A/C warm when letting off gas

[Dave Botsch]

In an Impreza Outback Sport '05, I have noted that after accelerating when
I let off the gas, the A/C would appear to cycle off for a few seconds.

I don't usually notice this on low fan speeds (presumably b.c. it doesn't
blow the cold air out fast enough), but do on high fan speeds.

I am not talking hard accelerations either (though, hard accels make no
difference). So, while accelerating, the air is perfectly cool. Most of
the time, if I then let off the gas slightly, or a lot, the air coming
out of the vents goes warm for a seconds as if the A/C had cycled off.

Normal? Not normal? If not, then what could this be a symptom of being
wrong?

If this is normal, I'd still like to understand what's going on under the
hood.

Thanks!

 

[Dan Cole]

I have a similar problem with my Outback. Does your temp indicator
go up real quick and back down just as fast when the A/C kicks back
in?

I had to replace the radiator, dealer said it had some dead spots
where coolant wasn't flowing properly. Also swapped out the
thermostat. A/C is working fine now.

My temp indicator still occasionally goes up fast and back down but
the A/C doesn't seem to be impacted.

I have had the radiator flood checked for hydrocarbons (to see if head
gasket is blown). That all looks good.

Outbacks have two temp sensors, one triggers the fans on the radiator
and the other is the temp indicator on the dash. I need to have them
both checked out or replaced. You might try replacing the temp sensor
for your radiator fan.