Major AC problem - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Camaro117 · 08-10-2019, 04:36 PM

Hello everyone,

I have come to the forum hoping for some help, guidance, and advice...

I bought my car back in 2015, practically new. It was mint and had only 6,000 miles. About a year or two into owning it so towards late 2016/early 17 I started having some AC issues.

I would notice that the driver side vents would start to lose the cold air and become warm while the passenger side stayed ice cold. Then eventually all the air in the car would just be hot after a couple of months. And I would notice that I could hear like this “hissing” noise coming from inside the dash where the air was coming out. It would hiss maybe every 30 seconds or every few minutes. It sounded like it was trying to do something but couldn’t. All of this was while I would have air on full blast and max ac on... but again as stated, no cold air. After I found some time, I took it to the dealership not once but MULTIPLE times... probably 5-6 times and each time was greeted with "oh you have a leak somewhere but we don’t know where, we’ve put more freon in it and added some dye to try and find the source of the leak" after doing that several times, they still never found a “leak”. All of that lasted all of 2017-18, they were convinced that it was a leak. The freon they would add would last about a couple of months each so that lasted me a while. But then after like the 6th time in 2018 they informed me that I needed a new belt, compressor, and a couple other things. Luckily, I had an extended warranty through all state that covered it all. It was going to be around $1,000. So, after replacing all that stuff and working on it I was convinced they had it fixed as everything seemed to be working as it should. Then about 11 months later it started to mess up again. The “hissing” began again, the air started going from cold to warm so I took it back to the dealership and they told me the compressor must be bad so they replaced it and after that again everything seemed to be good again.
Fast-forward a year later to this year, 2019 back in April it all started happening again... air became hot so I took it to another dealership that was still owned by the same people just to see how that would go down thinking the one closest to me just sucked. This dealership looked at it and they informed me that I again needed a new compressor, dryer, belt, etc. and all this stuff. They were basically replacing the whole AC just like the other dealership did back in 2018. All state covered that again, it too was going to be another $1,000. And again, after they fired and replaced everything my air seemed to work fine again… UNTIL now…the air is going out AGAIN.
I plan on taking it back to the dealership again… and I am about to go off. I have had this car in the dealership so many times since owning it. I have owned it since 2015 and over the course of 4 years I have had it in the dealership for like half the time. I am sick of it. I love my car I do! Its my pride and joy but at this point I don’t know what to do. I have a few options; one being getting rid of it. But I want to see what you guys think first.
I have done some research on here and have found a few similar cases, peoples air not working right, the cold goes out, etc. And I have found that there seems to be a common issue of the “blend door” going out, the actuators and blend door not working, or something to do with an evaporator valve?

I am clueless when it comes to car mechanics but that seems to be a common problem. I know that to get to those things and fix them they must take the windshield out and get into the dash and that it’s a very labor-intensive process as well as a costly process. So I don’t know if one, the dealership legit does not know what is wrong or they are just being lazy and not wanting to take that windshield out and all that. Now I will say that I DID have an extended warranty, the one through Allstate that I mentioned above, it has been wonderful. But… it literally just ran out. I can renew it but I haven’t looked into that yet, I’m sure it will cost an arm and a leg. So that is one downside, I don’t have that extended warranty anymore. It saved me from paying over $2,000 plus dollars. But now that I don’t have that I am sure they are going to try every way possible to try and make me pay money now, which I don’t have that kind of money right now.
BUT my plan is this:
- Call the dealership and talk with the main manager and explain the situation. Tell them that I am tired of them not fixing it right. Tell them that even though I have no warranty now that this started back when I had it and that I am not paying a dime that they need to do it right.
- Call GM and let them know what’s going on.
- Call Allstate and let them know that the dealership did not fix my car right and that if they are going to fix it again that even though I currently don’t have coverage that Allstate needs to cover this as well.
- Call the EPA and fuss to them as well. This suggestion came from my dad he said that the EPA will be furious with the air not working right and all the emissions going into the air.
- If nothing works… get rid of the car. Which I hate to, but I need my AC to work and this has been going on for far too long.

Sorry this is so long but this whole thing has been a headache. I mean I’ve been dealing with this for like 3 years now. In and out of the shop. Last time when I took it back in April, they had the car for a week, and I drove a loaner truck. It sucked.

So, please any suggestions, any advice, just anything from you guys will help! What do you think?

silverstorm · 08-10-2019, 05:18 PM

Most likely your blend door. There are other options if you don't want to pay for the expensive cost of the proper repair.

sixty9fordkiller · 08-10-2019, 07:00 PM

i was gonna say blend door too (happened to mine) but the hissing sound is the strange part. mine never hissed.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Tajefe Couple · 08-10-2019, 10:40 PM

Would agree blend door seems to be at the top of the list. Mine seems to be expansion valve. Also understand these systems seem to be riddled with issues and are finicky when it comes to having the exact right amount of Freon just to name a few problems.
The hissing is something haven't heard of though. GL

08-10-2019, 04:36 PM	#1
Camaro117 Drives: Yellow 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Kentucky Posts: 274	Major AC problem Hello everyone, I have come to the forum hoping for some help, guidance, and advice... I bought my car back in 2015, practically new. It was mint and had only 6,000 miles. About a year or two into owning it so towards late 2016/early 17 I started having some AC issues. I would notice that the driver side vents would start to lose the cold air and become warm while the passenger side stayed ice cold. Then eventually all the air in the car would just be hot after a couple of months. And I would notice that I could hear like this “hissing” noise coming from inside the dash where the air was coming out. It would hiss maybe every 30 seconds or every few minutes. It sounded like it was trying to do something but couldn’t. All of this was while I would have air on full blast and max ac on... but again as stated, no cold air. After I found some time, I took it to the dealership not once but MULTIPLE times... probably 5-6 times and each time was greeted with "oh you have a leak somewhere but we don’t know where, we’ve put more freon in it and added some dye to try and find the source of the leak" after doing that several times, they still never found a “leak”. All of that lasted all of 2017-18, they were convinced that it was a leak. The freon they would add would last about a couple of months each so that lasted me a while. But then after like the 6th time in 2018 they informed me that I needed a new belt, compressor, and a couple other things. Luckily, I had an extended warranty through all state that covered it all. It was going to be around $1,000. So, after replacing all that stuff and working on it I was convinced they had it fixed as everything seemed to be working as it should. Then about 11 months later it started to mess up again. The “hissing” began again, the air started going from cold to warm so I took it back to the dealership and they told me the compressor must be bad so they replaced it and after that again everything seemed to be good again. Fast-forward a year later to this year, 2019 back in April it all started happening again... air became hot so I took it to another dealership that was still owned by the same people just to see how that would go down thinking the one closest to me just sucked. This dealership looked at it and they informed me that I again needed a new compressor, dryer, belt, etc. and all this stuff. They were basically replacing the whole AC just like the other dealership did back in 2018. All state covered that again, it too was going to be another $1,000. And again, after they fired and replaced everything my air seemed to work fine again… UNTIL now…the air is going out AGAIN. I plan on taking it back to the dealership again… and I am about to go off. I have had this car in the dealership so many times since owning it. I have owned it since 2015 and over the course of 4 years I have had it in the dealership for like half the time. I am sick of it. I love my car I do! Its my pride and joy but at this point I don’t know what to do. I have a few options; one being getting rid of it. But I want to see what you guys think first. I have done some research on here and have found a few similar cases, peoples air not working right, the cold goes out, etc. And I have found that there seems to be a common issue of the “blend door” going out, the actuators and blend door not working, or something to do with an evaporator valve? I am clueless when it comes to car mechanics but that seems to be a common problem. I know that to get to those things and fix them they must take the windshield out and get into the dash and that it’s a very labor-intensive process as well as a costly process. So I don’t know if one, the dealership legit does not know what is wrong or they are just being lazy and not wanting to take that windshield out and all that. Now I will say that I DID have an extended warranty, the one through Allstate that I mentioned above, it has been wonderful. But… it literally just ran out. I can renew it but I haven’t looked into that yet, I’m sure it will cost an arm and a leg. So that is one downside, I don’t have that extended warranty anymore. It saved me from paying over $2,000 plus dollars. But now that I don’t have that I am sure they are going to try every way possible to try and make me pay money now, which I don’t have that kind of money right now. BUT my plan is this: - Call the dealership and talk with the main manager and explain the situation. Tell them that I am tired of them not fixing it right. Tell them that even though I have no warranty now that this started back when I had it and that I am not paying a dime that they need to do it right. - Call GM and let them know what’s going on. - Call Allstate and let them know that the dealership did not fix my car right and that if they are going to fix it again that even though I currently don’t have coverage that Allstate needs to cover this as well. - Call the EPA and fuss to them as well. This suggestion came from my dad he said that the EPA will be furious with the air not working right and all the emissions going into the air. - If nothing works… get rid of the car. Which I hate to, but I need my AC to work and this has been going on for far too long. Sorry this is so long but this whole thing has been a headache. I mean I’ve been dealing with this for like 3 years now. In and out of the shop. Last time when I took it back in April, they had the car for a week, and I drove a loaner truck. It sucked. So, please any suggestions, any advice, just anything from you guys will help! What do you think? __________________

08-10-2019, 07:00 PM	#3
sixty9fordkiller Donkey Dick Cam Camaro Drives: 2010 2SS/RS LS3 M6 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,000	i was gonna say blend door too (happened to mine) but the hissing sound is the strange part. mine never hissed. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk __________________ Bone Stock

08-10-2019, 10:40 PM	#4
Tajefe Couple Drives: Never just fly under the radar Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Kansas Posts: 1,531 View My Garage	Would agree blend door seems to be at the top of the list. Mine seems to be expansion valve. Also understand these systems seem to be riddled with issues and are finicky when it comes to having the exact right amount of Freon just to name a few problems. The hissing is something haven't heard of though. GL __________________ 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 Old Skool

08-10-2019, 05:18 PM	#2
silverstorm Drives: 2014 Camaro 2LS Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 213 View My Garage	Most likely your blend door. There are other options if you don't want to pay for the expensive cost of the proper repair.