2012 Chevy Equinox V-6/AWD Defogger/Thermostat Problems

[islandreamer]

Just drove through heavy rain this morning and my windshield just fogged up like crazy. It fogged so fast I had to slow down. Never had this since I bought it new back in Feb'12. I normally leave the thermostat halfway w/ a.c. running and vent controls on outside air and defogger. I had to fight adjusting the thermostat from mid to cold and fan blower to about 12 just to clear up. After bringing it back down halfway on the thermo and fan at speed 2, it fogs up again. I tried to observe the a/c light if it came on and off intermittently but it looks like it stayed steady although most of the time my eyes were on the road.

Just called the service center for an appointment. There is definitely something funky going on and it's not cold medina

 

[TheDarkKnightKnox]

I had that issue with my Previous G6 especially after winter, turned out the solenoid in the compressor was not engaging when called. Hopefully you are just low on refridgerent.

 

[islandreamer]

No Ventilation Error Codes

Unfortunately, the service tech did not pull up any error codes which makes me wonder now that you mentioned a possibility of low refrigerant whether it will show up on their diagnostic machine. Worth checking anyway. Thanks for the tip.

 

[TheDarkKnightKnox]

My pleasure! Good Luck!

 

[islandreamer]

Well, unfortunately, I was told the same story on this second dealership. My ac refrigerant was at full charge and no error codes on the vent system. My cabin filter is not that dirty (a year ago) but for ****s and giggles, I'll put in a new one next week. I even tried the Rain-X interior/exterior glass anti-fog application but no luck there. Service told me that next time it happens, have the thermostat a little on the warm side and vent on recirc with ac on and on defog. I'll just have to play with these controls for now. It's just weird since I've never had these problems on a few asian cars I've had given the same scenario. A good example is on my wife's 2006 Mazda 5, if you have the ac on and vent on recirc, ones you switch to defog/defrost, the recirc turns off and no way to override it. I guess the intent is to draw fresh air from the outside for defogging the inside windshield/window.

 

[TheDarkKnightKnox]

That just sounds odd to me. Is this happening on extremely Cold wet days where there is high humidy?

Hot air allows for more water to be in the air without condensing, cold air lowers the amount of water the air can hold.

The benefit of AC is that it will draw the humidity out of the air when it is working properly. Hence why it removed the fog from your windshield.

Have you had a warm enough day to really test out the AC yet? It got up to 70 the begining of last week here in Ohio.

 

[islandreamer]

It is odd. Both occasions, the temp was in the mid 30's and raining. I also just found out from the Terrain forum that the a/c compressor actual stops working below 37 deg according to that blog but the owner's manual just says that is stops working below freezing. I'ld say regardless of how cold the outside air is, we should still have the option of either running it or not specially if moisture is building up inside. I hate to part with this ride but if I can't find the magic combination on these controls, it'll just have to end as a short love affair.

 

[TheDarkKnightKnox]

Well i guess i'll have to wait till the next below 37 morning and see if that is true. I swear i have heared the compressor kit on when its cold. If that is true you would think that the Darn AC light would turn off as well.

The one annoyance i have is whenever you use Auto it always turns the AC light on. Even if it's not needed.

 

[islandreamer]

That's right. I want to see the temp dip back to freezing again and try to re-create this drama. I believe my ac light stayed lit all the time during those below 37 temps and I don't have auto climate

controls. I was this close in selling this to CarMax yesterday after I test drove a 2014 Subaru Impreza wagon hoping that the ac control does not have the same setup as the Nox but when I asked the

salesman to pop open the owner's manual to check if it had a note about the ac terminating below freezing, lo and behold, it does says the same. So much for the test drive and CarMax. I also read it on an

online car tip is that is why the ac on newer vehicles won't run below 32 is to prevent the evaporator from freezing. I'll see if I can confirm this from an a/c auto technician. Did some .pdf downloads on

newer Toyota, Mazda, Honda owner's manuals and just about everyone of them says the same. Well for now, I'm keeping my Nox (I hate to give up this quiet and solid ride) and maybe I just have to stay

on the warmer zone on the thermo next time it fogs up.

 

[TheDarkKnightKnox]

Or move to Florida

 

[islandreamer]

That is a viable option. For now, I'll take this as operator error until something else can prove it otherwise.