Air Con fail and fix

Faults and Technical chat for the Mazda CX-3
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st3v3cx-3
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Location: South East UK

Post by st3v3cx-3 »

bellissimo wrote: Tue May 08, 2018 6:53 am
st3v3cx-3 wrote: Mon May 07, 2018 7:56 pm
then by my understanding of logic it will be all control units in the VIN and production date range which will be faulty and need replacing. It’s such a shame that Mazda, rather than just sitting back and waiting for the owner to complain, don’t take the opportunity to insist that a dealer replaces the control unit at the same time as either a condenser or evaporator is replaced, or as part of the annual service. This would save an owner 2 additional trips to the dealer with all the inconvenience that can entail.
Thanks, thought as much. Having the evaporator replaced today, and really don't want to make yet another trip. I will print off the TSB and hopefully they will just order the part so I can get it done when the car is due its service next month.
Hope that works out. It should because as the TSB says :-

REPAIR PROCEDURE - If the customer complaint meets the conditions described in “DESCRIPTION” and there is no apparent problem with the air conditioner system, replace the climate control unit with a modified one

In your case as they've only just replaced the evaporator and presumably checked over the rest of the system, there's no need for them to further recheck the system. They should be able to source a replacement control unit by next month.
Sport Nav Petrol Automatic FWD Arctic White plus options April 2016

bellissimo
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Post by bellissimo »

Last time they said they would check the climate control after they replaced the condenser, but said it was all working fine. Of course it depends on the ambient temperature.

This time I went better prepared and armed with a printout of the TSB. The guy said he had never seen it before and could not actually find it on their system while I was there. He did phone back though and confirmed that they would replace it, so now I will have had the condenser, evaporator and control unit all replaced, so hopefully it will be good for the summer (cue the end of the hot weather)
pipski
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Joined: Wed May 09, 2018 10:47 am

Post by pipski »

by Kimm » Mon May 07, 2018 7:37 pm
Can anyone confirm that their air con was good at clearing a misted windscreen before it failed? My air con failed last month and is booked in to be looked at on 14th May but I always felt that it was pretty useless at clearing the screen anyway. I have a 13 year old Mazda 3 with aircon that needs re gassing but even that clears the windscreen quicker than my CX3 ever has and that’s 18 months old.


New to this page. My Mazda CX-3 Sportnav 2015 is now on its 3rd Condenser ! First condenser changed Sept 17 due to air con not working. 2nd one changed April 18 due to no heat and windscreen not clearing - found a crack in the weld on the condenser. Now I have a bubbling noise coming from somewhere when on cold. Guessing an air lock ?? Due its final service and first MOT next month so hope it can be sorted by then. Very poor service from the Mazda dealership on all occasions. I have complained on several occasions but they don't care. I will be suggesting they change the control panel on my next visit as its not been touched previously. Printed out the TSB so thank you to those suggesting that.
Mazda CX-3 Sportnav 2015
Philmac
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Post by Philmac »

Hi pipski, I had 3 condensers including the original. Finally they changed the evaporator and a year on all is still OK. The evaporator is behind the dasboard, so the whole das needs to come off for the technician to get to it. The bubbling noise will either be liquid migration (like you hear on some refrigerators) or it could be a gas leak, but that would be more of a hissing noise and wouldn't last long, as the volume of gas in these systems is very low. It won't be an an air lock as there is now air in the system, just refrigerant. As demister mine works fine, but if yours is short of gas it would be next to useless. Good luck, I feel your pain.
CX3 Sports Nav Auto Mica Jet Black 2 ltr Petrol September 2016
st3v3cx-3
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 7:56 pm
Location: South East UK

Post by st3v3cx-3 »

pipski wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 10:59 am by Kimm » Mon May 07, 2018 7:37 pm
Can anyone confirm that their air con was good at clearing a misted windscreen before it failed? My air con failed last month and is booked in to be looked at on 14th May but I always felt that it was pretty useless at clearing the screen anyway. I have a 13 year old Mazda 3 with aircon that needs re gassing but even that clears the windscreen quicker than my CX3 ever has and that’s 18 months old.


New to this page. My Mazda CX-3 Sportnav 2015 is now on its 3rd Condenser ! First condenser changed Sept 17 due to air con not working. 2nd one changed April 18 due to no heat and windscreen not clearing - found a crack in the weld on the condenser. Now I have a bubbling noise coming from somewhere when on cold. Guessing an air lock ?? Due its final service and first MOT next month so hope it can be sorted by then. Very poor service from the Mazda dealership on all occasions. I have complained on several occasions but they don't care. I will be suggesting they change the control panel on my next visit as its not been touched previously. Printed out the TSB so thank you to those suggesting that.
Hi pipski,

If I were you I'd be insisting you want the control unit changed on your next visit. Probably advisable to phone them this week, explaining the problem as outlined in the TSB and giving them time to make sure they get in a replacement item ready for the exchange at your service visit. Mention the bubbling noise so that can be sorted at the same time. The whole CX-3 air con story is so unfortunate.
Sport Nav Petrol Automatic FWD Arctic White plus options April 2016
bellissimo
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Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:19 am

Post by bellissimo »

I got mine back yesterday from getting the evaporator replaced. Unfortunately they damaged the dashboard when getting it off, so now have a wait to get that fixed :roll: , so the saga continues.

I am also noticing a bubbling noise when I start the engine now. Must be related to the evaporator replacement, though it seems to be working ok. Will get it checked when I take it in for the service.
User1234
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Post by User1234 »

Thanks, I’m going to bring that up on Monday when I take mine is as when the screen is completely misted up on a winters morning it’s been taking ages to clear it.
User1234
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Post by User1234 »

I was taking my car to the dealership on Monday to get the air con looked at as there’s no cold air and a lady has called today to say that they have launched a service programme rework where they will be replacing the condenser and 2 seals so as they don’t have the parts there at the moment they have been ordered for my car and they will book me in when they arrive. I’m happy with that as my journey to them is at least an hour and Monday would have been a total waste of a journey. So I’m guessing this is a recall of sorts if they are now looking to replace those parts in all CX-3.
st3v3cx-3
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Post by st3v3cx-3 »

Kimm wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 3:12 pm I was taking my car to the dealership on Monday to get the air con looked at as there’s no cold air and a lady has called today to say that they have launched a service programme rework where they will be replacing the condenser and 2 seals so as they don’t have the parts there at the moment they have been ordered for my car and they will book me in when they arrive. I’m happy with that as my journey to them is at least an hour and Monday would have been a total waste of a journey. So I’m guessing this is a recall of sorts if they are now looking to replace those parts in all CX-3.
Interesting. Hope they get those parts in quickly so you get your car sorted. Was your car made prior to 5th Sept 2016 with a VIN in the range 100001 - 125877 or 177732 (see TSB below for further details)? If so, then I'd strongly recommend you contact them on Monday and request they change the control unit (the 3 dial bit inside the car) at the same time. to save you a future trip. The problem is covered by this TSB :-

Sport Nav Petrol Automatic FWD Arctic White plus options April 2016
Mkmagpie
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Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 7:54 am

Post by Mkmagpie »

Spookily I had exactly the same experience as Kimm - car booked in for air con failure and got a call from the dealer yesterday to say there was a known issue and they were awaiting parts.... having read some of the previous posts however, it looks like I’ve had a problem from the outset as there is limited control over temperature......... Baltic or Bahamas!
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