Air conditioning

Tiny
THESPYDAYOTA
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 CHEVROLET MALIBU
  • 3.1L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 204,692 MILES
My A/C and heat seem to only blow out no matter what the setting is at night. When using the A/C, I feel the presence of cold air when I put my hand near the vents, but it blows out the same low speed no matter what the setting is on. The same applies for the heat.

My passenger floorboard is not wet or leaking. I have changed out the blower motor and the blower motor resister. Everything seems to be connected fine. I swapped out the A/C relay and even the A/C comp diode. The Freon level is fine.

Why would I only feel the air blow out strong at night instead in the heat of the daytime when I need it most.
Monday, July 17th, 2017 AT 9:09 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Is the fan speed switch working? With a new blower motor and resistor I would be looking at the fan switch.
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Tuesday, July 18th, 2017 AT 5:32 AM
Tiny
THESPYDAYOTA
  • MEMBER
  • 12 POSTS
The fan speed switch is working. I was patient enough today to just wait it out as I drove around town running errands. I feel the presence of cold air near the vents, but it isn't blowing out at the pressure it should to be on any setting whether it's 2, 3, 4, or 5. What I experienced today is that if I wait about 5 minutes or so, it will begin blowing out and blowing out with excellence. It always begins the same: cool with low blowing pressure, then eventually builds up to blow strong and cold, equivalent to the setting I have the dial turned to.

This process seems to occur faster at night or in actuality, a cooler atmosphere. I still am not sure if the actuator or blend doors are doing their jobs correctly because if I decide to run my a/c at night, the part of the front windshield near the vents fog up a little and I always use the wipers to clear it out although it will appear seconds later. Is this normal? This is with the position setting on the person sitting in the chair with the arrow pointed to their chest. I do not smell the presence of coolant (been there with an 02 Grand Cherokee) and neither is my passenger or driver floorboards wet.

I'm wondering if the condensor in front of the radiator is just old or clogged. I took the grill off and used a garden hose to spray off debris the best that I could.

I can also tell that the load from running the a/c is wearing on the either the power steering pump pulley, alternator pulley, or clutch itself because I sometimes hear a slight knocking noise. It used to be a grinding noise for a few seconds, but I had some freon removed and it went away. The idler pulley, belt tensioner assembly, serpentine belt, water pump, and water pump pulley are brand new.

Once again, thanks for all help. I'm not a mechanic and I don't know all the correct terminology for parts, but I understand more than the average person.
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Thursday, July 20th, 2017 AT 5:50 PM

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