Auto climate control issue?

[dechief4]

Originally Posted by Northern300c

Their is only one sensor in the system so it cannot sense temperature fluctuations in several areas of the car.

And it cannot sense when you have sunlight shining on you making you feel hotter than what it senses.

I only use the auto fan and temperature control. You can't expect one sensor to be able to do as much as you are asking it to.

Are you thinking if you you have condensation on your windshield that it should know when to turn on the defrost?

'Their' are actually TWO sensors providing environmental input for this system. As pointed out succinctly by Dr. No (read up a few posts - so you don't have to take my word for it), "The system on my car runs a cooler 69 in sun light and if I make a return trip at night the air is definitaly warmer. The SUN sensor in the dash adjusts for this. There is also a INFRARED sensor above the rear window defrost button which adjusts for front seat passenger body heat. These sensors only work when the FAN is in the AUTO mode or air flow direction is in the auto mode. If fan is in manual speed modes and air flow is in a non auto position (VENT, or FLOOR) 69 temp IS NOT regulated with these additional sensors.,69 will feel warm all the time if fans are not in AUTO"

'I I' would not expect the system to turn on the defrost when the windows are fogged - defog setting maybe, but not defrost. Just kidding on that last part - that is truly outside the realm of an auto-climate system. What is not, however, no matter how much you seem to think it is, is for the system to maintain a consistent temperature based upon environmental factors. And yes, I DO expect it to work as I ask it to - every other vehicle I've owned with an auto-climate system worked as I asked - even on sunny days!

Not sure where you are getting your 'expert information', but you may wish to revisit your sourcing.

[Northern300c]

Originally Posted by dechief4

'Their' are actually TWO sensors providing environmental input for this system. As pointed out succinctly by Dr. No (read up a few posts - so you don't have to take my word for it), "The system on my car runs a cooler 69 in sun light and if I make a return trip at night the air is definitaly warmer. The SUN sensor in the dash adjusts for this. There is also a INFRARED sensor above the rear window defrost button which adjusts for front seat passenger body heat. These sensors only work when the FAN is in the AUTO mode or air flow direction is in the auto mode. If fan is in manual speed modes and air flow is in a non auto position (VENT, or FLOOR) 69 temp IS NOT regulated with these additional sensors.,69 will feel warm all the time if fans are not in AUTO"

'I I' would not expect the system to turn on the defrost when the windows are fogged - defog setting maybe, but not defrost. Just kidding on that last part - that is truly outside the realm of an auto-climate system. What is not, however, no matter how much you seem to think it is, is for the system to maintain a consistent temperature based upon environmental factors. And yes, I DO expect it to work as I ask it to - every other vehicle I've owned with an auto-climate system worked as I asked - even on sunny days!

Not sure where you are getting your 'expert information', but you may wish to revisit your sourcing.

I would like to see some documentation claimg that there are all theses sensors tied into the auto-climate control.

And for sources you are claiming everything off of one guys post in your thread? How does that make your info definitive?

Again, I would like to see some documentation on this so I can learn from it. Other than that, I think the sun sensor being tied into the climate control system is a load of bull.

[dechief4]

Originally Posted by Northern300c

I would like to see some documentation claimg that there are all theses sensors tied into the auto-climate control.

And for sources you are claiming everything off of one guys post in your thread? How does that make your info definitive?

Again, I would like to see some documentation on this so I can learn from it. Other than that, I think the sun sensor being tied into the climate control system is a load of bull.

Easy enough... The documentation is located on pages 284 and 285 of the 2008 300C electronic owners manual (the pages in your hardcopy manual may vary)... Since that's probably too hard for you to figure out, I'll copy and paste it for you below:
"Automatic Operation
The Infrared Dual-Zone Climate Control System automatically
maintains the climate in the cabin of the vehicle
at the comfort levels desired by the driver and passenger.
To accomplish this, the system gathers information from
the controls on the climate control, from a dual sunsensor
located in the top of the instrument panel, from an
infrared sensor located in the face of the climate control,
and from various sensors located throughout the vehicle.
The controls on the climate control provide the system
with operator input. The dual sun-sensor monitors sun
load coming through the windshield. The infrared sensor
independently measures the surface temperature of the
driver and passenger. Other sensors take account of
vehicle-speed, A/C pressure, outside temperature, and
engine cooling temperature. Using all of these inputs, the
system automatically adjusts airflow temperature, airflow
distribution, airflow volume, and the amount of
outside air recirculation. This maintains a comfortable
temperature even under changing conditions."

See - it pays to do research.
Moo...

[dechief4]

Originally Posted by dechief4

Dropped the car off at the dealer yesterday for them to take a look at the climate control issue. Their report, at the end of the day was, essentially, 'it's working as designed'. According to the techs, all the actuators are working fine and when the temp is set to 69F, the output air is 69 to 69.5F. They also mentioned that on 'most' days, in 'most' climate control situations, the majority of the airflow comes from the floor vents, as they claim this allows for more accurate control of the inside temperature.

So, anyway, not sure I'm buying this. It sounds plausible, but the darn car is STILL too hot when it's set to 69F. It seems to me there is not enough airflow to compensate for the solar heating effects coming into the car. I'll probably futz with it for a couple more weeks and then take it back again.

Can anyone else confirm/deny that your cabin temp remains cool during a warm, bright sunlit day? If so, are you using the auto fan/auto mode functions, or do you manually control your airflow.

Thanks!

FWIW: Dropped the car off again late last week to have them go through the system one more time, as I insisted it wasn't working correctly. What the service writer and the tech stated was that they 'thoroughly' troubleshot the system ("as if it was broken", LOL) and couldn't find anything wrong - they tested the vent output air temp, the infrared sensor - using an external heat source and measuring the resistance change across the sensor, the solar senor, airflow volume, etc.
Given they couldn't find anything wrong, they nonetheless did 'something', intentionally or not. Since I got the car back, I have noticed a marked increase in air flow from the dash vents on those warmer sunny days - in other words, it's now working like I thought it should in the beginning (and yes, I still have everything set to 'auto' ).
My supposition here is that during their troubleshooting steps, they may well have fixed a loose/poorly connected wire to one of the sensors, allowing it to finally perform properly - and I suspect it was the infrared sensor, only because the symptoms I experienced would seem to be consistent with the failure of that particular sensor.
Regardless, I'm satisfied the system appears to be working now and am happy I decided to press the service department to dig deeper. I would encourage those of you who are having the same issue I described earlier to get your car in for a checkup.

[limeyg]

Thanks for the update and glad that things are working good for you now.
I have not been in with mine as yet, but will keep you posted.
Geoff

[Stockholm 300C]

Having hot flashes??? LOL

[RobinVA]

Why not set the temp at 68?

[limeyg]

I think many of you are missing the point here, as for many of us this is our second 300 vehicle and what we experience is that the climate control on our new 2008 models does not function as well or the same as the climate control in as is my case my 2005, 300.
Geoff

[Northern300c]

Also note that it will turn the A/C system on and you will not know it seeing the A/C light will not illuminate. But it does tuen on the A/C.

Just FYI, if you are trying to get good economy.

[Hemi Addict]

All I can say is I'm glad I haven't had any weird problems with my car yet. If I have mine set at 69 It feels a lil cooler than that which I don't mind. then again I work outside so I don't know if my internal therm is very accurate. I always just have mine set at 70-72 and thats perfect. IMO