it cold. The downside is that the vents are normally blowing on my hands which makes my hands colder than the rest of me.

 

There should be a smooth and gradual transition of outlet air temperature until the system reaches your desired temperature setting.

Once the requested cabin air temperature is reached, any changes in the outlet air temperature should be almost undetectable.

 

Yes. After the cabin reaches set temp the upper vents allow colder air through. I like it. It keeps me awake and alert. I am unsure if it's A/C or just cold outside air.

You can postpone this by raising the cabin temp setting. If I choose to stop it in mine I raise the temp to 75-76.

 

thanks for the replies, guys. I hope to dig into Bill's suggestions soon...was just curious if others had this issue. As I, driving, don't get the cooler air, I can only assume it's cold and not just cooler. Doesn't take much to give the spouse a chill!! I'll report back with findings. It's good to know that the system isn't designed to blow cold to keep the cabin at 65, or so.

 

OK, Update: The DTC's show NO codes. I think my significant other just feels like it's cold air, but in reality, the cabin temp comes up to the set degree and the blower continues to push air into the cabin... I checked today and the system would move a small amount of unheated air while the fans were working...I suppose the fans would run with or without heat present. I'm cool with that. (no pun intended) but momma's used to warm air at different temps, but always warm. (or hot) Maybe she'll have to get used to it?? thanks for all the input, guys and have a Merry Christmas or ??