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Comments
My system also drops completely out of auto mode if I monkey with either the A/C button, the fan mode button, or the fan speed dial.
I had to do that one day too. It was about 50F outside and we were travelling on a highway. The inside temp was set to 72F and cold (not cool mind you) air was blowing in our faces. I finally gave in and jacked the temp up to 82F and warm air finally started coming out of the vents.
I also find myself adjusting the inside temp quite often just to maintain a comfortable atmosphere. These systems are supposed to be fully automatic and something you can set and forget. Not something you have to adjust more often than the radio.
The only thing I can think of that might be throwing the system off is the sun sensor on the top left corner of the dash. I'm wondering if it overrides the temp sensor by your right knee when the sun is shining somehow.
Other than the ACC the 6 is an awesome car and I don't regret choosing it for one minute. Stubborn ACC and all.
For an optimal cabin temperature,
set the temperature close to 25.0°C
(77.0°F). Adjust to the desired
temperature if necessary.
If I set my themostat to 77F in my house I'd be a lot thinner right now.
68F - 72F seems more normal to me.
When I bought snow tires, I purposely bought the steel wheels, which are not as "open" as the 5-spokes, and keeps the snow build-up out from the inside of the wheels.
As far as the snow build-up inside the wells is concerned, there has been a lot of concern mentioned about wearing the tires. I've driven in heavy snow, ice, slush, and even mud, and build-up has never been an issue with my 6. The only thing I've noticed is a slight rubbing sound when I make a sharp turn in the snow, and it's only happened twice on two different days. In both instances, it lasted a second, then went away. Yes, the snow tends to build up inside the wheel wells when driving. With snow tires, theres more build-up due to the snow being displaced. But I doubt the build-up will cause the tire to wear down. If it comes in contact with the snow, it usually "cleans it's own path", and keeps the snow from building up within it's rotation.
It doesn't hurt to take the butt end of your snow brush, and knock the build-up out of the wheel wells after you've reached your destination. Other than that, don't sweat it. Worry more about the other drivers around you doing 75 in four inches of snow and ice in their "unstoppable" SUV's, only to skid out and bury themselves in the median!
I think you're missing the point. I shouldn't have to set the temp in my car to 80F in order to maintain 70F. The system just doesn't work right. Insulation problems or not.
Since the ACC systems in my dad's past two Fords work as advertised maybe Mazda should have raided that Ford parts bin for the 6 too.
The faster you drive (higher relative wind speed), the more heat is being sucked out of your car.
Makes sense. But it doesn't explain why the ACC won't heat the cabin when set to 70F if it's near or below freezing outside. You'd think that with all the heat being drawn out at highway speeds 70F would be plenty high enough to warm the cabin. the calibration has to be way off or something.
At least the outside temp seems to work well.
Here is the deal...outside temperature has been around 30s these few days, with interior temperature set at 72 degree, I have found that the air circulation control bottom does not response to my command. Here is my observation:
When the car is first started (cold engine), if I have Auto climate control ON, cir circulation will stick with interior circulation, but the air circulation control will disregard my intention to change it to outside circulation. If the car is at Manual climate control mode, air circulation will stick with the mode that was on from last driving setting (note that I am sure I am not using defog to windshield at the time). I also found that if I start up at Manual climate control mode, with whatever air circulation mode to start with, changing of Auto/Manual climate control does not make air circulation response to my input.
When engine is warm-up, or after driven for a while (~30 minutes), air circulation bottom will some times be able to changed (while fan speed, climate control mode, etc has not been changed from above description). Sometimes it will response with about 1 sec delay (a quick push won’t do it, it takes push and hold for a blink while to see the light change from green to red), sometimes it will “cycle” back to original mode by itself (i.e. goes from interior circulation to exterior, then back to interior; and it can be done with a light push of the bottom), but most of the time, it just won’t take any of my command.
I don't mind to leave ACC ON, but I do want to be able cut outside air off from time to time. Any idea?
1) A/C- your perception is right- the ACC always lights up the A/C display, but......
2) Auto Climate Control- please note that the A/C display will ALWAYS come on 100% of the time- but this does not mean that it is running....yes- I would like that fact that it came on only when the a/c was actually on, but who the heck knows the thought process of the engineers who designed the car- I look at it as the fact that if nec., the car will opt. to turn on the a/c...do you really think that the car is "fighting itself" by turning on the a/c while blowing hot air?- come on now!
3) How to use ACC- as the manual states- set the ACC @ 77 degrees, and "let it go"....sure, my house in the Northeast is "kept" btw 68-72 degrees year 'round....and I wish I can set my ACC in my car the same....but I cant's.....though it makes no sense to set the ACC to 77 degrees- just do it!...it works!....and at worst, I may adjust it 2-3 degrees lower- get over it!
Hope this helps......
Yes. If I select auto ACC, then turn AC off, "auto" unlights from the display. However, as long as I don't adjust fan speed or blower mode, the system continues to automatically control those.
Anyone that has an aftermarket system in their car has done serious custom work.
Tire Chains
This vehicle cannot be operated with tire chains because it could cause interference with the vehicle body and scratching.
Don't they say that for all cars? Gosh darn it, now I am having second thoughts about taking my car up to Mammoth in a few weeks. Has anyone out there put chains on thier Mazda 6 yet?
However, it was because he was in rushhour traffic and the snow had melted after a certain point and he just drove on the solid pavement....so, of course a chain could break.
Regardless - I am in the Southwest so chains don't really apply here. Just thought I would mention why a manufacturer may say that about the car.
If it were me....I wouldn't let that stop you from going to Mammoth.
Push Auto button - Auto lights up, A/C lights up. It controls temp, direction, fan speed, and circulation.
Push auto then press A/C - auto light goes out. A/C light goes out. It still controls the temp, direction, fan speed, and circulation.
.
Push auto, then change the direction (even press A/C if you'd like) - Auto light goes out when you change the direction, but it will still control the fan speed and direction.
Basically if you turn auto on, the only way to get it back to fully manual is to adjust the fan speed. Next time your car is warmed up turn on auto at about 75. turn the A/C off....then crank the temp up to 90. watch it adjust the rest of it.
(As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I actually didn't pay attention to the circulation light, so I'm not sure if that still adjusts. I AM certain that it will adjust everything else automatically, even if the auto light is out, regardless of what you adjust, until you adjust the fan speed.)
So I guess there is some benefit to the A/C running all the time but I'd still rather control that function manually. I mean, it's one thing to turn the A/C on when the defroster is on (most vehicles do this without you ever knowing) and another to just leave it on all the time sucking extra fuel out of the tank. Once the defroster shuts off, when in auto mode, the A/C should go down with it.
One last thing. It should be noted that this whole ACC discussion really doesn't belong here in the problems board as it is not really a problem. Just a slightly bad design that can't be fixed. All we're doing is making this thread fatter and that could potentially turn some people away from what is an otherwise spectacular car. Anyone else agree and want to move this over to the Mazda6 thread? Am I just nuts?
I want to purchase some speakers for my 6. I have looked on 2 different web sites and gotten 2 different speaker sizes. I got a 6.5" round, and a 6x8" size. Anyone know which is correct?
1) If the A/C light is ON, the A/C is ON (regardless of temperature setting).
2) If you push AUTO, the A/C comes on with it (all the time).
3)You can turn off the A/C using the button, and the AUTO will stay ON (even though the light goes out) and the A/C will turn off. It will stay in AUTO unless you adjust the fan speed or turn on front defog.
4) When you use the front-defog, it runs the A/C without the turning on the light (this is stated in the manual as well).
Not clear why the dealer couldn't just explain this (instead of saying that the A/C always runs with the ACC). Now that I know how to work the system, I think it is OK.
Thanks to everyone for their clarifications.
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
Personally, I wish the ACC was never put on this car in the first place. Obviously, Mazda did not do enough research and designing to truly give us an automatic climate control.
I have had my Mazda 6 for about a year now and gave up on the ACC months ago.
Here is what I have found to work best for me and I have had no problems since. I live in Wisconsin and there are a lot of extreme temperature and humidity changes throughout the year. One of the main complaints about this system is the fog that forms on the windshield when it is humid and hot out. What I have found is that if you have the air conditioner on to cool the inside of the car and you have the control knob in either all floor or floor defrost, the AC will blow on the windshield, obviously causing the fog to form on the windshield. What I have been doing is running the AC manually in the floor/panel setting and have had much less, if none at all, fog form on the windshield on hot and humid days. If you notice when you have the control setting in all floor mode there is a considerable amount of flow from the fan blowing cool air directly at the windshield. This is what causes the fog. When you have the setting in floor/panel, the majority of the cool air is coming from the panel vents and some from the floor vents. If you put your hands by the defrost vents, you will feel very little air coming out of those vents. If you do not like all the cool air blowing directly on you from the panel vents, close some of them. This will send more air to the floor but not at the windshield.
Winter - It depends on what your priority is. If you want your car to warm up fast, and there is no frost to be loosened from the windshield, put the manual setting on floor. Put the recirculation control on inner air recirculation. I agree also keep the fan on a lower setting for awhile. It is easier for the engine to warm the cabin air that is warming than to try to warm the frigid air being sucked in by the air intake. Once the air starts to warm, turn it back onto fresh air recirculation or the windows will start to fog up on the inside because of the humidity in your breath. If your main concern is to defrost the windshield, obviously you need to shoot full air to the defrost and hope for the best.
I really have to get a kick out of all of you guys and it has been an interesting read for the last nine months but come on, you guys have to finally realize that the ACC system is basically worthless unless you live in an area that has very little temperature and climate change. The system might have had a chance if it took into consideration the due point/humidity. We all can agree that a temperature of 80 degrees with a due point of 62 is much more comfortable than with a due point of 75. If you set the cabin temp at 70 the ACC will cool it to that temp. Don't dare open a door or window if it is humid outside. I just feel it is easier for me to control the temp myself to my comfort level and not let the ACC system tell me that I should be comfortable. I tried all last summer. Never got any consistent results.
The one thing that really ticks me off about the ACC system is that even in summer when I have nothing on whatsoever, the AC is off, all fans are off, the ACC is off, I have noticed that there is still condensation dripping from the AC compressor. This obviously means that the AC is somehow still running with no cool air being used, all buttons are shut off, and I have to wonder how this is affecting my gas mileage.
Good Luck to all! *@%& the ACC and start enjoying the rest of the car.
John
I've had my 2004 6 4i/manual for about 5 months, and recently started hearing a noise coming from under the rear passenger area. It sound very similar to a washing machine running (whirr-whirr) and is very rhythmic. It does not seem to increase/decrease with engine RPM or car speed.
What's even more interesting is that I can't cause the noise to happen, or happen regularly. Luckily I was at the dealer for a different reason and it made the noise, but the tech was not able to hear it later when they actually got it into the shop and were trying to narrow it down. They said they would have to leave the work order open and consult Mazda more, as there is no documentation or TSB's on this.
Figures...I always get stuck with the "undocumented" problems.
Has anyone else experienced this problem with their 6? I'm guessing that it's the fuel pump, but have not had a chance to get under the car myself.
Any insight would be great!
First time I took it to the dealer they said "switch brands of fuel and if it still does it, we will fix it next visit". On my next visit (5600 miles) they said that Mazda would not fix it yet because the engine was not "broken in". I'm trying to find out the name/number of the Mazda regional rep that I can talk to.
Has anyone had this problem corrected? Was it just a matter of replacing the cat converter? Anyone else have the issue inside the cabin?
I love my car very much and don't want to leave it here for someone to sell on my behalf. As such, I wanna ship it to NY because it doesn't make sense for me to take it to the UK. Does anyone know if it would meet NY/US standards? Is there a big difference between Mazdas built in the States and those manufactured in Japan? If the car is not sold by this weekend, I will have to ship it to the States.
I look forward to reading your suggestions and comments.
Thanks so much!
I bought new speakers, but the front ones I bought will have to have some custom work done to them. I bought some 6.5 inch round speakers with separate component tweeters. Unfortunately, I think the tweeters are a little too big...I will have to check. Mine are 1 inch, and someone said the stock ones are .75 inch.....but I know in the end it will all work out and my system will rock.
Anyone know about bass blockers? I am going to put some on the front speakers. I was thinking about putting some bass blockers in series with treble blockers for the mid's, thinking that it would limit the range of sound that was emitted...anyone done that before and know how it works?
I'd say those weren't flat spots. I think those take a lot longer to form. I'd guess that it was snow/ice stuck inside the wheel. It made the wheel unbalanced and eventually fell out.
nothing major so far - just a comment.
that's all I have....oh, and aparently you can get a CD changer adaptor to hook up external devices like an IPOD etc.
Does anybody know if this can be repaired or if the holes can be filled? It's only visible when the sunvisor is lowered.
Thanks,
GK
you can buy it from mazdastuff.com for 225.