Air Con fail and fix

Faults and Technical chat for the Mazda CX-3
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st3v3cx-3
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 7:56 pm
Location: South East UK

Post by st3v3cx-3 »

Was it the condenser as well as the evaporator that was redesigned? I know the latter was according to the TSB issued in December 2016. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the condenser replaced on my car back in April 2017 doesn't fail - or if it does, it is before the warranty period expires in April next year!
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 »

The condenser was definitely redesigned. I had to wait 4 months on back order for the new part to be manufactured and shipped over. I took it in May last year, but not sure when they started fitting the redesigned part.
Mrbluesky
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Location: Hampshire. UK

Post by Mrbluesky »

Further to my post on the 14th of April, my car did go in for investigation on the 26th of April and a leaking condenser was diagnosed, I was ready to argue the £69 charge they talked about when I first rang them but it wasn't even mentioned this time, but annoyingly they couldn't fix it on the 26th as condensers are out of stock and on back order.
Now booked in for the unit to be replaced on the 15th of May as long as the part has arrived, they were on back order they said.

Richard
CX-3 2016 Dynamic Blue Sport Nav 2.0 petrol manual with half Stone Leather.
bellissimo
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Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:19 am

Post by bellissimo »

Regarding the problem with the temperature controller which has a TSB (faulty logic board I believe). Can anyone confirm that this problem is inherent, in that if you have an affected unit (i.e. your VIN is one of those mentioned in the TSB) then it will never have worked properly, as opposed to a part which breaks eventually.
User1234
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Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:04 am

Post by User1234 »

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.
Strangways
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Post by Strangways »

Hi Kimm, my air con seems to clear the windscreen quickly. My windscreen seems to get misted up very easily so I'm using the air con a lot to demist it.
2019 CX-3 2.0 Sport Nav+ Automatic in ETERNAL BLUE
2015 MX-5 2.0 Sport Nav Manual in SOUL RED
st3v3cx-3
Posts: 708
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 7:56 pm
Location: South East UK

Post by st3v3cx-3 »

bellissimo wrote: Sun May 06, 2018 6:02 pm Regarding the problem with the temperature controller which has a TSB (faulty logic board I believe). Can anyone confirm that this problem is inherent, in that if you have an affected unit (i.e. your VIN is one of those mentioned in the TSB) then it will never have worked properly, as opposed to a part which breaks eventually.
From the information in that TSB, namely :-

DESCRIPTION - Some customers may complain that it is difficult to adjust the cabin temperature comfortable using the auto air conditioner. The number of customer complaint increases when the outside temperature is around 10°C.
CAUSE - The control logic of the climate control unit is not appropriate when the outside temperature is in the specified range.
MASS PRODUCTION CHANGE - The control logic in the climate control unit has been changed to adjust the blow-out air temperatures appropriate.

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.
Sport Nav Petrol Automatic FWD Arctic White plus options April 2016
mum@mazda
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Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 8:55 pm

Post by mum@mazda »

I noticed that the ac was not working properly on ours last weekend. It would blow cold air when set to max cold, but just moving it 1 click to the right caused it to blow hot air. I read with interest the threads and noticed that the ambient temperature was 10 deg C. The TSB was bang on. I spoke to my dealer, but needed to bring the TSB to their attention. After that it was just a matter of waiting for the bits and an appointment. Booked in for next Monday.
It is very difficult to replicate the condition of failure cos it needs a specific ambient temperature range to not work correctly. The dealer just had to react to my complaint.
Today it worked fine, well chilled, but ambient temperature was 24 so the fault did not appear.
On a side note, the condenser was changed last year under warranty.
Hope i get them all done before it runs out in August.
This ac gas is very expensive to refill according to the trade guys.
CX-3, Sport Nav, Petrol, Soul Red Metallic, Half Stone Leather Aug 2015
bellissimo
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Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:19 am

Post by bellissimo »

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.
alanandlyn
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Post by alanandlyn »

Kimm wrote: Mon May 07, 2018 6:37 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.
Never had a problem with demisting either before or after the air con fix.
CX-3 SportNav 2WD, Petrol Auto, Ceramic, Stone Leather :)
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