After almost 14,000 miles, I've now joined the group who have experienced A/C problems. Never experienced a problem up here in the mountains of NE Arizona, but the first time I went down to the Phoenix area . . . with temps around 112, the A/C began to malfunction. During any shopping type driving (drive to some shopping area, stop, on to another area), the A/C would blow only hot air until I either stopped and shut down the engine and restarted, or (after reading several posts about hitting the snowflake button) shutting the A/C off and hitting Auto again. Usually, that would result in a restart! Upon returning to the mountains and cooler temps, the problem disappears.
I've contacted two Phoenix area dealers asking if there were any MX bulletins on this system or this phenomena. Nothing. Also told them that several Forum members had experienced similiar problems. Still nothing. Asked if they (dealer service departments) could contact the factory and confirm that GM has determined that 1.4 pounds of freon (R134) in the A/C system is too much, and that 1.1 pounds is now the standard on all new car production. Service department reps seemed to be either unable or very reluctant to query the factory.
Has anybody been able to absolutely confirm that the factory is now putting only 1.1 pounts of R134 in the A/C systems of new Vettes, and if so, how can that information be communicated to Arizona dealers?
JuvatPilot

 

Yep, it's confirmed by a fellow AZ sufferer. He got it fixed at Freeway Chevy. Here's the link to the goods.

A/C Fix Thread

I had the same problem and was one of the first to bring it up on the forum (my luck with this car) and the problem went away after Van Chevy in Scottsdale tinkered with it "but didn't do anything". I think they let out enough refrigerant to make a difference.

Good luck!

Chris

 

My dealer handed me the R134A bulletin directly from GM. It uses language like reducing refrigerant to 1.1 lbs. from 1.4(new cars are being shipped with 1.1 lbs.) may help the problem. I had this done and my car ran well for about 2 days in low 80 ambient temps. Today at 95 degrees outside my A/C blows cold/warm until I hit the snowflake on and off. Problem keeps repeating in stop and go traffic. At highway cruising speeds it stays on. Not sure GM has the true fix yet. At least the bulletin wasn't convincing...and in my case it offered only a temporary fix.

My car has been in the shop for an 8 day stretch and a 3 day stretch on this problem. With 80 miles in dealer test drives. It's back to the dealer next week, because this week the tech who is chasing the problem is on vacation. The dealer has been good to deal with. GM support has sucked. And I have little confidence that GM will do what is necessary to absorb the cost on a non-saftey issue and offer a viable fix.

 

Does this have anything to do with the motor getting very hot and the A/C shutting down until the motor cools? If you are running in 112 degree ambient temps, I could see that happening as a way to save the motor and other systems.

 

i had this happen to me today.....and wouldn't you know it, it was the hottest day of the year here in the sacramento valley.....103°

kept alternating between running cool air like normal, then slowing down and pumping warm air out for a while....then back and forth, etc.

the dealer said there were no tsb's but he will "look it over next week"

with like h*ll there was more definitive word from the factory on thisss

 

Contact Roger Young at Freeway Chevrolet Service Dept. in Chandler (I-10 and Ray Rd.).

He had my A/C evacuated and put 1.1 lbs of refrigerant in.

The best part is my C6 was in and out of the shop within six hours.

Since then, I have had no problems.

Before that, I couldn't drive anywhere in Phoenix without my A/C shutting down!

 

The manual states that the computer will cut out the a/c if engine temps get beyond the norm until the temp comes back down.It may not be a problem with the a/c in many cases.I think Blythe ,Az is probably the hottest place I have ever been in the summer.I remember having to not only shut off my a/c on my pickup going through that area on the freeway,but turning on my heater full blast to keep my engine from overheating.

 

No A/C problem here in Havasu 120 degrees yesterday.
Same, and normal coolant/oil temps.

 

I tried to get an appt. for the crank pulley issue and the service manager here in Las Vegas said he had 43 Corvettes ahead of me - for air conditioning issues and overheating. Ugh.

My car does this sometimes too - but I've noticed if I shut the car off, then in a few minutes get back in and drive off, I have no AC. It takes shutting the system all the way off or getting out of stop 'n' go traffic for it to start working again. It also seems the auto function turns the blower too low too quickly. I'm still hot. If I go off auto and turn the blower on high, it works. I'm betting there's a heat sink somewhere in this system and maybe additional insulation on the lines might help.

Gregg.

 

Drove mine to work today to check the AC and was very happy. The water temp stayed about 200 but the oil sure seemed a little high 232.
Trans seemed to be around 200 also. We saw 115 here in Las Vegas today so it doesn't get much worse. Hope things keep on as they are...
Oh yea, Z51 auto.

 

Has anyone heard of a certain build date, where the a/c problem was corrected?

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

 

[QUOTE=SCModerator]I tried to get an appt. for the crank pulley issue and the service manager here in Las Vegas said he had 43 Corvettes ahead of me - for air conditioning issues and overheating. Ugh.

43! Hope that is a mix of every year built or that the dealer is maybe exaggerating a tad to put you off.

 

where did you find this? i just read thru the whole A/C section and couldn't find anything like that.....

and besides....even if it is somewhere else in the manual, if that's true then why are the dealers draining out some of the fluid as a fix? wouldn't they just refer you to the manual and show you the door?