[tt6]

Has anyone else experienced a similar issue?

Sorry for the lengthy post, trying to provide as many details as possible.

Here's the scenario:
The car was parked outside in the sun AND the outdoor temps were above 95°f (according to the dash temp. display), the a/c did not blow cold air regardless of the temp. settings (max a/c, recirc. or fresh, dual zone on or off, mode, or fan speed). Turning the car off and back on did not fix it. BUT, while driving and once the outside temps fell to ~ 82°f, the a/c started to work again. The no a/c issue has occurred 3 separate times now, but just once (yesterday) did the temps falling to 82°f during the same trip and a/c start working again scenario happen. When we first left the house for the day yesterday, it was already +95°f outside, but the car was parked in the garage and the a/c was working properly the entire 45 minute trip until we parked it for 3 hours outdoors in the sun. The high temp registered during that trip was 104°f and a/c was working fine.

This is my wife's daily driver and is parked in a garage at home and at work so fortunately this hasn't occurred often. I mentioned it to the dealership after the 1st occurrence last year but they said they need to inspect the car while it's acting up, and of course it was working properly at the time. Once i'm able to consistently replicate the issue, I'll take it to the dealership but I won't have that chance until next weekend, so I'm hoping someone else has experienced this issue and had it resolved by the dealership so I can just tell them what to test and replace.

 

[p07r0457]

If the vehicle has been sitting in the 100 degree heat for a few hours I'd expect the A/C to take several minutes to produce cold air. That sounds like normal behavior, to me.

 

[tt6]

Sorry, I should have been more clear in my post.

I completely agree with you, if it only took several minutes to produce cold air.

The total drive time home without the a/c working was over an hour of some city but mostly highway driving with no stop and go traffic. The a/c started working when I was about 1/2 mile from my house; I did have the a/c enabled the entire trip.

I found that some MB owners reported similar issues and it turned out to be the electromagnet in the A/C compressor clutch was starting to fail when it would get heat soaked, but they were able to get it temporarily working by running the engine at high RPM's. This sends a higher voltage to the coil in the clutch which is then able to magnetize and engage the a/c compressor. I tend not to drive this car aggressively, especially with my wife in it, so I most likely never even exceeded 4000 RPM's.

I'll be sure to update this post once it gets resolved but it may be a while as they are forecasting temps in the 70's and 80's for the next couple weeks.

Thanks for your input, appreciate it!

If the vehicle has been sitting in the 100 degree heat for a few hours I'd expect the A/C to take several minutes to produce cold air. That sounds like normal behavior, to me.

 

[fastrack]

Thanks for sharing. I park mine at the train station (no garage, no tree) during week days (8+ hours, 90+ degrees), but I haven't noticed any AC malfunctioning. To be honest, QX30's AC is super cold comparing to my other cars. (stupid BMW/MINI ACs are super weak)

I will Rev it up if I notice my AC not kicking in quick.

 

[pavy]

I haven't had that issue. Got in the car the other day after it sat for ~24 hours, temperature gauge read 105. It did take at least a few minutes before I got cold air, but everything seemed to work as expected.