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Chevrolet Cobalt: Climate Control/AC

tom71tom71 Member Posts: 46
I'm considering buying a new 2007 Cobalt. I rented one recently and liked the car. One thing I noticed is the A/C is somewhat anemic, and the fan speed doesn't seem too powerfull even on high. I didn't notice if there was a Maximum A/C button setting.
Anyone else notice this with their Cobalts?

Comments

  • airmn65airmn65 Member Posts: 14
    I have a 2006 Cobalt sedan,2.2 eng., automatic...I have heard the A/C compressor, or something, kick in about 10 seconds after start up with the A/C and defroster OFF! Its 70 degrees here, so I have nothing on as far as air circulation. Have any of you heard this same sound of "something" engaging soon after start up? If so, can someone tell me if this is normal? What is it???
    Thanks!
  • micwebmicweb Member Posts: 1,617
    Many new cars are set up so the A/C runs occasionally on its own, to keep the system lubricated and in good operating condition. It usually doesn't run long enough or strong enough to affect your vent temperature, but you might hear it kick in or hear your radiator fan turn on.
  • airmn65airmn65 Member Posts: 14
    Thank you for your info. WOW I never thought of that, or ever heard of that before. Yes my fan also goes on at startup for awhile. Things are really changing with these new cars!! Thanks again micweb!
  • ray_h1ray_h1 Member Posts: 1,134
    Good news - there's a button in the HVAC control area that selects "recirculate" as a counter to the default fresh air intake setting and it'll definitely frost yer caboose. (that button has a cabin icon with a horizontal "U" to engage the recirculation mode) I suspect you weren't aware, so the system happily brought in hot/humid outside air which compromised the cooling performance. GM has always done two things right - automatic transmissions (OK - with the exception of Buick "Dynaflow"...) and air conditioning. My better half is also about to take the plunge to an '07 Cobalt to replace her six year old Cavalier. She rented one in July to drive from San Bernardino to Phoenix and marveled at having to advance the heat control a little because it was getting too cold inside the car. And, this was in beautiful downtown Blythe where she stopped for lunch. (114 deg. F. on the bank thermometer across the street)
  • bobnh2bobnh2 Member Posts: 2
    Max AC is achieved by hitting the "recirculate" button (middle one of three). It keeps cooling the interior air instead of hot outside air.
  • ray_h1ray_h1 Member Posts: 1,134
    )) "Max AC is achieved by hitting the "recirculate" button (middle one of three)." ((

    Thanks for the update. The 2006 Cobalt sales brochure shows the middle button activates the rear glass defogger and the far right button engaging/disengaging cabin air recirculation. I guess that's wrong.
  • rlenkerrlenker Member Posts: 13
    My recirculate air switch has troubles, It dosn't all ways go on.
    Is there something special? :mad: Time delay?
  • mitch49mitch49 Member Posts: 1
    A friend has a 2006 Cobalt. When the a/c was turned on, it would cycle off and on again every few second. When on, it would drain so much power it would nearly stall the engine. Eventually the compressor froze.
    She bought the car new from a Chevy dealer. She said no one has ever serviced the air conditioning system prior to its failure.
    I changed the compressor for her, and there was about 2 ounces of oil in the old compressor. I thought this was causing the problem and led to the compressor failure. I evacuated the system and charged it with three and a half 12 ounce cans of r-134a refrigerant.
    With an ambient temperature of 93 degrees and the engine running at 2000 rpm's, the the pressure fluctuated quickly. The compressor would cycle off and on again every few seconds. The low side had a pressure from about 45 to 60 pounds, and the high side had a pressure jumping from about 90 pounds to 450 pounds.
    It is obvious to me there is an obstruction. But, it seems that the obstruction could only be in the expansion valve.
    My question is:
    Is the expansion valve the problem.
    Is the problem something else? If so what?
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    Need to get a qualified AC technician on the compressor who knows what to do servicing the AC.

    The quantity of oil in the new compressor needs to be verified.

    The system needs to be evacuated.

    The system needs to have 0.9 lb (14.4 oz) of R134a as a full charge. You put in 3 times the amount.

    Because of the compressor failure, a qualified tech should know if some kind of filter needs to be put into the system to catch particles from a compressor depending on how it broke up. A particle may have partly blocked the expansion valve. But hte system is so overcharged it would be hard to tell.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • fastmonteusfastmonteus Member Posts: 2
    i,m working on a o5 cobalt the a/c compressor wont come on i think its the high pressure switch its reading 400 psi on the scanner but when i hook the gauges up its 150 psi on high 32 on low so im thinking bad pressure switch to get the compressor to run you have to touch relay contacts together then a/c cools does that seem like a bad switch
  • lateraluzlateraluz Member Posts: 1
    after about a year of not using the a/c because i thought it had something wrong with it, finally had the cash to actually look into it, so to see if it was a leak i put an 18oz can of freon, and the a/c started to work, the compressor worked and it was actually cooling but i thought not enough and the gauge was reading about 30psi after i put the can, i waited a couple of days to see if it workd, and it did, but since it wasnt cooling enough i decided to put an additional 12oz can, now the gauge reads about 70psi which is in the red! and now it doesnt cool, and when i turn off the car, it sounds almost like if the car was still on, then it stops! is this normal? what did i do wrong? how can i fix it? hope you guys can help me, thanks!
  • jmc672jmc672 Member Posts: 2
  • jmc672jmc672 Member Posts: 2
    So I have been looking thru all of the posts, and I have yet to find advice on my issue. My A/C only works sometimes.... the fuse isnt bad, and when it works it doesnt really sounds like the blow is bad...but its been a long while since i have been able to really hear it...last time i rememeber hearing it my dial was on 0 and running on high, then i switched it to 4 and it stopped working... this problem started to happen after my car's battery was drained and i had to jump it. does anyone have any answers to my problem?
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