2012 Sedan 3.8 engine. A/C slow to cool. HWY speeds help but still takes minutes where the rest of the cars in the family take seconds.

[Snggletooth]

Problem has been going on for years now. It's far worse when it is hot or humid. God forbid both. I've had it in the shop for this. The tech said something about condensation in the system making it inefficient. He fixed that and it was OK for 1 season. Maybe part of 1 season. The coolant is full. How do I get my car to actually cool quickly when it is more than 70 degrees outside?

 

[joegr]

The amount of coolant in your engine really has little affect on the AC. Your symptoms are pretty common for having a low refrigerant level in the system. Maybe you have a leak? The first thing to check would be the refrigerant level. Some (but not all) other things to check are:
Bad compressor control valve.
Bad expansion valve.
Clogged Drier, clogged condenser.
Bad compressor
...

 

[Snggletooth]

The amount of coolant in your engine really has little affect on the AC. Your symptoms are pretty common for having a low refrigerant level in the system. Maybe you have a leak? The first thing to check would be the refrigerant level. Some (but not all) other things to check are:
Bad compressor control valve.
Bad expansion valve.
Clogged Drier, clogged condenser.
Bad compressor
...

I said coolant - I meant refrigerant. I checked it and it's fine. Firmly in the center of the green on the recharge kit.

 

[Snggletooth]

And now I have a bunch of stuff to look up - yay!

 

[DaleNet]

A good A/C guy should be able to diagnose what and if any of the components are bad. Remember, I did say GOOD A/C guy. There are plenty that will tell you need to change all kinds of things. If you had moisture in the system before, you may need a new drier canister. If they did not replace that and did not pump the system down, then the moisture would not have been purged.

 

[joegr]

I said coolant - I meant refrigerant. I checked it and it's fine. Firmly in the center of the green on the recharge kit.

That tells you almost nothing at all.
To check the charge with gauges, you need the high and low side gauges, to follow the correct procedure which specifies blower speed and engine speed, and then to compare to a chart listing the expected pressures vs exterior temperature. The gauges on the fill cans are nearly useless. Even with the charts and the full gauges, it's still a guess. The only way to actually be sure is to pull it all out and weigh it back in.

From your response, I'm going to guess that you also don't have a vacuum pump or recovery machine. You'll need to find someone that knows what they are doing that has the correct equipment.

 

[Snggletooth]

That tells you almost nothing at all.
To check the charge with gauges, you need the high and low side gauges, to follow the correct procedure which specifies blower speed and engine speed, and then to compare to a chart listing the expected pressures vs exterior temperature. The gauges on the fill cans are nearly useless. Even with the charts and the full gauges, it's still a guess. The only way to actually be sure is to pull it all out and weigh it back in.

From your response, I'm going to guess that you also don't have a vacuum pump or recovery machine. You'll need to find someone that knows what they are doing that has the correct equipment.

Well, crud. That means taking it to a shop. I've gone to several since I moved here 2 years ago and not one of them was actually competent. The Hyundai dealership was downright abusive. Doesn't fix problems but does try to charge me hundreds of dollars for a 5 minute fix for a cosmetic issue.

 

[DaleNet]

Yes, you will need to take it to a shop to get a proper fix. @Joeger is correct in that you need gauges on the low and high side to see if the system is in fact full and working as it should. Will show if valves are working correct or other issues. It does sound like it is low of refrigerant if it cools down but just takes a while, but I am no expert. It has been a long time since I worked on A/C systems.

 

[PMCErnie]

If praying over it doesn’t work, take it to an AC repair specialist.

By the way, your ‘12 Genesis first went on sale in 2011. It won’t operate indefinitely without maintenance.

 

[12Genesis3.8]

I’m having the same problem. Same year same model. I’m in south Florida and it takes forever to cool down in the afternoons. But when it does it works well. Nice and cold. I did buy a recharge kit with a gauge. I hooked it up but the level was in the green so I didn’t add to much.

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[toxicavenger70]

Find a local air conditioner specialist. Not a repair shop. Like joegr mentioned a regular off the shelf gauge is not the solution. The freon needs to be removed and recharged.

 

[AlexJ]

How old is your cabin filter? They are cheap and I like to replaced them each year. A dirty one can make quite a bit of a restriction and reduce how well it works. Also if you aren't using a windshield shade it will take a while to get all the vents cold before it starts to get really cold out of the vents. Other than that there isn't a lot you can check at home. Most systems will need a recharge every 5 years or so and with our cars as old as they are it wouldn't surprise me if the compressor is starting to wear and not being as efficient as it can be.

 

[Charlie1982]

How old is your cabin filter? They are cheap and I like to replaced them each year. A dirty one can make quite a bit of a restriction and reduce how well it works. Also if you aren't using a windshield shade it will take a while to get all the vents cold before it starts to get really cold out of the vents. Other than that there isn't a lot you can check at home. Most systems will need a recharge every 5 years or so and with our cars as old as they are it wouldn't surprise me if the compressor is starting to wear and not being as efficient as it can be.

That’s kind of disappointing to hear, because I’ve owned a 1998 BMW for nearly 14 years now, and never needed to touch ANYTHING in the A/C system. It’s always been icy cool, when I needed it. Maybe I’ve just been lucky? Have all you people here needed A/C service periodically?

 

[Gunkk]

Have all you people here needed A/C service periodically?

Never touched the AC on either car. Always works.

If the car sits in Florida sun for a few hours and gets >150F inside it will take a few minutes for the AC to cool it down. I keep the windows open until the car interior cools off a bit. Parking in shade, or even using a sunshade makes a huge difference.

"Slow to cold" AC has always been the case with our cars. The AC system is a bit undersized for the southern USA.

 

[gatyameli]

I've found the gauges on recharge kits aren't always that accurate. Your local autozone or the like will loan out for free, more accurate gauges to measure the pressure. FWIW no matter the size of the cabin that needs to be cooled, I'd measure the temp coming right from the duct. It takes very little volume of cold air to cool the interior of a sedan, and even a compressor half the size of the one in the Genesis would eventually cool it off.