Vue Air Conditioning

[chuck mcmullen]

Purchased an 2008 Vue w/ a 4 cylinder engine. A/C is not very cool, been back to the dealer twice. The air temp seems to change as I drive the car. Dearler said it is a gas saving feature regarding the A/C. I do not believe the dealer, the area I live in is hot in the summer and this is not going to work!

Anyone else noticed this or comments????:x

[neilpilot]

I would say the AC is marginal - in part due to the large interior and the gas saving program your dealer mentioned (AC compressor unloads at idle and low RPM). Would be interested in hearing from others. Is this a 2.4L problem, or are the 6 cylinders also running cool, not cold?

My VUE is black, and that doesn't help. It's hot here as well.

[tackepj]

Does the VUE have a variable displacement A/C compressor? It's a neat idea to save fuel, but maybe it's not enough to keep a black SUV cool in really hot weather. I'm not sure--maybe all models have that type of compressor. I think our L300 had one, and I noticed that it was less powerful that other systems (although still plenty acceptible). Our 2007 VUE's A/C seems quite a bit more powerful.

[1saxman]

We just took a 350 mile round trip yesterday in one of our '03 VUEs on the blistering hot Interstates in VA and NC, with the thermometer around 100 and higher. Neither one has had anything done to the AC at all. I had to use RECIRC but it worked well considering the circumstances. Like all other automobile AC systems, the compressor will cut out under acceleration to provide more 'go power'. You will notice less-cool air coming from the registers during and after acceleration such as merging or passing. BTW, we took the FWD one because it gets a little better mileage, and we got 25.5 MPG at speeds of 70-75 and full AC the whole time. I was very pleased with that. I know the Honda 3.5L does better on fuel, but considering the almost 6-year-old 3.0L with 60K, I was happy. That little trip cost $52 @ $3.89/gal. Even my AWD would have gotten about 24MPG. At 60MPH, I'm sure the numbers would go up nicely, but I have no death wish at this time. Of particular interest to me were the people trying to save fuel by driving (and suffering) in that heat with all the windows down and the AC off. It has been shown to my satisfaction that the drag created by the open windows uses more energy than the AC, plus vehicles moving 20 MPH slower than the other traffic create hellish and dangerous situations out on the road.