Wickedly Powerful A/C: Reason #2,477 for owning a Q!

[Skibane]

Sheesh, it's days like today that really make you appreciate the overengineering that went into the Q's climate control system. Outside, it's 101 degrees - and inside, I'm growing icicles on my nose!

My extended family owns several dozen cars - a mixture of domestic, Japanese, German and Korean - and none of them have an A/C system that can hold a candle to the Q's. A couple of them were OK during the first several years of ownership, but quickly faded to mediocre performance.

This brings up another point: How many other vehicles have A/C systems that are trouble-free for 10+ years, and at that age can still out-perform most brand-new vehicles? With the average GM vehicle, you're lucky to get a year or two until the first Freon leak, and maybe another year or so until the compressor dies!

[paranoidjack]

I was thinking the same today Skibane...we had a pretty humid day here, only about 70 degrees, but MAN does that AC just thin out the air.

Nearly 180k on the clock, been a bad boy and not maintained the compressor, and still blows ICE COLD....

I plan to service the AC this summer, but I am shocked that 9 years and 180k later the AC works like it did (I imagine, couldn't BE much colder!) when it rolled off the showroom floor.

However, by my count that's reason # 2478. #2477 is the handy little pocket on the rear of the center console that holds my micro fiber towels. We should compare notes sometime and see who's off...

[Mopar]

I always surprise my passengers when they ask me "is the AC working"?. My friend has a 05 300C but no AC already.

[Victor]

My GMC van is 21 years old. It had an airconditioner problem that was fixed under my extended warranty when the car was about three years old. In the next 18 years I haven't had a single additional air conditioner problem or even had to add freon, and it still blows cold. My 94 J30T has over 194,000 miles on it and it too still blows cold. On the other hand, our 92 Ford Explorer has to be recharged every year or two. My daughter's 2000 Q45T has never had to have anything done to the AC and still blows cold.

[BadQ45t]

hey my 1984 300ZX still blows ice cold to this day. The Q is awsome in that department. I drove it to Stockton on a summer day where outside temp read 104 and I only knew it was that hot because of ambient temp reading.

Nissan knows how to make good A/C units.

[Skibane]

Quote »My GMC van is 21 years old. It had an air conditioner problem that was fixed under my extended warranty when the car was about three years old. In the next 18 years I haven't had a single additional air conditioner problem or even had to add freon, and it still blows cold.[/quote]Yep, it's a sad state of affairs when GM air conditioning goes from being the envy of the world to being a bad joke over the course of just a decade or so.

Going back even further, most of the true luxury cars of the late 1950's/early 1960's had SERIOUS air conditioning systems: Two compressors, two condensors, two evaporators and two blowers - one mounted in the dashboard, and the other behind the rear seat. I remember Tom McCahill testing the dual A/C in a Chrysler Imperial for Mechanics Illustrated magazine, using indoor and outdoor thermometers: Side-by-side photos showed that the outside temperature was well over a hundred degrees, and almost exactly 60 degrees inside!

I'm not sure that even a freshly-serviced Q air conditioner could match that performance, but it'd probably come a lot closer than most other modern vehicles...

Quote »#2477 is the handy little pocket on the rear of the center console that holds my micro fiber towels.[/quote]That's funny - I keep a micro fiber towel there also - Not only is it great for those quick dashboard wipedowns at a stoplight, but it makes an excellent mosquito-swatter! (For some reason, the mosquitoes like my Q's interior even more than I do!)
Modified by Skibane at 2:40 AM 6/29/2009

[loystock]

All of our Infiniti cars are still blowing cold. The 95 Toyota Previa AC still do a good job, except on a very hot day. You have to rev up the engine to get cold air-indication of an impending compressor failure.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yep, mine blows ice cold, too. I just wish the "auto" mode was less aggressive with the A/C. You have to use manual or econ modes to avoid engaging the compressor. I like the heat, so I rarely need A/C for temperature reasons (I drove a base-model Ranger with no A/C for years and never missed the A/C at all). But with this crazy wet weather we've had it's been wonderful for keeping the humidity under control.

[maxnix]

I can still hang meat in my 1995 when it is 107° F outside.

[qship96]

The air conditioning works even better and more efficiently with a good quality window tint selected for heat reduction instead of privacy....the finishing touch{though technically illegal} is to have the front windshield tinted with 3M Crystalline 70% film, which is almost clear and undetectable but blocks over half the heat radiating through that huge expanse of glass

[Q45tech]

If you think a Q is great you should sit in a LS430 where the evaporater is 70% larger in area. Less backpressure and a stronger [hurricane] blower.

I wish members would acquire a digital thermometer so that they could specify exact temperatures.................which would help in diagnosis.

What is great and cool to one may be very hot and out of spec to others.

[qship96]

Gotta agree as one who always thought the Q a/c was satisfactory at best- our old Miata would blow 35 degree air at full fan speed immediatly upon getting into a closed up car parked in the hot sun all day.....Q has NEVER done that,and requires a good 5-10 minutes to really get cold after being closed up in sunlight .A 94-96Q{r134 } struggles to blow less than 50 degree air AT FULL BLOWER SPEED in hot temperatures

[maxnix]

I'll use my Fluke 652 tomorrow. I bet it is below 50° F.

[qship96]

Be sure to measure vent temp with blower running FULL SPEED in hot sun conditions.....of course vent temps will be much lower at lower fan speeds and in cool/no sunload conditions!

[paranoidjack]

That's funny - I keep a micro fiber towel there also - Not only is it great for those quick dashboard wipedowns at a stoplight, but it makes an excellent mosquito-swatter! (For some reason, the mosquitoes like my Q's interior even more than I do!)

[silkysmoothyjud]

I restored mine...My Q's a/c needed a charge when I got it (jumper compressor at relay), it was almost empty: wicked mildew smell. She was sitting around, lonely, rat's nest in the plenum (for real). Once I got it working, it would vibrate "misfire" when the a/c was on. On a very hot day, it woud take forever for it to get cold. However when I cracked the windows, it got colder quicker. I ended up getting a windshield blocker, window tint, cracking all the windows and cracking the roof when it is parked. Fires right up and gets cold right away now. It seems that the hotter the evaporator got, the longer it took the a/c to get cold (is that the correct guess?). Mildew smell gone, autozone 10$ spray stuff works great. New injectors caused "vibration when a/c is on" problem to go away

[silkysmoothyjud]

It got real smooth for a while there, I thought I licked the belt tension issue, but the belt tension wheel froze, broke the belt and then the a/c stopped working....broken belt 8 bucks, wheel, 10$ used cheap cheap, fun, fun...
Modified by silkysmoothyjud at 10:36 AM 7/8/2009

[Black stallion]

I'm one of those weird people who ride around with thermos in the a/c vents of all my cars. I got my Q down to 34 deg one day with ambient temp in the upper nineties. The tips of my ears were cold.

I used to brag to people around here about how my a/c would blow you out of the car before you could make it to the first stop sign-- and prove it...Tha t is until my wife took my car one hot summer day and never gave it back (until I bought her QX last year) Her acura would not cool off until you reached your destination.