Air Conditioning on the 3
 

Hi everyone.

I was wondering if anybody out there feels that the air conditioning on the Mazda 3 should be stronger. I never really noticed it because I got my car in mid-September last year, and I never really used the a/c much since it wasn't so hot out. But after some relatively hot weather this weekend, I thought that the a/c could have been colder.

I'll take it to my mechanic and see what he says. It may just bethat the car's a/c is like that.

Any thoughts?

In looking at the 3s A/C system, I strongly believe that the size of the compressor (or lack thereof) is the reason the 3 doesn't seem to cool that well. The A/C compressor on my 94 Nissan truck is TWICE the size of the one on the 3, and on full blast, the Nissan will freeze you out of the cab, even on really humid days.

Unfortunately, unless you can increase the size of the compressor, or increase its displacement, I think we're stuck with this subpar A/C system.

Yeah .... the A/C on the M3 could be a lot better ... even on full it doesn't get that cool. Especially when it is about 37 degrees C with the humidity. :shift:

One thing that I have noticed is that the seats don't breathe very well. I think that it may be a bigger factor to the "feel" of the ac than anything considering that the air does blow out pretty cold.

The past few days here in Toronto have been about 40 celcius with the humidity and let me tell ya ... the AC on the Mazda 3 can barely cut the heat.

The AC on this car is way way way under powered ... with it cranked on high; driving home in traffic totally sucks and is still very warm in the cabin ... it would suck to be in the back seats ... even in the drivers seat with 3 vents aimed right at me it is still rather warm .... I wish Mazda had addressed this when they built this otherwise fantastic ride.

And the other thing is: with the AC on you can really feel the car losing it's power and punchy-ness ... the AC seems to really suck the HP too ....

but still a great car.


:shift:

Hey Everyone,

Yeah, I noticed the problem on mine. The compressor clutch engages and disengages repeatedly and, looking at my service manual, it's supposed to do that. I wish I knew why...

There is a TSB for a diffuser plate that can be added to the a/c coils. The job of the diffuser plate is to slow the air travelling over the a/c coil thus improving the coldness of the air in the cabin. I had this put in and at Fan setting 2 my car can keep up with 95 degree weather here. I highly recommend this.

I guess I will be heading into Mazda for this TSB. In Georgia I roast on the way home and it is only July... Is there anymore infor on this TSB incase the try to say there is no such thing?

I called my Mazda dealer and they said that they know of this TSB (after a little convincing...) and they informed me that it is mainly in the 2004 models. I am seeing them in the next 2 days and they are looking to see if my MZ3 has already had the diffuser installed (apparently they need to actually look at the AC system to know if this diffuser has been put in).

I will post details of my visit on Friday once I have seen Mazda. Hopefully by then I will have some real AC .... cuz it's "hotter than a snakes ass on a wagon trail" up here in Toronto .... it' s been like 40+ degrees celcius with the humidity for the past week ... much too hot for the MZ3's AC ...

I have this same problem on my 2004 3i out here in Las Vegas. The A/C cannot take dry heat either too well. If I've been driving for awhile, when I get out of the car it looks like I've dipped my back into a swimming pool... ahhh, that would be nice right about now. I'll take my car in for that TSB as well, I need it here.

Well ... I just had the "diffuser" put in to my MZ3 yesterday ... hard to say if it made a difference ... I think it did ... I want to think it did .... that could just be the placebo effect from having mechanics in my car though.

It did feel a little cooler for the drive home on the HWY but until the weather spikes up to 40 degrees celcius again I won't be 100% sure. Will keep you all posted on the AC "cool-factor".

It certainly is not too cold in the cabin that's for sure.

And at least Mazda did the update for free! ... now if they could just fix that squeak in my front end ... but that's another story and another thread ...

Word.

:beer:

well ... as promised here is the update ...

... today when I left the office it was about 38 celcius with the humidity ... and YES! the diffuser update they installed yesterday has made the A/C much better! ... it actually will keep the cabin cool with the fresh air/#2 setting on the A/C.

FANTASTIC improvement.

I highly recommend the TSB A/C DIFFUSSER update for the MZ3 ... unless you live in the Arctic Circle ... or like to drive in your own personal oven.


Word up! Great fix by Mazda. Now if only they could have gotten this right in the first place. Better late than never.

:chug:


:smoke:

im picking up a new 05' 3s this week. should i expect it to come with the tsb a/c diffuser?

My car is in Jim Ellis Mazda getting this done finally. I hope it makes a difference. and b0b - take it in right away for the 3,ooo rpm stutter and the difusser

3,000 rpm stutter??? what's that?


... and I think that the later model MZ3's will already have the diffuser installed ... mine is a 2004 and thus did not have the A/C diffuser ... apparently Mazda made the change to the later 2005's.


Lates.