Can't chill out

[Graham]

Hi,

Last week I noticed that my air con was no longer cooling the air. Yes, just when we got that spell of hot weather.
When it is switched on the light illuminates and the istop system doesn't stop the engine at traffic lights, so the car seems to think it is working, but no cold air from the vents.
I checked the fuse, which was ok.

So I booked the car into the dealers to get it fixed.
I made a booking for today at 11 am and was told it would take about an hour to either fix it or find out what is wrong and order the parts.

I showed up at 11 o'clock but was told that there were several cars in front of me, and it would be well into the afternoon before it would be looked at !
I pointed out that I had made an appointment for 11 am, but was told it was not a "waiting" appointment, and they only did three of them per day.
The dealer is about 20 minutes away from me with no public transport back home, so waiting is my only option, and having other plans for the afternoon I was neither willing nor able to wait into the late afternoon.

So I have made another appointment for the end of next week, a "waiting" one this time.

I'm not happy with the dealer to say the least.
What is the point of making an appointed time if your car is then just put into a queue.

I will let you know how I get on.

Graham.

[anchorman]

Its Service Departments that have let my Mazda experience down. The Service Manager tries but I’ve had some daft and unnecessary situations with the rest of his team which I won’t go into now.

Some of the US guys are getting evaporator failure and are waiting new parts from Japan. I hope yours is something more simple.

[Graham]

Hi Anchorman,

This is my first Mazda, and like you the Service Department is leaving a lot to be desired.
My previous 3 cars have been Toyota and I really couldn't fault the service I got from them.
I'm in a strange situation at the moment in that about four months after I bought the car I received word from Mazda that the dealership would no longer have the Mazda franchise to sell cars, but would still be an official Mazda service and repair center.
Seems a bit weird.

On the Air Con situation I hope you are right and it isn't anything too serious.
As I said I will keep you posted.

Graham.

[Kiwi]

Hi Graham

Welcome to the forum.

After reading your post I checked my a/c and think it is not working as well - I have also noted over the last day or so that the istop function has also suddenly stopped cutting the engine off as well. Coincidence or what !

Hope this is not going to be a reliability issue on the CX-3's going forward ?

Like you I think its going to be a trip to the service department to see what they have to say. I live over 30 miles away from the nearest one so it means losing a whole day I expect (or possibly more).

Kiwi

CX-3 Black Sports Nav 2.0l petrol

[Graham]

Hi Kiwi,

Sorry to hear about your air con as well.
I was hoping mine was a one off, but maybe there is an issue given what Anchorman said about the US forums.

There is a bit of a misunderstanding regarding the istop function though.
I don't believe there is anything wrong with the istop system in my car. The point I was making is that the istop is designed to not stop the engine if the battery is under heavy load, like when the a/c is running. So when the engine keeps running it must mean that the a/c unit itself must be running, just not providing any cooling.

As far as your trip to the dealership goes, if you don't want to spend all day there then see if you can arrange a "waiting" appointment when you phone them, and make it understood you will be waiting. It might save you some time.

Graham.

[anchorman]

Just to clarify, the Istop will work if the A/C is operating but not if in the max cold, max hot or defrost position.

[Graham]

Thanks for clarifying Anchorman.

When I was checking the a/c I had it at the max cold, to try and get any chilling effect, so that's why the engine kept running.

Graham.

[jtonline]

Perhaps a seal has failed and all your refrigerant has naffed off into the atmosphere.

[Graham]

I'm hoping it is something simple like a seal, which should be a quick fix.

I hope it isn't anything complicated that is going to take a while for parts to get ordered, or worse still a design fault.
I really hadn't considered a design fault until Anchorman said there seemed to be a problem in the US forums.
Now I'm going to have sleepless nights.
Just kidding.

Graham.

[Deleted User 406]

I guess seeing as it appears we've had our summer it won't be too much of an issue