Since I purchased my 2004 Mazda 3S it has felt as if the air conditioning has never been strong. A check at the dealer following the first check confirmed that everything was ok. After reading on edmonds.com that a service bulletin was issued I decided to call the dealer. The stooge at the dealership stated that everything appears to be functiong ok. Now, my mechanic said that Mazda issued a repair and they place some kinda plate over part of the air conditioning systems. This helps redirect the air and thus the car becomes cooler. Has anyone else experienced this? Has anyone had the repair completed? Thanks.

Also, I'm looking to buy RX-8 wheels, tire and TPMS for my car. Let me know if you have set for sale.

 

I dont use my ac alot, but when i have, it is very good and they cold air is acceptional. i am driving a 04 though, so maybe they changed things around because of this problem.

 

Weak A/C is a very common problem with the 3. I won't go real indepth into discussion on it though. If you have some time read through this thread as they discuss it pretty thoroughly. They've even come up with a partial fix.

The TSB is for underperforming A/C. It involves installing a diffuser plate (basically a plastic panel with holes in it) where the air filter would be in a sp23, or a GT. The idea being that the holey plate would slow down the air and let it get cooler before it got to the vents. All post '04 cars have it installed at the factory.

 

My 05 works great. It was 96 degrees with almost 90% humidity yesterday and it cooled quite well considering the temp/sunload.

FYI...AC is maximized with the fan on high and the air in recirculate mode. If you are the only one in the car, a trick I do is shut off the Pass side AC vent and aim both vents over the radio towards me. I put the AC system on upper vents only. Gets me so cold that I have to shut it off.

 

I have been complaining about the air conditioning ever since my 3S was new. The Dealer has always told me everything was OK. After doing a small bit of probing around, I believe that hot water may be circulating through the heater core. The air that comes through the vents is quite warm, 10F - 15F over the outside temperature.. I am not sure of the location of the valve for the heater. Does anyone know where this is located? I took the panel off the passenger side console & found 2 metal tubes that are very hot to the touch. Are these for the heater? I live in Southern CA & have recently seen temperatures upto 117F! My car is white, but I recently rented a black PT Cruiser & could turn it into a refridgerator in about 15 min.

Thanks,
Paul

 

Yes, that was a problem with the first year models/04 some 05's
Dealers are aware of it and should correct!

 

I just brought home my new 2006 Mz3 I-touring today. I had a loaner while mine was getting some finishing touches. The loaner was a 2005 Mz3 i w/ the 2.3 engine and the power pkg. I noticed the a/c in the 2005 was really weak. It got up to the mid-90's here in Charlotte last week, and boy the a/c just couldn't handle it. Well, it was in the 90's again today, and my kids and I were actually sweating on the way up to get my new Mz3. I immediately started my new car (since its metallic black w/black interior) and turned on the a/c full-blast while the sales mgr. went over all the details, which was about five to six minutes. When I got in, it was significantly cooler already. After about ten more minutes driving home, it got too cold! I had to put it on lvl one because my kids were getting cold! I was soooo relieved to say the least. When I mentioned it to the sales mgr. he explained that the 2004 was really bad, the 2005 was okay, and the 2006 is much better! Im assuming the 2007 is great. The other factor is the manual transmission. The loaner I used was a 4-speed automatic. My new one is a 5-speed manual. This means the rpms are running higher providing cooler a/c. Works for me! I LOVE MY NEW MZ3 BABY!!!

 

There is a TSB 07-005/04 for the 04 3 to help increase A/C performance by installing a couple of diffuser plates in the air flow. Have put in 4 or 5 and did not really notice that great of an increase in cooling but maybe you might as it would be your daily driver.
Link to TSB below if you need to copy off and take to dealer that will not address it.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../docs/0019.pdf

 

I've got an 07 M3 GT and the A/C is crap unless the car's moving over ~40mph... try putting an aux fan on the A/C condenser, i'm going to be giving that a shot one of these days.