air conditioning sub par for a luxury car

[danieltoye101@msn.com]

I've always taken "recirulation" for granted to cool your cabin the quickest. I remember cars in the 70's had knobs labeled 'A/C" and "Hi A/C" which I believe is now more commonly known as "recirulation"

 

[Disaster]

The reason the recirculate function causes the car to cool in its fastest manner was clearly described on "Cartalk" on NPR in a manner even I understand.

In net: Best practice to get fastest cooling is to start off in Recirculate mode, and switch to normal mode once the car is cool.

Actually, this isn't totally accurate. When you first step into a car the inside air temperature might be as high as 150 degrees...considerably hotter than the outside air so it is an advantage to not recirculate this overheated air...at least for the first minute or so.

What you want to do, is open the car and run the A/C on fresh air mode. That creates a positive pressure which will expel overheated interior air faster. Once the air temperature in the cabin drops to close to the outside air temperature (will happen quicker with windows open) recirc will cool the air more.

The other thing that isn't totally accurate is their comment that recirc is not more efficient than fresh air. Once the car is cooled down, the air conditioner will cycle less when it doesn't have to cool down the air as much...like when the air is being recycled. On less expensive cars, where you can only turn the air conditioner off and on, it won't make a difference, but on more expensive auto systems it does.

 

[gulfer2000]

Does any one think the back a/c is very weak? It's like a wisper of a wind?

 

[ASHDUMP]

This is an interesting thread.

I will say the Genesis air conditioning acts differently than some of my other cars I've owned and it is noticeable... in a good way. I recently just purchased a F150 (1998 new to me) and the AC screams at me when I have it on medium and full blast. The Genesis on the other hand, is quiet when at lower and medium levels but still pumps out air at a good velocity. I'd love to see some CFM specs on it.

Either way, I don't think I've ever ridden in a car which the AC system was as quiet as the Genesis.

 

[STREETS]

I does take a lengthy time for the COLD to start pumping out upon start up.

 

[ckon]

One last thing, every so often, run your hand over the rear center vent to make sure it is putting out COLD air and not HOT air. For some reason, the hot/cold control on mine sometimes goes to hot, without me touching it. That control is a seperate control, that has nothing to do with the dashboard controls. I keep saying that I'm going to tape my rear central control to cold, or even jam it in the cold position with a piece of cardboard, but I have not done it yet. I just reach back and if it is coming out warm/hot, I just move the control down to cold.

No complaints re: the AC, but when I read this comment I went out and checked the control on my 2010. The control was satisfactorily firm and had a definite detent at each end of it's travel so there is no chance of it's setting changing accidentally. Maybe a mid-model change or a TSB?

 

[Bocatrip]

I never really looked into the A/C as being inefficient, but I only had a few test drives and it was not as torrid as it gets here in Florida. I am used to my G35 for hanging sides of beef as it it one of the coldest a/c units out there. If the Hyundai is truly anemic, I would have to count it out. The next time I go for a drive, I will pick a car that is baking in the sun and give it a try. That is usually the best way to check out the efficiency and time it takes to cool down.

 

[nearwater]

Hmm.. Never thought the a/c was subpar.
It's been mid to high 80s for the past days and the a/c got cool enough in a reasonable time.
Cooling seat helps a lot too.

Dan

 

[MichaelOne]

I'm very pleased with the AC operation. This is the first car I've owned where I was actually able to make use of the Auto setting. On other vehicles it was too loud, too cold, etc. (Part of this, I think, is because the Genesis has so many gradations in the fan speed, whereas most other cars have only four.) This one settles down to a tolerable setting fairly quickly. The only option I manually alter is to split the flow into the floor ducts, and I let everything else run itself.

 

[vocalistbob]

It doesn't really matter what gyrations you need to go through to get acceptable cooling - this is a $40K car and the a/c should not be an issue - period.

When I park my Genesis outside in 85 - 90 degree temps, it blowing very hot air for the first couple of minutes, even when it's set to "recycle". This was NOT true for my TL or my G35. The interior of both those cars was darker than my Genesis's, but they cooled off much quicker.

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[mikec]

It doesn't really matter what gyrations you need to go through to get acceptable cooling - this is a $40K car and the a/c should not be an issue - period.

When I park my Genesis outside in 85 - 90 degree temps, it blowing very hot air for the first couple of minutes, even when it's set to "recycle". This was NOT true for my TL or my G35. The interior of both those cars was darker than my Genesis's, but they cooled off much quicker.

A coworker has a G35 coupe and I've learned to aim the dash vents away from me when he first fires up the A/C. It takes about 10 seconds for his car to quit blasting really hot air and provide chilled air. Pretty typical in my experience; most cars need a few seconds to get chilled air of some sort. My late-80s vintage other cars, with black leather interiors, blast warm air for about 5 seconds as well. The a/c controller on those cars though has some smarts; it keeps the fan speed down until its own temp sensor says the a/c evaporator is actually chilling the air... then it jumps the fan full speed.

My Genesis sedan operates about the same: it takes a couple seconds to get chilled air. But not "blowing very hot air for the first couple of minutes" as your car does. Your car needs a trip to the dealer for warranty work; that's not normal at all. If they argue, get the "keys" to a similar one on the lot that's been sitting out there all day and compare. It sounds like the compressor clutch isn't engaging properly or that the refrigerant level is really low. Any idea what the air temps coming from the vents eventually is? It ought to be below 50 degrees F if the refrigerant charge is correct.

So far I haven't had any reason to complain about the Genesis A/C operation. I haven't tested it in Death Valley or anything like that; but I have used it crossing the SoCal desert and Nevada deserts when it was in the 90s. I didn't need the A/C anywhere near max to keep the interior comfortable. And I like it cool compared to most folks.

mike c.

 

[jgriffter]

So I have been wondering if my AC is working as well as it should. I had the dealer check it last time I was in for an oil change and he said it was ok, but I am still in doubt. The air vent temp is running about 46 at it's coldest, moving to 58 or so when the compressor shuts off. Even with the temps set to low, the condenser will cycle on and off. I checked the low side reading and it is running about 35 lbs with an ambient temp of about 90. I am wondering if the system is either under or over filled because of the compressor cycling even when the car is not very cool. Has anyone measured their low side R134 level - especially some of you who believe their air conditioner is running great?

Here in Houston, air conditioners are a must! Of the three cars we have ( Genesis, Lexus LS430 and SC430), the Genesis is the worst of the ACs. Any ideas?

 

[vocalistbob]

My a/c has been the only major disappointment with my Genesis. If the outside temp is in the low 80's, the a/c is fine. Anything above that and it takes a minimum of 45 seconds before it stops blowing hot air & begins to blow cool air. I have tried every trick - turn off the "auto" & run it manually, shut the rear vents, make sure the rear vents are at their lowest setting - nothing seems to work. BUT....
...I just traded (long story) my 2009 4.6 for a 2010 3.8. I'm dying to see if I have the same problem with the newer car.

 

[Sonata2009]

I'm sure you've heard it before, but make sure the rear vents are turned down to cold - they have a tendency to creep up to HOT. Can make it tough to cool down the car!

 

[tjc78]

My a/c has been the only major disappointment with my Genesis. If the outside temp is in the low 80's, the a/c is fine. Anything above that and it takes a minimum of 45 seconds before it stops blowing hot air & begins to blow cool air. I have tried every trick - turn off the "auto" & run it manually, shut the rear vents, make sure the rear vents are at their lowest setting - nothing seems to work. BUT....
...I just traded (long story) my 2009 4.6 for a 2010 3.8. I'm dying to see if I have the same problem with the newer car.

I thought it was mentioned before, but, for whatever reason there is about a 15 second delay in the compressor engaging after pressing the button. I have driven quite a few different Genesis models and they all perform the same way. I have learned without a doubt (because of the delay) you must open the windows for a minimum of one minute or so to allow the stale hot air to evacuate the ducts.

To me no newer car has power of the older R12 systems, however, the Genesis never really fails to keep me and my passengers cool in temps approaching 95+ with high humidity.

What I do notice is on cooler, humid mornings I basically have to turn the system all the way down to "low" to be comfortable. The Auto setting otherwise warms up the air too much for me.