Weak A/C?

[Lundy]

Hi,
We bought a 2010 Touring GLS back in March, and are generally very happy with it. One complaint however is the AC seems to be very weak, and it can't really cool the passenger area very well. Our other car, a Mazda 3 Sport (also a hatch) gets quite cold throughout the cabin with the AC on hot days and the sun coming in, but the Touring still stays pretty warm, even in the front seat area. Does anyone else have issues with this, is it just poor design with a small compressor, or should I be taking it in for service? I was reading online that there are some similar complaints in Europe with the i30.
Thanks for your input

[Admin1]

You say very weak. Do you mean weak as very low air flow, Or its not cooling the air enough?

[Lundy]

I would say both to some degree. The bigger issue is that it's not so cold at the coldest setting, and it also gets warmer when the car isn't idling for a while. The lesser issue is that the fan is not very strong, so it doesn't move a lot of air when it's set to speed 1 or 2; at 3 and 4, while they move more air, it's kind of loud, so I don't use it as much.

When you combine these things with the large cavity of the interior, it just can't cool the area down very well. I hoped that it would be at least able to keep the front seat area relatively cool, but it doesn't do that very well either.

I'm thinking of getting the windows tinted in the hopes that it would help on the hot days.

[Rsquared]

Personally...I would take it to the dealer and have your complaint documented. I'm guessing you don't have a manifold gauge to check the A/C pressure, so...if you have a meat thermometer slip it in the center most vent and check the temp, at idle with all the settings at max cold.

[Lundy]

That's the plan for now, I'm just hoping that it acts the same way for them, as the weather is cooler outside, compared to when the AC is really needed in the thick of the summer. At least if I get it in now, it'll be noted for next summer when I take it back in...

I'm wondering if the dealer has an actual technical spec for the AC, i.e. there should be ## cfm of air flow at ## degrees temperature with the engine at a certain rpm, etc. Do you know if this sort of thing is in the maintenance book?

[Lil]

I am having the same problem you described. My 2010 elantra touring has about 9000 miles and the AC does cool, but I can have it on full blast (very windy) at the coldest setting but the cabin takes a long time to cool and it never gets very cold. When I called the dealership, they told me I need to come in and get the freon recharged for $127. Is it typical to need freon recharge after only 2 summers of use? I don't mind recharging the freon if that's really the problem, but I'd like to see if they could try to make sure it isn't a mechanical/other problem.

[Rallyman]

I don't think that the refrigerant should need any recharging when the car is that new. If there's something wrong with it I don't see why it wouldn't still be covered under warranty.

My 2006 Sonata has about 140,000 kms (~87,500 miles) on it and I've never had to touch the A/C. It still blows very cold and for the most part I can't even stand to have it on continuously at it's coldest.

[Lundy]

We took the car in to the dealer and they idled it for numerous hours and didn't have a problem, so I don't think my issue is refrigerant. We generally get it blowing warm after being on the highway, where the engine isn't idling for a while. We managed to get the car to the dealer after returning from a trip, and they agreed that it wasn't running properly. As of late this past week, they were still talking to Hyundai Inc to figure out what to do. My gut feeling is that this is a design issue with the AC system in the Elantra Touring. I'm curious if the sedan has this issue, I don't know how much is different under the hood in the Touring, especially since the 2009/2010 was the first year off the line and they still may be working out the bugs.

[Admin1]

That is a really odd issue. I personally haven't heard of an issue like this. For the most part the Elantra an the Touring is the same under the hood but that about it. This car is more known an the Hyundai i30 in other countries.

[Lundy]

It might be a one-off thing for our car, who knows. The dealer called today and want us to bring in the car in for more diagnostics.

[bcme136]

Our 2010 Touring has been checked by the dealer. The air conditioner is just not big enough for this wagon. With the high heat this year it's miserable as it never cools. You must use the recirculate setting to get any decent cooling. (ours is red).