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Air conditioner acting wonky...

10K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  kylemarshall 
#1 ·
Hi all. I wasn't able to find anything like this anywhere in the forums so here goes:
While out and about late this afternoon, my daughter and I found the air conditioner in my 2013 Elantra wasn't pumping out cold air. It was working normally and well earlier today as well as yesterday. I decided to just switch it off and cruise with the windows down but when I switched the a/c switch off the compressor kicked in and nice cold air began blowing out of the vents. We tested it some more and found the a/c switch was working completely opposite to normal. If I turned the a/c switch off, the air conditioner began working. When I turned the a/c switch (or Max a/c) on the air conditioner turned off. We stopped at the mall for a cpl hours and when I started the car up again the same thing was happening. A few minutes later I stopped to fuel up and when I started up again the system worked properly. 10 minutes down the road the a/c system had returned to it's reverse functioning again. Does anyone have any ideas at all about this?
 
#2 ·
This is different from your problem, but I thought I post it anyway. When I first turned off the A/C due to no air flow from the vents, the air flow came back on and was cold at first. See below: I recently traveled to Tennessee where the weather warmed to around 85 F. The air conditioner acted normally at first, then it malfunctioned. The fan speed was set on 2 when the car started to heat up slowly. I increased the fan speed to max and noticed there wasn't any air to speak of out of the vents. I tried different settings (defrost, floor vents, etc.). It did not make a difference. I could hear the fan making noise (like on high speed) but no air. I finally turned off the A/C and the air flow kicked back on; not immediately but fairly quick. After that I turned on the A/C and it worked for a few minutes, but the air flow quit again. I turned the A/C off again for short period of time and the air flow started again. When I turned on the A/C again, everything worked fine. Anyone have any idea what caused this? I'm fairly certain I heard the fan when the problem occurred (just no air flow). I am bringing the car into the dealer next week. At the present time the A/C is working fine.
 
#3 ·
Same issue with me. Last year I had to replace the condenser supposedly due to a crack, which leaked all the freon. After a year, I turned on the AC, no cold air, only warm. I'm getting no hissing sounds from the vents at all. Not sure what the deal is. Maybe I need to recharge the freon again? Better not be another leak or a crack in the condenser because that would be ridiculous...
 
#4 ·
Last fall when I brought my car in they did a software update on the cooling fan. When I drove out of the shop my air conditioner was no longer working. They have tried another update and then the car ended up overheating. Apparently they had the same problem with quite a few other cars that got this cooling fan update at the same dealer. I'm not sure if this was a canada-wide problem or only a problem at this dealership. I keep bumping into other owners of elantras of various years that say they are having problems with their air conditioner also. Wonder why they're not doing a recall on this. The air conditioner works some of the time but most of the time it does not work. Oh yeah and at the same time I had this air conditioner problem happen, a week later the airbag module went to the tune of $1,000. I would swear somehow the two are related but Hyandai insist they are not. I'm interested to know if anyone else had this problem too.
 
#6 ·
Latest Update. Took the car to the dealer today for my appointment to get this fixed. They did a computer reset and advised it was all working properly again. I drove away and found the problem was still there so after making a stop elsewhere I drove it back with the a/c on, had the service guy put his hand in front of the vent then switched the a/c off and watched the amazement on his face as the air turned ice cold. Completely baffled him lol. He was sure they had it fixed. They have booked it back in and will try resetting the ecu back to before the latest software update, which was shortly before I noticed this problem. Fingers crossed... I have faith they will get it fixed. This dealership has always done well by me in the past.
 
#16 ·
A sign of a bad mechanic is one that starts updating and resetting...
That's like your computer is fried and wont boot but you keep trying to install windows and pressing the reset button thinking it'll change.
At this point a good mechanic would immediately be checking how to power is working at the relay, the clutch, etc etc. find the source of the problem then figure out if its software or hardware. Basic diagnosis course must have been lost to him.

Anyways, glad they fixed it eventually.
 
#11 ·
Hey everybody. Thanks for the replies and the whole a/c discussion. I do appreciate what SH@UN is saying and he does have a point. When someone posts a problem in the forums looking for helpful advise or similar experiences and possible resolutions from other owners, it can be frustrating to continually check new postings hoping for clues or answers to your problem and finding discussions about totally unrelated issues. However, with that being said, it is also a boon to many people to find many different issues with the same system (ie: a/c system) posted and discussed in the same posting. From experience I have found this to be more helpful when searching the forums for a problem I have had with my car. More info, fewer postings, better chance of finding possible answers. Please lets keep in mind the heading of the post was "Air conditioner acting wonky..." so the varied responses could also have been a result of me using a title that was somewhat vague. Just food for thought everybody.

Anyway, I wanted to give an update on the original issue: Took my baby back to the dealership today and they reverted the software back to the version previous to the latest ECM software update. Everything is back to normal and working perfectly again. It even resolved the hesitation and roughness of the acceleration in 2nd gear I had previously noticed. The techs advised me as well that just this past Sunday a recall notice was issued to reverse the update (which was installed because of an earlier recall notice) which just goes to prove the old adage : To Err Is Human, To Really Screw Things Up Takes A Computer.

End result - My baby's back to being the ice cold beast she was meant to be :) LOL
 
#14 ·
End result - My baby's back to being the ice cold beast she was meant to be :) LOL
"Ice cold!" That's putting it mildly, big fella. For me, it's more a case of FROZEN! Thank the world for blower controls and temp adjustment settings. Otherwise: :frozen:
 
#12 ·
Thanks for your update. I just discovered the same issue today and found your original post through a google search. I had a software update also a few months ago but I guess I haven't run the a/c before now. Guess I will be calling the dealership on Monday to get an appointment to fix it. Any chance you have a TSB# on your invoice that I can quote to them? TIA.
 
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