What Does the Max A/C Setting Do? And Other HVAC Q's - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

JohnnyBfromPeoria · 06-26-2012, 10:27 PM

Just a click counter-clockwise from "full cold" on the climate control thermostat is the "Max A/C" setting. The owner's manual isn't really clear (pages 8-1 and 8-2) whether it is activating recirculation, which would make it redundant to the actual "Recirc" button. What does it do?

Page 8-2 also states that the recirculation setting may be automatically selected in warm weather and the light indicating "Recirc" will not illuminate. Big Brother much?

Last point: My car's a/c/ has to be manually turned on after the car has been sitting overnight, every time. It makes no difference whether the a/c compressor was running when I turned it off last, even if I left the interior fan on, etc. During the day (I drive for work in this car), it reverts to the last setting I had it on, and the a/c compressor will come online even if I shut the interior fan all the way off before shut-down, which I almost always do, no re-activating the a/c necessary. What's up with that?

And yes, I realize that this is probably in the wrong section. Please move it, Mods, if necessary. And, yeah, I could have searched a little better, and I realize it's probably been covered before...Sorry.

John B.

Sir Nuke · 06-27-2012, 06:14 AM

Johnny, if you have to turn it on everytime, and you left it on when you parked, take it to the dealer, as you have an issue.

to answer you first question....YES, MAX A/C turns on the fan and the recirc to max. The reason its not redundant is a lot of people don't run with the A/C in recirc mode.....so by going to MAX A/c, it turns BOTH on, no need to hit another button.

Chevrolet Customer Svc · 06-27-2012, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyBfromPeoria

Just a click counter-clockwise from "full cold" on the climate control thermostat is the "Max A/C" setting. The owner's manual isn't really clear (pages 8-1 and 8-2) whether it is activating recirculation, which would make it redundant to the actual "Recirc" button. What does it do?

Page 8-2 also states that the recirculation setting may be automatically selected in warm weather and the light indicating "Recirc" will not illuminate. Big Brother much?

Last point: My car's a/c/ has to be manually turned on after the car has been sitting overnight, every time. It makes no difference whether the a/c compressor was running when I turned it off last, even if I left the interior fan on, etc. During the day (I drive for work in this car), it reverts to the last setting I had it on, and the a/c compressor will come online even if I shut the interior fan all the way off before shut-down, which I almost always do, no re-activating the a/c necessary. What's up with that?

And yes, I realize that this is probably in the wrong section. Please move it, Mods, if necessary. And, yeah, I could have searched a little better, and I realize it's probably been covered before...Sorry.

John B.

At the end of page 8-1 and 8-2, it states:

Turn to increase or decrease the temperature inside the vehicle. Maximum cooling occurs when the temperature knob is turned to MAX and the air conditioning system is turned on and air is recirculated
inside the vehicle.

Therefore, it is safe to say that the recirculation control should be on and running. If this is not coming on, it may be best to take it to your dealership for diagnosis or troubleshooting.

Brandon
Chevrolet Customer Service

meissen · 06-27-2012, 12:22 PM

Johnny,

If I'm understanding correctly are you saying that the HVAC doesn't remember the last settings if it sits overnight but it does remember if it's just a few hours?

steveo9043 · 06-27-2012, 12:27 PM

Mine does not remember the last setting either. Pisses me off when I remote start it and get it and the A/C isn't even turned on!

meissen · 06-27-2012, 12:29 PM

Have you tried taking yours to the dealer, Steve?

JohnnyBfromPeoria · 06-27-2012, 12:31 PM

Brandon, what was not clear about the wording in the manual was whether the instructions were indicating that the system would take over and activate recirculation by selecting MAX on the temp knob. If all it does is engage the a/c compressor and activate recirc, it just seems a little disingenuous, as all it's doing is combining two functions already available through other switches. It's not like it saves the driver a bunch of time or anything.

The wording could be construed differently to mean that the MAX function works better if the driver selects recirc, not that the car's system does it for the driver. Read it again from that perspective and you may see what I mean.

I have another vehicle that has two a/c compressor settings, econ and a/c. Theoretically, it disengages the a/c compressor at different air discharge temperatures so that in it's econ setting, the compressor would run less frequently. No such functionality on the Camaro, I'm seeing.

Even though the car may automagically decide to use recirc, whether or not the selector is set to recirc, I'd rather have the option to set it my way and have it stay. Gone are the days of a cable-controlled door that positively made that happen. For me then, the MAX setting is both worthless and misleading. The car's going to do what it's going to do regardless of what I want.

Unless it actually does something more...? But I doubt it.

John B.

JohnnyBfromPeoria · 06-27-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meissen

Johnny,

If I'm understanding correctly are you saying that the HVAC doesn't remember the last settings if it sits overnight but it does remember if it's just a few hours?

That is correct. Sounds like I'm not the only one.

John B.

steveo9043 · 06-27-2012, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meissen

Have you tried taking yours to the dealer, Steve?

I have not, I just recently had to start using the A/C this summer and noticed this. I did have a compressor replaced back in Feb when we had a heat wave but haven't used it since. Thought it might have something to do with that.

I plan on taking it in Saturday Morning.

steveo9043 · 06-27-2012, 12:39 PM

oh and the A/C sucks in it! I mean does it cool down the car? yes on max A/C with fan speed of 6 or more. I think it might be low from them replacing the compressor.

Emig5m · 06-27-2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveo9043

oh and the A/C sucks in it! I mean does it cool down the car? yes on max A/C with fan speed of 6 or more. I think it might be low from them replacing the compressor.

lol... And I just made a thread a few days ago asking everyone if they where happy with their AC performance. On the plus side, it has the quickest warm up time for hot air on cool mornings out of every vehicle I've owned.

GEEKFREEKSCOTTY · 06-27-2012, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emig5m

lol... And I just made a thread a few days ago asking everyone if they where happy with their AC performance. On the plus side, it has the quickest warm up time for hot air on cool mornings out of every vehicle I've owned.

It seems like my AC isn't that cold. It gets cool, but not icy like I would expect.

styphon · 06-28-2012, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveo9043

oh and the A/C sucks in it! I mean does it cool down the car? yes on max A/C with fan speed of 6 or more. I think it might be low from them replacing the compressor.

Am I just in luck? My car remembers the ac settings every time. Also the ac works great, most of the time I have it on only one or two clicks.

DeAdMiKe187 · 06-28-2012, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveo9043

Mine does not remember the last setting either. Pisses me off when I remote start it and get it and the A/C isn't even turned on!

Occasionally happens to me (especially with Remote Start). The 3 of us with this problem all have 2012 models. Interesting.

Recently, I noticed that the lights for AC/Recirc didn't illuminate until I put the key in and turned it, so I'm not 100% sure if the AC was working properly those other times I remote started the car, because I would press the AC/recirc buttons before putting in my key (which probably turned them off, because they were probably 'on' even though the light wasn't on). I don't know. I'll pay more attention to it next time.

06-26-2012, 10:27 PM	#1
JohnnyBfromPeoria Drives: 2012 LS M6, Black Join Date: May 2009 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 2,045	What Does the Max A/C Setting Do? And Other HVAC Q's Just a click counter-clockwise from "full cold" on the climate control thermostat is the "Max A/C" setting. The owner's manual isn't really clear (pages 8-1 and 8-2) whether it is activating recirculation, which would make it redundant to the actual "Recirc" button. What does it do? Page 8-2 also states that the recirculation setting may be automatically selected in warm weather and the light indicating "Recirc" will not illuminate. Big Brother much? Last point: My car's a/c/ has to be manually turned on after the car has been sitting overnight, every time. It makes no difference whether the a/c compressor was running when I turned it off last, even if I left the interior fan on, etc. During the day (I drive for work in this car), it reverts to the last setting I had it on, and the a/c compressor will come online even if I shut the interior fan all the way off before shut-down, which I almost always do, no re-activating the a/c necessary. What's up with that? And yes, I realize that this is probably in the wrong section. Please move it, Mods, if necessary. And, yeah, I could have searched a little better, and I realize it's probably been covered before...Sorry. John B. __________________ 12 LS M6, IPF S/C, ASA GT-5 wheels, VMax PTB 1995 Mitsubishi Montero SR 1987 Dodge Raider Turbo Project 1986 Mitsubishi Montero 2.4l FI Transplant

06-27-2012, 06:14 AM	#2
Sir Nuke Master of All Things Drives: '20 Corvette Stingray Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Southeast of Houston, Texas Posts: 22,331 View My Garage	Johnny, if you have to turn it on everytime, and you left it on when you parked, take it to the dealer, as you have an issue. to answer you first question....YES, MAX A/C turns on the fan and the recirc to max. The reason its not redundant is a lot of people don't run with the A/C in recirc mode.....so by going to MAX A/c, it turns BOTH on, no need to hit another button. __________________

06-27-2012, 12:22 PM	#4
meissen Founder - Michigan FBody Drives: 1994 Camaro LT1, 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Haven, MI Posts: 2,599	Johnny, If I'm understanding correctly are you saying that the HVAC doesn't remember the last settings if it sits overnight but it does remember if it's just a few hours? __________________ 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS L99 - *"Zooma"* 1994 Camaro LT1 A4 - *"Red Alert"* - v6-to-LT1 Swapped Cruiser; Cammed, Stalled, Enjoyed "Gone But Not Forgotten" 2016 Camaro 1LT A8 - "Elmo" 2014 Camaro 1LT M6 - "Cherry Bomb" 2012 Camaro 1LS M6 - "Clifford" Michigan FBody Association http://www.mifbody.com/

06-27-2012, 12:27 PM	#5
steveo9043 Drives: 2012 45th AE 2SS Coupe Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 1,125	Mine does not remember the last setting either. Pisses me off when I remote start it and get it and the A/C isn't even turned on! __________________ 2012 45th L99 SS-Cold air inductions CAI-Dynatech LT's-Solo mach XL catback 333hp/341tq (before LT's)

06-27-2012, 12:29 PM	#6
meissen Founder - Michigan FBody Drives: 1994 Camaro LT1, 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Haven, MI Posts: 2,599	Have you tried taking yours to the dealer, Steve? __________________ 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS L99 - *"Zooma"* 1994 Camaro LT1 A4 - *"Red Alert"* - v6-to-LT1 Swapped Cruiser; Cammed, Stalled, Enjoyed "Gone But Not Forgotten" 2016 Camaro 1LT A8 - "Elmo" 2014 Camaro 1LT M6 - "Cherry Bomb" 2012 Camaro 1LS M6 - "Clifford" Michigan FBody Association http://www.mifbody.com/

06-27-2012, 12:31 PM	#7
JohnnyBfromPeoria Drives: 2012 LS M6, Black Join Date: May 2009 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 2,045	Brandon, what was not clear about the wording in the manual was whether the instructions were indicating that the system would take over and activate recirculation by selecting MAX on the temp knob. If all it does is engage the a/c compressor and activate recirc, it just seems a little disingenuous, as all it's doing is combining two functions already available through other switches. It's not like it saves the driver a bunch of time or anything. The wording could be construed differently to mean that the MAX function works better if the driver selects recirc, not that the car's system does it for the driver. Read it again from that perspective and you may see what I mean. I have another vehicle that has two a/c compressor settings, econ and a/c. Theoretically, it disengages the a/c compressor at different air discharge temperatures so that in it's econ setting, the compressor would run less frequently. No such functionality on the Camaro, I'm seeing. Even though the car may automagically decide to use recirc, whether or not the selector is set to recirc, I'd rather have the option to set it my way and have it stay. Gone are the days of a cable-controlled door that positively made that happen. For me then, the MAX setting is both worthless and misleading. The car's going to do what it's going to do regardless of what I want. Unless it actually does something more...? But I doubt it. John B. __________________ 12 LS M6, IPF S/C, ASA GT-5 wheels, VMax PTB 1995 Mitsubishi Montero SR 1987 Dodge Raider Turbo Project 1986 Mitsubishi Montero 2.4l FI Transplant

06-27-2012, 12:39 PM	#10
steveo9043 Drives: 2012 45th AE 2SS Coupe Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 1,125	oh and the A/C sucks in it! I mean does it cool down the car? yes on max A/C with fan speed of 6 or more. I think it might be low from them replacing the compressor. __________________ 2012 45th L99 SS-Cold air inductions CAI-Dynatech LT's-Solo mach XL catback 333hp/341tq (before LT's)