A/C not working when sitting in hot weather

[Chris]

So this question is about our 2012 Honda Odyssey minivan. I'm asking it here because I'm hoping maybe we have some A/C experts.

It gets HOT in Arizona as most of you know. It's not uncommon for it to be 110-115 degrees most days during the summer.

When driving our 2012 Honda Odyssey on the highway the A/C works perfect and blows nice and cool, even on the hottest of days.

When sitting at a dead stop the A/C does not blow cold at all, more like luke warm. If you sit for long enough, eventually the A/C compressor just automatically turns itself off (you can hear it) which to my knowledge is not normal.

I took it to a shop that checked the freon levels and said they are just fine and it didn't need a recharge.

There is nothing stuck in front of the condenser either.

So what gives? Is this normal? I have friends with newer vehicles and there's don't do this.

 

[RINC]

I feel your pain. My TJ a/c warms up a bit at stop lights. Not sure why though. I aint very knoledgable as I never have has had a/c before.

 

[TJ4Jim]

So this question is about our 2012 Honda Odyssey minivan. I'm asking it here because I'm hoping maybe we have some A/C experts.

It gets HOT in Arizona as most of you know. It's not uncommon for it to be 110-115 degrees most days during the summer.

When driving our 2012 Honda Odyssey on the highway the A/C works perfect and blows nice and cool, even on the hottest of days.

When sitting at a dead stop the A/C does not blow cold at all, more like luke warm. If you sit for long enough, eventually the A/C compressor just automatically turns itself off (you can hear it) which to my knowledge is not normal.

I took it to a shop that checked the freon levels and said they are just fine and it didn't need a recharge.

There is nothing stuck in front of the condenser either.

So what gives? Is this normal? I have friends with newer vehicles and there's don't do this.

Chris, since the refrigerant charge was verified the conditions you have are typically due to a lack of airflow over the condenser, can you confirm all rad/condenser fans are running with the ac on while parked.

 

[pagrey]

Our 2011 civic can't cool well unless it's moving on hot days. Your fan could be worn or busted but my experience is some just need to be moving and have the engine well above idle to cool well.

 

[Chris]

Chris, since the refrigerant charge was verified the conditions you have are typically due to a lack of airflow over the condenser, can you confirm all rad/condenser fans are running with the ac on while parked.

I’ll check tomorrow and see if the fans are all running.

Our 2011 civic can't cool well unless it's moving on hot days. Your fan could be worn or busted but my experience is some just need to be moving and have the engine well above idle to cool well.

Interesting! It’s odd to me because friends vehicles don’t do this. Maybe it was just a poor design from Honda?

 

[pagrey]

I think so, just weak compared to other vehicles I've driven. Fine once up to speed but useless as a taxi if you ask me.

 

[mrjp]

Could be your idle solenoid. when you turn on A/C the solenoid kicks up the idle to draw more air and turns the compressor faster. Also if you have electric fans maybe they are not coming on with the A/C like they should. Or the clutch fan is not locking up as it should.

 

[Chris]

Could be your idle solenoid. when you turn on A/C the solenoid kicks up the idle to draw more air and turns the compressor faster. Also if you have electric fans maybe they are not coming on with the A/C like they should. Or the clutch fan is not locking up as it should.

Good advice, I'm going to check this out today as well.

 

[SSTJ]

I'm interested to hear what you learn. My TJ is like this.

 

[hardtailpan]

Interesting. My dodge truck just started doing this. I'm going to check that the electric fan is kicking on, this would make sense.

 

[Chris]

But wouldn’t the vehicle overheat at idle if the electric fan wasn’t kicking on?

 

[Tranz Zam]

Hondas are notorious for the AC not doing much on really hot days while moving slow.

Had a family member complaining about theirs doing the same thing.

 

[Chris]

Hondas are notorious for the AC not doing much on really hot days while moving slow.

Had a family member complaining about theirs doing the same thing.

Yep, the more I read the more I am discovering this seems to be a Honda thing and they are justifying it as normal

 

[TJ4Jim]

But wouldn’t the vehicle overheat at idle if the electric fan wasn’t kicking on?

My son's XJ like many vehicles had 2 electric fans one was energized when in AC mode.

 

[hardtailpan]

But wouldn’t the vehicle overheat at idle if the electric fan wasn’t kicking on?

There is a separate fan for my AC condenser in the front of my dodge, and the motor has an engine driven (clutch) fan as well.

 

[Nimbley]

From servicing vehicle AC’s in Arizona for 30 years I can tell you this is very common on a lot of vehicles. The oddesy has the same AC system as an accord. Same capacity and all. The van has twice as much space to remove the heat from and isn’t efficient enough at low RPM for places like our beautiful desert.

 

[Nimbley]

I’m guessing this vehicle isn’t from Arizona and doesn’t have a dual unit with a separate condenser for the rear? Pretty standard option on vans and big SUV’s here and almost unheard of in other parts of the country. Nobody wants to pay for the option so the vehicles aren’t ordered with it in most regions.

 

[Chris]

I’m guessing this vehicle isn’t from Arizona and doesn’t have a dual unit with a separate condenser for the rear? Pretty standard option on vans and big SUV’s here and almost unheard of in other parts of the country. Nobody wants to pay for the option so the vehicles aren’t ordered with it in most regions.

It’s from Oregon where the A/C worked just fine. I didn’t even know this was an issue until moving here. Now it’s becoming such an issue that I am planning to sell it and buy something with A/C that actually works.

Given your experience working on A/C systems, is there a minivan that actually has A/C that works really well here in the desert? It so, tell me what it is because this is driving everyone in my family nuts.

 

[Nimbley]

The Toyota’s almost always have good AC. The key is to make sure it has the auxiliary AC option. Probably harder to find one without it here in AZ. It basically doubles the AC capacity for use in cars with a large interior space.

 

[qslim]

Sounds like a condenser airflow problem. I'm not a big Honda nerd (Toyotas are more my thing incase you didn't know), but the only way to get rid of heat is by airflow over the heat exchanger - in this case the condenser. In the past the way I've tried to figure this out is by putting a shop blower right in front of the condenser. If that makes the air out of the vents cool like normal then you know that's your issue. A lot of Jap vehicles have a separate condenser fan, yours might be on the way out. Or it generally sucks.