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A/C problem figured out!! - See last post.


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Ok, i got the call from the CSR, he was very congenial, but not too high on the totem pole. He claims he is not aware of a widespread a/c problem, but then admitted that unless it was a general recall, he wouldn't be. He kept pressing me to take the car to the dealership, to be diagnosed, and I kept refusing, telling him I didn't want to waste my time. I explained to him that GM has issued a directive to the dealers, with the three options, basically admitting there is a problem, but the dealers, country wide, are throwing compressors at the problem, to the point of depleting the supply. When he finally understood that I wasn't going to budge, he documented everything that was said, and issued me a service ticket#. So my car is on record for having the problem. During the conversation, I kept hammering him with the posts from this forum, and told him they need to get someone down here, and make an appearance to show some interest, and bolster confidence, in their customers, as this is probably the most active Spark forum on the net. He really liked, and understood the idea, and said he was going to submit it to customer relations.

He took the URL, so we shall see. He said he knows they monitor the Consumer Reports site. I questioned him on the service manual, He said it should be available for order at the dealership parts counter, but wasn't sure. We spoke for about 20 min., but that is the gist of the conversation.

Get'em WALT !!!!!!!!!

Im REALLY into this community and really hope those of us checking here daily keep it alive. I try the best i can to help anyone out asap. I probably check this board once every 2 hours just to see whats going on.

I feel for everyone that's frustrated with this situation. In my case im not stressing it too much. Although i do believe that it is Absolute BS about A/C and No physical Manual, If GM wants to keep my car tucked in the dealers garage while they pay for me to ride around in a rental racking up unlimited miles then who am i to tell them otherwise. Although the money would be better spent finding a freaking fix. This big billion dollar companies will never think that way.

Like i said i was told that a compressor would be at the dealer by 10am thurs (tomorrow)... ill be calling them (if they dont call me first) at about 12:30pm to get an update. If the A/C is blowing out the same or worse i'm taking it back that same day to see what they tell me. Even if it works that day and then day 2 or 3 its shot again back to the dealer it goes until they tell me "yeah theres nothing else we can do" in which case i'll see if i can get some free oil changes for my inconvenience or maybe another rental for a few more days LOL

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No the Internet can give you a valuable tool to combat stupid dealers.

I felt the same way, but up to now, I still have no regrets, I've never had as much fun with a car, as I've been having with the Spark. Although a pain in the ass, this a/c problem will be resolved. I

Our ac generally works great. But im starting to notice everyone in a while it blows not so cold...I wanna say like coming to a stop. However there are other times at idle itll freeze us out.

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I know that Chevy marketing reads this forum regularly, it should probably be on someone's daily schedule to read every new post. Right now it only takes me about 10 minutes a few times a day to read everything, longer if I post. If they don't want to check, I'll take a bit of their money to part time summarize everything for them.

I never talked to my CS person today, was sitting at my desk for most of the time period I was told she would call and no messages at home so I know she got my message to call work. Guess I try again tomorrow.

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I think the ac problem is going to stop me from buying a spark. its 96 here and I don't want to be without ac. But I might wait till I see if the 2014 spark has the same problem. I think the spark would have been a good car for me.

Edited by Jeffrey Makela
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I saw this on spark talk. is this the problem?

On some 2013 Sparks, the air conditioning may only blow warm air or may get slightly cooler during acceleration. During diagnosis, the A/C pressures may be erratic and the low side may be as low as 0 psi to 30 inches of vacuum.
Inspect for metal contamination in the A/C system by removing the plug from the bottom of the receiver/drier and checking for debris in the filter assembly. Also check for debris or contamination in the thermal expansion valve (TXV). If contamination is found, perform repairs as outlined in the appropriate Service Information and verify repairs

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I saw this on spark talk. is this the problem?

On some 2013 Sparks, the air conditioning may only blow warm air or may get slightly cooler during acceleration. During diagnosis, the A/C pressures may be erratic and the low side may be as low as 0 psi to 30 inches of vacuum.

Inspect for metal contamination in the A/C system by removing the plug from the bottom of the receiver/drier and checking for debris in the filter assembly. Also check for debris or contamination in the thermal expansion valve (TXV). If contamination is found, perform repairs as outlined in the appropriate Service Information and verify repairs

This is the GM Techlink posted from GM. That is only part of the problem. There are 3 possible fixes and only 2 are out now. One possible cause GM says engineers are working in it.

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Let me tell you, Chevy has no frickin' idea what they are doing! :rant:

I got a call from another CSR telling me she talked to the stealershit that robbed me, and that the "service manager" told her I needed a new compressor and they were waiting for it to come in.

Now I have the service receipt from the last time I brought the car in and it says in black & white that they replaced the compressor, so who's BSing who?

The best is that she told me to bring the car into another stealer to have it looked at, and to call back once I made the appointment, so they can follow the "progress" of the "repair".

She also told me that the service manager wanted to talk to me and to call him ASAP (shouldn't he be calling ME?).

So I called, got voicemail, and no one has bothered to return my call in FOUR days!

I am over it. :rant2:

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I got a voicemail from a "District Specialist" today. Returned his call. Havnt heard back. Hoping he calls back soon, if not i will be dropping him another call. i want to see what he says. I have another appointment to take my car back in on Monday. The last two times i have calle dand explained them my problem with the A/C they have seemed snotty to me like i dont know what i am talking about. if i get any greif or attitude I'm taking it to another dealer and will be explaining my frustrations with their attitude to the person following my case.

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I went searching through back issues of the TeckLink and found that in September of 2012 there was an A/C blows warm for the Spark saying to check the expansion valve for metal shaving and under the drier cover. These were the only two places that the Spark has been mentioned so far. Now the Caddy ATS on the other hand seems to have a different issue every month, or maybe their buyers scream louder than we do.

Also I noticed that when the A/C goes from cool to warm while driving, I get a little power back, then feel the power go away. This was in third gear going up a slight hill, but not enough for the compressor to kick out on the engine load sensor (normally full throttle). That says the compressor is either programmed to behave this way, or the programming has an issue, or the compressor has an issue where it stops doing the same amount of work.

Also at lunch today I noticed my recirculate flapper going spastic. Conditions are run the A/C on fan 4 setting and recirculate for a few minutes, then switch out of recirculate and listen to the air flow as it changes between recirc. and fresh several times. Never happened when I was running heat in the winter, so it may be a programming issue.

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Its not the responsibility of the vehicle owner to stay on top of the repair.

Thats what theyre supposed to have an entire service department staffed with a dozen or more people for.

The more and more I read about this and, more importantly, the more i hear about the treatment of people...has me wondering if I'll ever consider GM again.

I wonder if we'd be getting the same treatment if we were all 55 year-old guys with a $65k+ Corvette.

Edited by Lazerface
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The more and more I read about this and, more importantly, the more i hear about the treatment of people...has me wondering if I'll ever consider GM again.

Agreed 100%, but from what I see and hear, they are all good for sh*t. It seems ignorance is an equal opportunity employer, not just confined to GM.

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@lazerface @waltk

I agree with both of you... my issue is the rental is due back at 4:30pm... ill call the dealer around 3:30 just in case... and if it's not ready ill have them give enterprise a heads up that way I don't have to worry about a late rental charge

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@lazerface @waltk

I agree with both of you... my issue is the rental is due back at 4:30pm... ill call the dealer around 3:30 just in case... and if it's not ready ill have them give enterprise a heads up that way I don't have to worry about a late rental charge

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If they are paying for the rental, then screw them. If you are paying for the rental, what the hell were you thinking, make them give you a car on their dime, chevy says this is a requirement during the basic warranty period and is written in either the warranty agreement or in the owners manual. Probably right next to the roadside service info.

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If they are paying for the rental, then screw them. If you are paying for the rental, what the hell were you thinking, make them give you a car on their dime, chevy says this is a requirement during the basic warranty period and is written in either the warranty agreement or in the owners manual. Probably right next to the roadside service info.

they are picking up the bill.. yeah I would not have gotten a rental if I had to pay

ill give them that they offered me a shuttle when I dropped off the car and the rental when he told me about the compressor

Edited by Paul Delgado
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I went searching through back issues of the TeckLink and found that in September of 2012 there was an A/C blows warm for the Spark saying to check the expansion valve for metal shaving and under the drier cover. These were the only two places that the Spark has been mentioned so far. Now the Caddy ATS on the other hand seems to have a different issue every month, or maybe their buyers scream louder than we do.

Also I noticed that when the A/C goes from cool to warm while driving, I get a little power back, then feel the power go away. This was in third gear going up a slight hill, but not enough for the compressor to kick out on the engine load sensor (normally full throttle). That says the compressor is either programmed to behave this way, or the programming has an issue, or the compressor has an issue where it stops doing the same amount of work.

Also at lunch today I noticed my recirculate flapper going spastic. Conditions are run the A/C on fan 4 setting and recirculate for a few minutes, then switch out of recirculate and listen to the air flow as it changes between recirc. and fresh several times. Never happened when I was running heat in the winter, so it may be a programming issue.

A couple days ago I expirenced the loss of power issue you describe. Only thing is, I didnt tie it in with the A/C issue. I was driving and felt a slight flutter in power. It was like i loss a little got it back lost a little and got it back and it was fine. So minor I didnt even really think twice about it. I will be explaining this issue to the dealer on Monday. I will also be listneing for the recirc issue you explain to see if mine does that as well.

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I went searching through back issues of the TeckLink and found that in September of 2012 there was an A/C blows warm for the Spark saying to check the expansion valve for metal shaving and under the drier cover. These were the only two places that the Spark has been mentioned so far. Now the Caddy ATS on the other hand seems to have a different issue every month, or maybe their buyers scream louder than we do.

Also I noticed that when the A/C goes from cool to warm while driving, I get a little power back, then feel the power go away. This was in third gear going up a slight hill, but not enough for the compressor to kick out on the engine load sensor (normally full throttle). That says the compressor is either programmed to behave this way, or the programming has an issue, or the compressor has an issue where it stops doing the same amount of work.

Also at lunch today I noticed my recirculate flapper going spastic. Conditions are run the A/C on fan 4 setting and recirculate for a few minutes, then switch out of recirculate and listen to the air flow as it changes between recirc. and fresh several times. Never happened when I was running heat in the winter, so it may be a programming issue.

Greg,

Do you remember me posting the recirculating door problem on mine? What you are experiencing is exactly what mine does. You don't even need the air to be on or fan. To test pull your glovebox out or listen close by. Then just press the recirculate and you will hear or see the flap move 4 times depending on direction. It reaches its end and dies not know when to shut off. It spins 4 times until it cuts power. I only noticed it when it was quite on day. I leave mine in recirculate mode. When you turn the Spark off it goes out of recirculate mode by itself. With the doors shut and radio off you can hear the motor and door keep moving. I uploaded a video, let me know if yours is doing the same. Yes on speed 4 you can hear it blow hard soft hard soft 4 times that's what tipped me off first. The video is in this thread.

http://chevysparkforum.com/topic/988-ac-recirculate-flap/?hl=recirculate

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just got a call from the dealer and my car is ready


I asked "the a/c is working?" he said "yup" we'll see lol

alright... first impressions its definitely an improvement.


idle stays cool but can say it's cold... im gonna drive it like that for a bit and I'll see what happens in a week or so

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Ours worked pretty good for the first couple of days after the new compressor then it was business as usual. Hope your results are more promising than mine. Our spark has been sitting all week because I figure if we are gonna be hot I will just ride the bike and my wife ride her scooter. We did go out for dinner tonight but we took the aveo.. The ac in that works soooo much better than the brand new car we just bought!

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Well my repair has started out badly, they had several people out sick so I may not even be able to have the A/C looked at today. Good thing is that it was still going warm at idle and still not really cold ever, didn't check the recirc. flapper before dropping it off.

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this has to be a record ...

got it back yesterday ... like i said it was an improvement...

today after work... same circulation lol

at first i thought it was just me or that the car was too hot but no ... its the same. The only positive is that when the car is running the A/C is cooler lol but at idle its warm air

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UPDATE !!

alright ... decided to take the car out for a test spin ...

A/C is definitely doing the weird idle circulation. Luckily at idle the Air is Fresh and when i drive the air is cold finally.... i did a neighborhood spin then i took it on a major road with enough room for me to open it up a bit and stop to make a turn and its definitely doing the same thing but now its atleast fresh air and not warm.

wanting to take no chances i called up the dealer...and explained exactly what i said about the service dude was not there today but another guy heard me out ... he told me "let me setup an appointment for you on monday just incase it gets worse" so i have another appointment set for monday at 1pm.

I read a few posts back "what if we all were 45y/o guys with corvettes would this even be an issue." Thats been in the back of my mind since the first time i read this thread. Sucks but that probably what the situation is.

Hopefully more people keep taking in their sparks to dealers and this issue gets bigger.

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