1992-1999 Series I L27 (1992-1994 SE,SLE, SSE) & Series II L36 (1995-1999 SE, SSE, SLE) and common problems for the Series I and II L67 (all supercharged models 92-99) Including Olds 88's, Olds LSS's and Buick Lesabres Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.

A/C Problems - Cold then HOT then Cold then Hot!!!!!

Old 04-20-2006, 08:32 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Posts like a Turbo
Thread Starter
 
nick s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 302
Likes: 0
Received 22 Likes on 22 Posts
nick s is on a distinguished road
Default A/C Problems - Cold then HOT then Cold then Hot!!!!!

It has been a while since I last posted but here goes......

I gave the 97 to my daughter in January, she lives in Orlando and I in Arizona so I cant look at what you may recomend.
She called yesterday and said that the AC was blowing HOT air from the vents, I asked which vents, she said the dash vents. She also said that it never got cold, she drove to work and it was still HOT. She later left work and it worked like it should, COLD all the way home. She called again today and the same thing happened, she went off to work and it was HOT and blowing hard through the dash vents.

Any ideas I can relate to her?

thenks, Nick
Old 04-20-2006, 08:44 PM
  #2  
RIP
True Car Nut
 
Archon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Grand Rapids, Mi
Posts: 5,656
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Archon is on a distinguished road
Default

Can she check and see if the compressor is running each time? (Not running when it blows hot, and running when cold.) If it is running when cold, does it run most of the time at idle, or keep cycling on and off? It could just be low on freon, or have a bad pressure switch.
Old 04-20-2006, 10:34 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Posts like a Camaro
 
Bob Dillon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Gilroy, California
Posts: 922
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Bob Dillon is on a distinguished road
Default

Originally Posted by Archon
Can she check and see if the compressor is running each time? (Not running when it blows hot, and running when cold.) If it is running when cold, does it run most of the time at idle, or keep cycling on and off? It could just be low on freon, or have a bad pressure switch.
First of all, check the heater control valve and see that the dial is set all the way to the left. She might not have twisted it back to the cold side after using the heater. If she didn't, it'll blow hot.

I did that once. Pretty embarrassing, but when I moved it back from all the way right to all the way left, I had cold air again.
Old 04-20-2006, 10:49 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
Posts like a Camaro
 
Bob Dillon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Gilroy, California
Posts: 922
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Bob Dillon is on a distinguished road
Default

I guess the only thing to check before you go further then is that the ECC temp is set way lower than the outside air temperature.

Good luck.
Old 04-20-2006, 11:09 PM
  #7  
Junior Member
 
Ghostrdr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Arlington TX
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ghostrdr is on a distinguished road
Default

I had a similar problem with my '95, when you started it up it would go to full hot, then back to almost cold. If the car was already hot and it was a hot day, it sure wasn't pleasent to get blasted with that hot air everytime you started the car. The problem was the heater door actuator(not the controler) , and since you had to practicly tear the dash out to get to it, I took it to the dealer. The part was like $100.00 and nearly $500.00 labor to install it.


T.B.
Old 04-21-2006, 12:07 AM
  #8  
Senior Member
Posts like a Camaro
 
Bob Dillon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Gilroy, California
Posts: 922
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Bob Dillon is on a distinguished road
Default

By the way Bob, your UIM that I got from you must be still working just fine, I haven't had a call from her about any coolant problems.... thought you might like to know
Sure do, and thanks. I have about 45K on mine and Mark (Vital49) is about the same, so we're slowsly creeping up on the usual failure time for the stock uppers.

I'm pretty sure we're all OK. Keep your fingers crossed anyway.

Old 04-21-2006, 07:45 AM
  #9  
DINOSAURUS BOOSTUS

Expert Gearhead
 
BillBoost37's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Enfield, CT
Posts: 41,391
Likes: 0
Received 8 Likes on 8 Posts
BillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of lightBillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of lightBillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of lightBillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of lightBillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of lightBillBoost37 is a glorious beacon of light
Default

Nick..I'd run with the possible low freon /pressure switch for starters.

Both can cause issues and if pressure/freon levels are near the threshold, intermittant conditions could easlily occur.
Old 04-21-2006, 09:02 AM
  #10  
Senior Member
Posts like a Turbo
Thread Starter
 
nick s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 302
Likes: 0
Received 22 Likes on 22 Posts
nick s is on a distinguished road
Default

Originally Posted by BillBoost37
Nick..I'd run with the possible low freon /pressure switch for starters.

Both can cause issues and if pressure/freon levels are near the threshold, intermittant conditions could easlily occur.
would a code show up if it is the pressure switch?

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Quick Reply: A/C Problems - Cold then HOT then Cold then Hot!!!!!



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:30 PM.