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Front and Rear A/C issues

76K views 31 replies 17 participants last post by  cnnmlnd60 
#1 ·
Has anyone had any issues with either the front or rear a/c system? Our front a/c is not blowing at all. the rear is still blowing but the front and floor are not.
Also, if you are in the DFW area, has anyone found a good mechanic for the Outlook outside the Dealership? They are robbing us blind.
 
#3 ·
Dear 2007 Saturn Outlook,

I realize that you are seeking diagnostic information about your air conditioning on your Outlook. However, I am wondering if you have contacted your local Saturn service center yet? If you have contact the dealership; what did they say? If you have not please, give the community some time and I am sure that you will receive some input from them. They are always very helpful.

Sincerely,
Michelle, GM Customer Service
 
#4 ·
GM Customer Service said:
Dear 2007 Saturn Outlook,

I realize that you are seeking diagnostic information about your air conditioning on your Outlook. However, I am wondering if you have contacted your local Saturn service center yet? If you have contact the dealership; what did they say? If you have not please, give the community some time and I am sure that you will receive some input from them. They are always very helpful.

Sincerely,
Michelle, GM Customer Service
 
#6 ·
I had something like this happen the other day. While driving it seemed like it was getting warm in the car so I placed my hand by the vent and nothing was coming out. I then changed fan speeds and direction of flow from floor to defrost and still nothing. I heard the fan running and was able to change the fan speed and still nothing.
I then turned on the rear AC and it worked fine. I left the rear AC on to get the car cooler and eventually the front started to blow air again. Not sure what happened or why. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the blower motor and fan. Not sure if that is the fix because that has only happened to me once.
Tim C.

smith6067 said:
Has anyone had any issues with either the front or rear a/c system? Our front a/c is not blowing at all. the rear is still blowing but the front and floor are not.
Also, if you are in the DFW area, has anyone found a good mechanic for the Outlook outside the Dealership? They are robbing us blind.
 
#7 ·
I wonder why they changed the blower motor and fan when you mentioned you could change the fan speed? Sounds to me like the evaporator is either going bad or possibly the system "froze".
 
#8 ·
Dear TSC1969,

I have read your post about your situation with your Outlook and the air conditioning.

Would you mind providing us with an update of how the changing of the blower motor and fan affected your situation?

Sincerely,
Michelle, GM Customer Service
 
#9 ·
I wondered that as well. Have not been on any long trips since to really give it a good test.
Tim C.
AA/78U said:
I wonder why they changed the blower motor and fan when you mentioned you could change the fan speed? Sounds to me like the evaporator is either going bad or possibly the system "froze".
 
#10 ·
You might have a low freon situation going on. If it is low and especially when the humidity is high, the condenser can ice up and block the air flow to the front duct work. Mine was low and had the exact symptoms. Don't know why the back vents still worked fine but when the system was topped off properly, everything is blowing cold again. :thumb: Good Luck.
 
#11 ·
That is what I was thinking could be happening too. I'm not sure if the rear AC has it's own evaporator coil or not. If so, that would explain why the back was working ok. If it happens again, I will recommend they put pressure gauges on it.
Thanks,
Tim C.
papamike said:
You might have a low freon situation going on. If it is low and especially when the humidity is high, the condenser can ice up and block the air flow to the front duct work. Mine was low and had the exact symptoms. Don't know why the back vents still worked fine but when the system was topped off properly, everything is blowing cold again. :thumb: Good Luck.
 
#13 ·
AA/78U said:
The rear A/C does have it's own evaporator
It's not just an AC line coming in and one going out? Has anyone installed insulation on these line that go to the back?
 
#17 ·
Check my post on the Traverse forum...there are some simple checks you can do to get an idea of what's wrong: http://www.traverseforum.com/index.php?topic=1988.msg22008#msg22008. When you first start up your car in the morning and put on the AC, the metal tube coming out of the evaporator (on the driver's side engine compartment) should be getting ice cold, with condensation on it. The same goes for the metal line running underneath the car to the rear evaporator. If it's warm or just a little cool, then most likely you have a refrigerant leak.

This is assuming you have the automatic tri-zone AC, but it may still apply to the manual on you'll just have less actuators:
If the lines coming out of the evaporators are ice cold, then it may be a problem with the blend doors (for the heater, ac mode, recirc air) and/or actuators. If you remove the two black panels on both sides of the dashboard and look with a flashlight, you will see the 4 actuators - 3 on the passenger side [near the center console are the passenger heater blend door and vent mode actuators, and behind the glove box towards the top is the recirc air actuator] and one on the driver's side [near the center console is the driver's heater blend door actuator]. With the AC on, look with a flashlight on the passenger side. Change the vent mode, and you should see one of the actuators turn. Then focus on the other actuator, and change the heat settings for the passenger; you should see that actuator move. Do the same with the driver's side.

If you don't see the actuators move when you change the heat settings, you either have a bad actuator or possibly a warped blend door/hvac air distribution case that's binding. You may also have a bad AC module (this is the controls for the AC).
 
#18 ·
I hav same issues, A/C blower not sending air through vents except throught floor and rear vents. Took it in today to a shop and i was told Heater core box cracked, and it damaged the motor,maybe actuator. So far mius the box I'm looking at $350.00 dollars with out the Heater Core Box. Anyone know or have a idea how hard it is to change this part. If possible maybe a tutioral. Saturn Outlook 2010 XE, with 38000 miles. just missed being under warranty.
 
#19 ·
2008 Saturn Outlook: Same here 50 thousand mile four year old vechicle and they say it's a leaky hose that will cost $1140.00 to repair due to the labor cost on having to take apart the entire front end to get to the part they need to replace. Hoses shouldn't leak on a four year old vechicle and it appears that there are MANY Outlook owners experiencing the same issue - of course after the warranty is up! :angryfire:
 
#20 ·
I just experienced this the other day in my '07 Outlook. My front a/c wasn't blowing anything out of the vents. I could adjust the fan speed and temps (passenger and driver side), but that did nothing to affect air flow. I tried cycling through the vent positions (floor/vents/defroster) and still no change. I tried stopping, turning off the car, and restarting it. Still nothing. However, we had stopped at Walmart and were in there for about 45 mins. When we came out, it was working just fine and has been ever since. Very odd. Anyone know what is causing this intermittent problem?
 
#21 ·
bosoxfan said:
I just experienced this the other day in my '07 Outlook. My front a/c wasn't blowing anything out of the vents. I could adjust the fan speed and temps (passenger and driver side), but that did nothing to affect air flow. I tried cycling through the vent positions (floor/vents/defroster) and still no change. I tried stopping, turning off the car, and restarting it. Still nothing. However, we had stopped at Walmart and were in there for about 45 mins. When we came out, it was working just fine and has been ever since. Very odd. Anyone know what is causing this intermittent problem?
Somebody with this same screen name posted on the Enclave forum about a leak in the a pillar.

Was that you?
 
#22 ·
That exact thing happened to me a couple years ago. Never found out exactly what caused it but my best guess is low charge of refrigerant.
Tim C
 
#24 ·
I wonder if you have a bigger leak then you think. The water runs down the pillar and into the electronics under the dash causing problems. I don't know if the a/c would be effected.

Water can accumulate in the blower housing (there's a YouTube video about it) and cause it to seize. Sometimes caused by a clogged condensate drain line. Do you hear the fan trying to blow?
 
#25 ·
medicrxdoc said:
I wonder if you have a bigger leak then you think. The water runs down the pillar and into the electronics under the dash causing problems. I don't know if the a/c would be effected.

Water can accumulate in the blower housing (there's a YouTube video about it) and cause it to seize. Sometimes caused by a clogged condensate drain line. Do you hear the fan trying to blow?
Yes, when it happened, you could hear the fan trying to blow. It wasn't nearly as loud as it has been. Almost like the fan was stuck in super slow speed. Like I said, after driving it for a few medium length local trips, it fixed itself that same day.
 
#26 ·
I had he exact same issue this past weekend, 4.5 hour trip home from vacation. About 2 hours into the trip and outside temp about 89 degrees the inside got increasingly warmer, I noticed that the air flow was restricted from the AC vents. Tried changing the airflow direction but no help. I could hear the fan so assumed it was getting blocked somehow. I shut off the AC and went with windows down for about 10 minutes. Turned the AC on again and had strong air flow and cooling from the vents again. About 45 minutes into the drive and the air flow began to restrict again and car got hot. Same drill, we shut it all down and drove for about 10 minutes and powered back on the cooling again. Just had the AC dealer serviced about 35 days prior based on "their preventive maintenance recommendation", goes to confirm don't fix what isn't broke I guess :-\. I will see if the dealer will stand behind their work and have the cooling levels confirmed.
 
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