# hot air through blower?



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

My aircon is not working at the moment, got a leak somewhere so the system is empty. So, I'm not expecting the cabin air to be cooled at the moment.

I don't expect it to be heated, though, if I've got the temperature set to 18 degrees and it's a hot day and I'm stuck in traffic (I'd expect it to be blowing outside ambient temp air at me). Yet heated air is exactly what I got a week or so back when stuck in traffic on the M3 one hot afternoon.

It was only when I opened the window that I realised that the ambient air was quite a lot cooler than what was coming out of the vent! After a while the traffic got moving again and within 30 seconds or so the air coming from the vent was noticeably cooler again.

When my aircon has been working, I've often thought it wasn't particularly good at cooling the car down when stuck in traffic. If it's having to fight with something that's trying to heat the air before it runs past the cooling element that might explain it!

Is this normal? (for a '97 R33 GTR). If so, no wonder the aircon is crap (when it works)!

Cheers,
Kingsley.


----------



## G40tee (Feb 25, 2008)

same with any car ive had that has had a leak in the coolant system or air con.

Dont forget without the air con gases the engine is still there heating any air around the engine, especially when sitting in traffic!


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

I guess that's true, but my runabout which doesn't have aircon at all (a Cavalier) doesn't do this - it just chucks ambient temp air at me. Which is why I was surprised when the GTR was actually heating it!

Cheers,
Kingsley.


----------



## G40tee (Feb 25, 2008)

see mine has only done it when there has been a leak in either the cooling system or air con. if the system is enclosed but has never done it, i am running my car minus the a/c pulley atm and it still cools it to a certain extent.

does it still heat the air when you have not got the a/c turned on and using the normal fans etc?


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

I've not been sat in traffic in hot weather since so I can't be sure. Unless I had forgotten to check it I would have turned the aircon off and just used the normal fans on the basis that the aircon doesn't work anyway, so leaving it on wouldn't make the system work as it expected. So, I *think* the aircon was off at the time, though I can't be 100% sure.


----------



## pupsi (Aug 29, 2006)

My aircon is also not working, I too thought that set at 18 the minimum I would get would be ambient temp, but instead I also get hot air coming through the vents???


----------



## freak4speed (Feb 9, 2007)

*yeah mines the same...*

my air con doesn't do anything but blow warm/hot air at me when im in traffic or going through town. I was told the other day though that the air con system needs to be run regularly, even through the winter for about 10-15 mins every month to make sure the gases are circulated properly or they dont work. I was also told that every so often they need re-gassing as the aircon gas deteriorates quite quickly.
Not sure if its all true but going to get mine re-gassed and see what happens. I've got to try and shield some of my air con piping 1st though as its too close to my exhaust as it goes into the bulk head.
Im dont know where the air intake is for the aircon but im sure if it had a feed to the outside of the engine bay it would probably suck in cooler air rather than the hot air from under the bonnet. Im going to have to look into it me thinks.
Regards, the Freak


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

Hmm that's really odd isn't it. And annoying! I wonder why it actually HEATS the air, seems to make no sense under these conditions. I wonder if it's a design fault?

Freak - the air intake is at the bottom of the windscreen. It shouldn't take in air from the engine bay.


----------



## davew (Apr 28, 2003)

your cabin temp sensor is foobarred:thumbsup:


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

Hi Dave, it'll be nice if it really is something as simple as that.

How does that explain why it started getting cooler again when I started moving, or do you reckon that might have just been a coincidence? I can't remember how long I left the windows down for once I started moving as this was a week ago now.


----------



## NISFAN (Oct 11, 2003)

Bizarrely, the R33 does not have an outside air feed like most other cars have. Mine always felt like it blew hot air, unless the aircon was on.


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

Makes me wonder that the aircon would be able to produce colder air if it didn't have to fight with the heater ...


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

NISFAN said:


> Bizarrely, the R33 does not have an outside air feed like most other cars have. Mine always felt like it blew hot air, unless the aircon was on.


I have to admit I've not looked, I just assumed that it was the same as virtually every other car! Where does it get the air from?

Cheers,
Kingsley.


----------



## NISFAN (Oct 11, 2003)

^^^ From inside the cabin. It is like a normal car with recirc on permanently.

Which might explain why the windows fog over really badly, and the hot air. 

If you think about it, the aircon is always on as the default.


----------



## infamous_t (Jul 9, 2007)

If its just a sensor problem, you can override it by holding the cold button down until it goes to FC (full cold).


----------



## kingsley (Aug 26, 2002)

NISFAN said:


> ^^^ From inside the cabin. It is like a normal car with recirc on permanently.


Mine has a button to turn recirc on and off. Is yours an early 33? Maybe the late ones were different?

Cheers,
Kingsley.


----------



## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

well, I have an R32, but I do experience the same thing and have boiled it down to a couple factors.

First, and I had never know this, but in summer traffic, the temperature around a gaggle of cars is MUCH higher than ambient. I only found this out when I started to ride motorcycles, and while out of traffic it was merely warm, when filtering through a traffic jam it was like getting blasted by heat waves. So if a car is sucking in that ambient air, it's a lot hotter than what the weatherman is saying the temperature is.

And secondly, I think the main culprit is the RB26. We all know just how hot that thing runs, and even with a good rubber seal for the hood (I replaced mine at the beginning of summer in an effort to block off all engine bay air from the air intake for the ventilation system), it was largely in vain. The air my car is pulling it is clearly much hotter than ambient.

I know for a fact that it isn't a sensor or climate control unit malfunction - my temp servo is dead, so I adjust temperature by reaching under the dash on the passenger side and MANUALLY adjusting the hot/cold air mix!! :chuckle: (since I generally only use full hot or full cold and use fan speed and the windows to fine-tune the temperature, I only have to move the flap twice a year. I don't know why, every car I've ever had, I never used intermediate temperature settings. Maybe new cars with complex climate control systems actually work to what might be my satisfaction).

Anyways - I don't think anything is wrong with your car other than needing the A/C sorted. The air isn't being heated - it's hot air in, hot air out!


----------



## NISFAN (Oct 11, 2003)

kingsley said:


> Mine has a button to turn recirc on and off. Is yours an early 33? Maybe the late ones were different?
> 
> Cheers,
> Kingsley.


Mine has recirc function too. I was mystified as to what the difference was, as the system has no 'inlet' from outside. To me recirc means recycling cabin air, and the R33 atleast does that permanently.


----------



## G40tee (Feb 25, 2008)

is mine the only r33 that actually has a working blower then?

fair enough from 19 to 20 it goes from cold to hot instantly but other than that isnt too bad!

havent got a/c connected either so will see what that is like as well when done


----------

