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Has anyone experienced the driver side air conditioning being significantly colder than the passenger side AC? In either AUTO mode or Manual with the passenger side set at same temp or lower than the driver side the air is tepid cool and feels warmer than the driver side. Driver side is cold yet the passenger side is warmer when set at the same temp or colder. My wife complaining it isn't getting cold enough. I have a dealer service appointment to diagnose the issue. Possibly someone on the forum has had the same experience? Thanks!
Me, lol! Exact same problem! Even the defroster, when set on lo/cold will blow cold on the drivers side and warm on the passenger side (same vent)! Dealer looked at my 2019 Convertible and hooked it to his computer thinking it was a temp valve actuator or AC/heat valves or the heater control panel. All were working as they should. He e-mailed GM and they advised he check the the ac system and see if it is fully charged. I didn't think a low charge would cause this problem but GM says it can. Tech got married on Saturday so I have to wait till he gets back next week to check the system. He's their Corvette guy and I like him so I'll wait, lol.
Let me know what your dealership says, thanks!
Last edited by Steel City; 08-07-2022 at 11:52 PM.
Thanks for responding Steel City. My service appointment is next week. Low refrigerant is not something I would have thought of either. My Service Manager speculated a mechanical issue behind the dashboard with a partial blockage caused by a sticking air gate directing cold air to the passenger side. Hopefully they can actually diagnose the issue since it doesn't make much sense.
The C7's have a great deal of hot air flow over the hood and under the hood. The cabin air intake is sucked air from the cowl under the rear of the hood. So when the outside temp is high, I find the AC works great if I set the ac-mode to recirculate. This does not suck in hot outside air which is too hot to cold down. It sucks air from under the dash which is cooled and then makes it cold coming out of the dash vents. Try it, you will see the difference. My previous C5, and 2 C6's didn't need to use recycle mode.
The C7's have a great deal of hot air flow over the hood and under the hood. The cabin air intake is sucked air from the cowl under the rear of the hood. So when the outside temp is high, I find the AC works great if I set the ac-mode to recirculate. This does not suck in hot outside air which is too hot to cold down. It sucks air from under the dash which is cooled and then makes it cold coming out of the dash vents. Try it, you will see the difference. My previous C5, and 2 C6's didn't need to use recycle mode.
I tried that and your right it does work better that way but nowhere near where it should be and the passenger side is still blowing warmer than the drivers side.
I tried that and your right it does work better that way but nowhere near where it should be and the passenger side is still blowing warmer than the drivers side.
Your car is low on freon, period. Warm driver side/cold passenger is a classic symptom. You don't have to look anywhere else for the cause. You can thank me in the morning.
Your car is low on freon, period. Warm driver side/cold passenger is a classic symptom. You don't have to look anywhere else for the cause. You can thank me in the morning.
My man! I hope that's it. GM thinks so too. My drivers side is cold, passenger side is warm. Just waiting for the tech to get back from his honeymoon. But the bad news is that there's a leak somewhere, no?
My man! I hope that's it. GM thinks so too. My drivers side is cold, passenger side is warm. Just waiting for the tech to get back from his honeymoon. But the bad news is that there's a leak somewhere, no?
freon is a lifetime gas. if it is low theres a leak somewhere no matter how small. need a dye test to locate the leak and fix it. until its found your just using freemen as a band aid
My man! I hope that's it. GM thinks so too. My drivers side is cold, passenger side is warm. Just waiting for the tech to get back from his honeymoon. But the bad news is that there's a leak somewhere, no?
Yes, but that still is not so bad. The leak can be very minuscule and a little bit of loss here and there over time. A freon recharge under this condition could last years before you need it again. Noticed my girlfriends 2013 Elentra was getting a pinch warm 4-5 years ago so I recharged it (yes it was a pinch low). Till this day it is still ice cold and I never did look for the leak.
A Professional A/C Tech that has a CFC License (That i have for Automotive Service) will RECOVER THE GAS IN THE SYSTEM. Then add Dye and then recharge the system. Then Check for LEAKS with a UV Light. Then make needed Repairs.
Your car is low on freon, period. Warm driver side/cold passenger is a classic symptom. You don't have to look anywhere else for the cause. You can thank me in the morning.
Thanks again! Car at the dealership today, sure enough, low on refrigerant. 45 minutes later, blowing cold from all vents! Thanks for the free diagnosis, lol!
A Professional A/C Tech that has a CFC License (That i have for Automotive Service) will RECOVER THE GAS IN THE SYSTEM. Then add Dye and then recharge the system. Then Check for LEAKS with a UV Light. Then make needed Repairs.
Originally Posted by Steel City
Thanks again! Car at the dealership today, sure enough, low on refrigerant. 45 minutes later, blowing cold from all vents! Thanks for the free diagnosis, lol!
Yep, that is the check for leaks process BUT not so easy to be sure you can find small leaks. Very long lines and junctions to get from the pair of front AC Condensers to the engine compressor and the under-passenger dash Evaporator and back to the front Condenser.
These are just the AC and coolant line in the tunnel. Not as simple as checking for small leaks in a FE car with Condenser, Compressor and Evaporator close to each other in the engine compartment.
^^^
When the link popped up in my email thought it was the current ones for the C8. Several having an issue with not cold enough on the passenger side!
Well I got my 2014 Z51 coupe back from the dealership service the other day for the passenger AC side not cooling as well as the driver side. Fortunately the mechanics have a test routine that exercises the small vent actuators and paddles that direct air to the dash vents both driver side and passenger side. The testing failed, throwing a code indicating the air directing mechanism for the passenger side not completing its full sweep. Consequently they had to pull the dash to access the right mechanism and found the nylon gear for it was worn down. Mechanic explained that when you start your C7 the car moves these actuators each time to see that they are working properly and to reset their position according to how the Heat/AC system is set. My Vette only has 10K mileage on it so not overused. Other than each time I start up this must have worn down the gear. Anyway, covered under extended warranty and now my wife is gonna need a sweater. All good again!
My two cents on this: Having worked on automotive a/c systems from back in the simpler days to the more modern systems, IMO we have one sophisticated system gents. But I think in the case of those of us having intermittent cooling issues, it may be due to the stupid AFM system. I was talking with the "old man tech" of the the Chevy dealer I used to work for and still take my vehicles to, about my 2016 GMC Sierra with a VERY intermittent no cold air at all. It would spontaneously start cooling just fine. He informed me there are additional components they made to help minimize the shutter/vibration of loads like the A/C or transmission during cylinder deactivation. So these compressors don't just have a variable orifice built in, they also have an electric control coil in the back to reduce compression. REDUCE COMPRESSION?!?! Yup, so in my truck's case, what's happening is this coil is sticking in the most reduced position, and I get no cold air, when it pops back into proper position, great A/C. I suspect we notice it more easily due to less insulation/lots of glass we have in these Vettes, they cause the interior to heat up more than say a Camaro (my last vehicle before getting this current Vette).
I have noticed while driving around, stopped or moving doesn't matter, the air coming out of the vents becomes noticeably warmer, but not hot and only for a minute or two, then goes back to good and cold. With leaks or part failures, we wouldn't have intermittent cold air, just hot. Now, I never use the ECO mode, as I'm sure 99% of us don't, so i can't explain why it would be engaging or moving the reduction coil in any amount while in normal "power" mode unless it's happening under WOT, and it's also very possible that there is a duct actuator not acting right. I've noticed every time I start it in the morning or a longer period of sitting, I can hear and feel the actuators rotating from their min and max positions( the way the HVAC module determines their zero and 100 positions) and this is annoying me because the control modules used to only do this if they were unsure of the actuator's position, under normal operation they shouldn't be doing position sweeps. At least that's the way they used to operate. Doing more digging and looking for a possible bulletin of some sort that might address it, but you're not going crazy, there is something weird happening. The connector on the back of the compressor circled in red is the thing I'm concerned with
08-07-2022, 11:44 PM
