AC Issues in Rain

[VA Tom]

I'll start by stating that I love my 2018 Genesis G80 Sport! One of best cars I've ever owned with one exception.

This is probably the strangest (and most annoying car issue I've ever experienced). It's happened 3 times in the past year, so I've pretty much figured out when it will happen, but with 3 trips to the dealership, they have yet to come up with a solution.
I posted about this last year when it first happened and have video evidence of the issue. Despite calls to the corporate engineers, (they are currently looking at the issue, but so far no solution and I can't believe I'm the only one having this issue.

My car is normally garaged and the AC works fine. However, on two long road trips, after the car sat outside in the rain for a weekend while travelling, the AC will work normally until about an hour into the drive, and then something (a flap, a baffle, main AC vent, or something) freezes up and almost NO air gets into the cabin. As stated previously, you can hear the fan roaring somewhere deep in the bowels of the car, BUT NO AIR IN CABIN. The last time (3rd time) it happened, I had driven from my home and all was fine. It began to lightly ran and, in the course of an hour, the AC simply stopped delivering air into the cabin!

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue. Love the car, but don't want a car that I can't drive in rain or summer. I'm no AC expert, but surely someone out there can at least figure out this cause. The morning after each event, there is a ton of water on the garage floor (much more than normal) which would again indicated something in the system massively froze up. Of course, by the time it gets to a dealer, it's working just fine and they can't recreate. Thankfully video shows the issue. Genesis corporate engineers are working on it...just wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

Had the same exact problem with my 2018 G80. There is an old post on this subject about replacing the AC "Thermistor" an $20 part that resolved my problem. Might want to look it up.

 

[Loved my 2013]

We have the same issues with 2018 G80. Dealership has no clue.

On last road trip @ ~100F with no air and, as with you, a recurring issue, no acknowledgement or solution from genesis ( who has to know about the issue - we are not alone) we decided we were done with this brand. Traded the car the next day for 2019 Audi A8. Haven’t looked back & the climate control works just fine.
We were devastated as we loved the car.

 

[Loved my 2013]

Had the same exact problem with my 2018 G80. There is an old post on this subject about replacing the AC "Thermistor" an $20 part that resolved my problem. Might want to look it up.

Genesis dealer changed that part + the compressor but, on road trips the issue resurfaced every time. BTW they also changed the steering rack as it tended to “lock” when negotiating turns. Just hope you don’t have to service your headlights or windshield washer bottle as they have to dismantle the entire front body work.

 

[EdP]

On last road trip @ ~100F with no air and, as with you, a recurring issue, no acknowledgement or solution from genesis ( who has to know about the issue - we are not alone) we decided we were done with this brand. Traded the car the next day for 2019 Audi A8. Haven’t looked back & the climate control works just fine.
We were devastated as we loved the car.

For mine, they evacuated the system, then recharged. Perfect since then. It was what the field engineer suggested, not the dealer.

 

[rbweddle]

My experience was like most. After driving at highway speeds (in Florida) the evaporator freezes up, the fan hits the ice and makes a lot of noise. and there is no cooling air from vents. My small town dealer has done there best. First replaced the thermister, second, suggested turning cooling system to recirculate, third, evacuate system and recharge. So far, so good. The dealer does not seem to have gotten direction from Genesis. My guess is that the solution is "very expensive" so Genesis will ignore issue until we all sell our 2018 G80s,

 

[TinsleyC]

For mine, they evacuated the system, then recharged. Perfect since then. It was what the field engineer suggested, not the dealer.

For those with the issue, the above seems to be the only fix that I've read on this forum. The amount, pressure, or level of Puron (or whatever they call the liquid/gas) is within a tight spec.

 

[G-132702]

My problem is different than most of the post I viewed. I have a 2020 G70 and starting a couple of weeks ago the passenger air vent by the window and the right vent in the center of the console blows cold air while the vent by the driver window and the left at the center of the console blows hot air. The temperature is set at 70 degrees and the Sync setting is on. Any comments of what could be wrong?

 

[drkjdr]

my g80 used to do the same thing. The dealer can fix the issue it was something in the dash that needed replacing.

 

[Speeder]

My problem is different than most of the post I viewed. I have a 2020 G70 and starting a couple of weeks ago the passenger air vent by the window and the right vent in the center of the console blows cold air while the vent by the driver window and the left at the center of the console blows hot air. The temperature is set at 70 degrees and the Sync setting is on. Any comments of what could be wrong?

Sounds like it may be a bad cabin air sensor. Don't know how many or where those sensors may be located.

 

[drkjdr]

something about a thermistor? (sp)

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[bubbaG80Sport]

Detailed information on the thermistor replacement is found in post #110 and #116 in this thread. In my case replacing the thermistor/HVAC Evaporator Temperature Switch did not resolve the issue. It ended up being low refrigerant level in the system. Adding 111.4 grams of R1234yf refrigerant solved my issue. See post #158 in this thread.

 

[EdP]

Detailed information on the thermistor replacement is found in post #110 and #116 in this thread. In my case replacing the thermistor/HVAC Evaporator Temperature Switch did not resolve the issue. It ended up being low refrigerant level in the system. Adding 111.4 grams of R1234yf refrigerant solved my issue. See post #158 in this thread.

In my case they evacuated and refilled the system. Been good since.

 

[salvageking]

In my case they evacuated and refilled the system. Been good since.

Mine was out of warranty - so bought a can of refrigerant and topped it off. Fixed for $20. YMMV.

 

[EdP]

Mine was out of warranty - so bought a can of refrigerant and topped it off. Fixed for $20. YMMV.

On Feb 15 I said it was good since. Not any more, a few days later, no AC.

There is a leak nothing in there. No trace of the red die they put in either. Went to a local shop, recharged, good for two days. They could not find the leak. Appointment with dealer on the 20th.

 

[salvageking]

On Feb 15 I said it was good since. Not any more, a few days later, no AC.

There is a leak nothing in there. No trace of the red die they put in either. Went to a local shop, recharged, good for two days. They could not find the leak. Appointment with dealer on the 20th.

Agree there's a defective seal somewhere in these systems.

I used the AC Pro which has a leak sealant in it. Worked for me.

I heavily doubt they inspected every fin gap in the evaporator (behind the dash) or condenser. The dye may not show a very slow leak? Hope they can fix your problem. I'm not sure if I'd put much more $$ into this - may be worth proposing the leak stop. I know some mechanics poo poo it.

 

[EdP]

Agree there's a defective seal somewhere in these systems.

I used the AC Pro which has a leak sealant in it. Worked for me.

I heavily doubt they inspected every fin gap in the evaporator (behind the dash) or condenser. The dye may not show a very slow leak? Hope they can fix your problem. I'm not sure if I'd put much more $$ into this - may be worth proposing the leak stop. I know some mechanics poo poo it.

I'm generally against such things but there are times it is a good solution. Costly to charge it every two days.

 

[joegr]

Agree there's a defective seal somewhere in these systems.

I used the AC Pro which has a leak sealant in it. Worked for me.

I heavily doubt they inspected every fin gap in the evaporator (behind the dash) or condenser. The dye may not show a very slow leak? Hope they can fix your problem. I'm not sure if I'd put much more $$ into this - may be worth proposing the leak stop. I know some mechanics poo poo it.

You apparently have R134a. At some point after your year they switched to R1234yf, which is much more expensive. If you mix it with R134a, you will get evaporator freeze up.

 

[18g80dude]

Mine was out of warranty - so bought a can of refrigerant and topped it off. Fixed for $20. YMMV.

Did AC Pro indicate that refrigerant was low when you attached it? I want to do the same as i have no confidence Genesis will ever fix mine. Also, how can we tell if we have R134a or R1234yf?

 

[joegr]

Did AC Pro indicate that refrigerant was low when you attached it? I want to do the same as i have no confidence Genesis will ever fix mine. Also, how can we tell if we have R134a or R1234yf?

There is a sticker under the hood indicating the refrigerant used. Note that R1234yf, is flammable, so take care.
The single, uncalibrated, gauge on those fix it cans is terrible. It's hard enough to tell if the level is correct using the correct low and high side gauges and comparing the reading to the temperature charts. The accurate way to do it is to pull all the refrigerant out and weight it back in. Anything else is a guess, and if you haven't done much AC work, it's an uneducated guess at that. I'm glad that it worked out for salvageking but I wouldn't expect that to be the norm.

 

[Radiator]

I had a relatively long drive from Orlando to West Palm Beach last week...and sure enough, I lost a/c air flow. It didn't take me long to find this thread, seems to be a very common issue. Frozen evaporator due to low refrigerant I suspect. I turned off the a/c and set the system to fan/vent and it eventually began blowing again...so I would turn the a/c back on. I suppose the real issue here will be finding the leak.

I hope someone is able to find a lasting fix. :-(