[Urban07]

My Ac has always blown cold in my 2007 Rondo and continues to except I am now finding periodically the air gets luke warm and smells odd ( Musty) for a few minutes then all of a sudden it gets cold again...I checked the R134 with a gauge and it shows full? Any ideas whats going on is my compressor going?

 

[KingFatty]

What are the circumstances when it gets luke warm? Is it when you idle or accelerate really hard?

 

[Urban07]

It is when driving normal down the highway...I know the ac stops blowing cold when you floor it but thats not the circumstances. My thought is the compressor is starting to go...anyone else with input.

 

[spongebob218]

There are times when the compressor will cycle off to prevent the evaporator from freezing. During this time, you will get straight humid outside air until the compressor cycles on again. Has it been hotter than normal lately? If it weren't for the musty smell, would you notice the change?

 

[Urban07]

Spongebob- that makes sense it has been extremely hot here in CA just seems wierd I have not noticed this before...

 

[forcejb]

Hot in SOUTHERN CA?? Come to Fresno (but it's a dry heat)

 

[Urban07]

Ok so what is happening to my car is not normal like discussed. Today on my way to work the A/C did not get cold at all...I did not hear the compressor kick on so would I be correct in assuming my Compressor is toast? What else could it be if I have Freon? Anyone have an extra Compressor? or know of a good place to get one for the V6? I assume the 4cyl and V6 are different units also is the Optima Compressor the same unit thats in the Rondo?

 

[spongebob218]

Ok so what is happening to my car is not normal like discussed. Today on my way to work the A/C did not get cold at all...I did not hear the compressor kick on so would I be correct in assuming my Compressor is toast? What else could it be if I have Freon? Anyone have an extra Compressor? or know of a good place to get one for the V6? I assume the 4cyl and V6 are different units also is the Optima Compressor the same unit thats in the Rondo?

What kind of gauge did you use to check it? If you just checked one side not running, it could still be low. Freon is funky, a half charge will show pretty close to the same pressure at rest as a full charge. It really needs to be checked running at both ports with proper gauges, or recovered with a machine to see how much is actually in it.

Also, you need to make sure the cooling fan is running and not intermittently turning off. If the fan isn't running, the high side pressure will go extra high and cause the compressor to turn off.

Usually, when compressors go bad, they are noisy as well. There are other things that need checked before condemning such an expensive part.

 

[Urban07]

I used a cheap gauge attached to an R-134 can that showed full with the air on and car running, so I did not add any freon. Is it possible the low pressure switch could be bad? something on the pulley side of the engine is making a chirping sound has been for awhile not sure if its the tensioner, Belt, or compressor. I hate to take the car to the dealer to figure this out.

 

[rondomondo]

Sounds like maybe a slow leak somewhere in the system. A good a/c shop should be able to fix it. If it's still under 60k, Kia might even fix it.

Make sure the the recirculation button is set so the light is off. This allows fresh air from the outside to enter the evaporator. If it's on recirculation, light on, then fungus will form in the ducting and cause a musty smell.

The chirping sound is still in ours after Kia changed out the compressor after we complained of the same noise....only notice it at idle.....

 

[Wongsky]

For what it's worth... my experience with car air-con where it blows cold for quite a while (say 20 or 30 minutes) then seemingly stops working, is that the air-con compressor clutch gap is worn beyond tolerances. And once the underbonnet temperatures rise about a certain point, thermal effects on the electro-magnetic actuation of the air-con clutch means it's no longer got sufficient umph to close the widened gap.

As a secondary note to that, low / lower gas pressures, previously, can cause the compressor to cycle quite frequently and cause more wear to the compressor clutch.

In most instances, you can check - if you've got reasonable access to the compressor clutch plate / gap and some feeler guages, but you'd need to know the gap tolerances.

If it is this, some people manage to do true repairs with it still on the car (usually involving removing the outer clutch plate, and removing a shim or washer - or grinding one down and putting it back), sometimes people manage to bodge solutions by being able to wedge suitable shim material on the outside of the clutch plate - forcing it in a bit. It will depend on implementation, though, because in some cases, the only way may be to remove the compressor (de-gas first) work on it, and put it back.

I've done this before, on other cars - well actually, I bought a used compresser from ebay, removed the clutch plate, ground down one of the shim / washers a little, replaced it all so the clutch gap was at the unworn end of the tolerances, then had the compressor replaced on the car (I then sorted out the shim(s) on the removed compressor, so I then had a good spare).

If you were having these symptoms, but now the air-con is not working properly at all, it could be that there was a slight leak, causing low-ish gas pressures, causing the compressor to cycle more frequently, causing additional wear to the compressor clutch, causing it to stop blowing cold after a period of running the car, to then the gas pressure falling below threshold to largely stop the compressor engaging at all.

 

[Tony_K]

i had similar problem. in my case it was stretched serpentine belt that allowed compressor to slip under load.

replaced belt' problem 100% gone. new belt was inches shorter.

best of luck wiyh your situation.

btw, no belt squeel ever

 

[Urban07]

So I could not take it anymore took the car to kia today they believe its a sensor behind the glove box??? he said the part is cheap as its just a wire attached to a senor but labor could depend on how hard it is to get to in the dash... Anyone know what he maybe talking about? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Urban07]

WongSky- You are correct I ended up at an independent AC repair shop and after they diagnosed it the Compressor Clutch coil is not working...They suggested 2 options replace the whole compressor for over 1K or replace the Clutch Coil $400 Ouch...hope I am not getting taken going for the $400 option.
Do they have to remove the compressor to replace just the Clutch Coil?

 

[Niecer71]

Did you find solution?

I have a 2007 Rondo 4cyl with about 86k miles. I have recently started, say within the last 6 months getting that musty smell and now AC blow cold but then will start hot. After being parked for a few hours will blow cold again. Urban07 did replacing your Clutch Coil work? Mine has just recently started doing the blowing hot/cold thing in the last month or so. I live in Southern Arizona so AC is a fact of life here and used about 9 out of 12 months of the year.

Thanks!!

 

[cjfin]

We had our compressor go and a couple other things happened at the same time. Same sort of problem, blowing warm and smelling bad. The car was also bogging down.

I had the car in for inspection prior to my family going on vacation as I noticed the compressor was noisey. Kia said it was normal. While my family was on vacation the Rondo broke down. It shut down as it was about to overheat. Turns out the electrical connection from the main engine harness to the rad fan assembly burned/melted/corroded. Fan turned off, car almost overheated, a/c of course turned off too. Kia finally noticed the compressor was noisy and replaced it. Took a few months for a new engine harness and rad fan assembly to come in. You would think they had replacement connections they could splice in, but no. Go figure.

So the techs figure the two main issues were unrelated. Compressor wore out prematurely all on it's own. I would make sure the electrical connection from the engine harness to the rad fan assembly is in good shape.

Good luck,
Curt