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2012 GT Air Conditioning not so cold?

21K views 27 replies 18 participants last post by  BIGAL1903 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

Not sure if I should be posting here or some where else. Let me know if I should move it, please.

We have been fortunate in Michigan to have some really nice weather the past few days, but when I leave work after the car has been sitting in the parking lot all day the AC just doesn't seem up to the task. I have tried max AC, changing the air vents, windows down to let the hot air out, etc. and it just doesn't seem that cold. I have the electronics package and the temp is at 60 (lowest I can get it to go).

Anyone else experencing this with their AC? I wish we had cooled seats instead of heated lol.

Any ideas on how to get it colder?
 
#2 · (Edited)
It would normally take a few minutes of running before it'll get cold!

If it's not getting cold enough it could have a low freon issue.Take it to the dealer & have the freon level checked.Some of the older vehicles used to have a sight glass that you could just look at if it bubbles it's low.

Probably not present on our Mustangs.This means the only way to check the freon level is to put a set of gauges on it.

Almost forgot to mention that if the freon is low it either didn't get filled properly from the factory OR it has a leak.If it does have a leak & they just recharge the system it will leak out again.If it turns out that it's low make sure they do a leak test!
 
#3 ·
Have the same problem on my 2011 GT/CS. We have had a few days over 100 already and the AC will only get the temp inside down to about 90 degrees or so. I have not had time to take it in but will soon.
 
#4 ·
Have the same problem on my 2011 GT/CS. We have had a few days over 100 already and the AC will only get the temp inside down to about 90 degrees or so. I have not had time to take it in but will soon.
Yeah take it in because that doesn't sound like it's working!

Get this I had a 1993 F-150 that had the older R-12 freon system.Just sold it in 2009 (LOVED THAT TRUCK) & when I sold it the entire A/C system was original with the original factory R-12 freon charge & that thing still would freeze your ass out on a 100 degree day!:gringreen

First vehicle I ever owned that didn't need some type of A/C repair!
 
#5 ·
The AC in our cars is definitely sub par. It only gets cold when you have it on max and you are at highway speeds.

As a side note Freon is a brand name for R-12 and our cars use R-134A. R12 is way more efficient than 134A. In fact if you convert an older R12 system over to 134A you need more refrigerant in the system than you did with R12 for it to function and even then it isn't as cold.

I know from a reliable source that some of the system the Navy uses were unable to be converted to R134A because it wasn't as efficient as R12.
 
#6 ·
The AC in our cars is definitely sub par. It only gets cold when you have it on max and you are at highway speeds.

As a side note Freon is a brand name for R-12 and our cars use R-134A. R12 is way more efficient than 134A. In fact if you convert an older R12 system over to 134A you need more refrigerant in the system than you did with R12 for it to function and even then it isn't as cold.

I know from a reliable source that some of the system the Navy uses were unable to be converted to R134A because it wasn't as efficient as R12.
Your correct about the inefficiency of the R-134a as compared to R-12.However Freon is not a brand name for R-12!

The word FREON is a generality that refers to different types of various fluorocarbons!Such as R-12 R-22 R-134a R-500 R-502!

LOOK IT UP!
 
#7 ·
No complaints with our three 2011's.
All have window tint and that does help a lot.

Are you doing the usual things to keep the car cooler while it is parked?
Sun Shade in the windshield
Lowering the windows slightly
parked in shade, etc..

Once you're in it;
Opening the windows for the first minute or two of driving to flush out the hot air from the interiror
Run the A/C in normal mode that pulls outside air for the first couple of minutes. This uses the oustide air at say 100 degress instead of the air in the car at say 140 degrees. Once the cabin air temp gets down around outside air temp switch to Max or recirculation mode.

I added remote start, it takes me a few minutes to get to my car from my desk and if I remote start the car with the A/C running that works wonders.
 
#8 ·
+1 on the AC not being that great. My two 13 year old volvos blow colder than my mustang.
 
#9 ·
I live in Texas, where we have already had quite a few days in the mid-90s. I also would say that my air conditioning is not very cold. Even when the outdoor temp is in the mid-80s, it never gets really cold. I have not measured it yet, but even after I drive a long time, it feels like the air temp coming out of the vents is maybe 55-60 degrees. I've had cars where the AC blew air in the 40s.
 
#11 ·
it's near the top of my list. The heat in Alabama summers are just as relentless as what you guys suffer through :(
 
#16 ·
electronics package?

For those who also say their air doesn't get that cool, do you also have the electronics package on yours? On mine, the temp for the AC doesn't go below 60 degrees. Could that be part of the problem? Seems that 60 should be cold enough to cool the car down, but maybe it isn't. I know that the car has never felt like it was 60 to me. At this point I would gladly trade my "heated" seats for "cooled" seats.

Let me know if you have the electronics package or not. It will give me an idea if I need to take it in or not.

TIA.
 
#17 ·
For those who also say their air doesn't get that cool, do you also have the electronics package on yours? On mine, the temp for the AC doesn't go below 60 degrees. Could that be part of the problem? Seems that 60 should be cold enough to cool the car down, but maybe it isn't. I know that the car has never felt like it was 60 to me. At this point I would gladly trade my "heated" seats for "cooled" seats.

Let me know if you have the electronics package or not. It will give me an idea if I need to take it in or not.

TIA.
Mine is a base GT with the turn knobs to control temp. I live in the desert and it gets over 100 degrees during the summer. So far though, I have not had any problems getting my car to cool down. Infact, I usually have to turn it down after a few minutes.
 
#19 ·
standard shaker 500 setup in mine and after a few more long trips in the car, it seems to cool fine but my beef with it now is that the vents really don't aim very well.

After about 10 minutes in the car, I end up with the air level all the way down and the temp dial set to about 10 o'clock and just aim the vents away from my face and set it to the dash and floor vents active.

cools fine but just not the arctic blast from the volvo.
 
#20 ·
Hey Laura wondered if you ever got things figured out with your AC?

The temp readout was showing 101 (!) here today and the AC was getting the job done just fine.

I do keep it on recirc when it's this gruesome though. Seems to work about the same as my 2009 but I will admit I liked where the round vents were placed better on the old car, the center vents in the 2012 seem to have to blow right across my hands to get to my face.
 
#21 ·
Mine has a black roof and cools very well. I always use recirc but soon need to turn down the fan or it'll get too cold on a 100* day.
 
#22 ·
You can thank Dupont on R12 to R134a because there patent ran out in 1994. Since they had pull in Gov forced us all to use R134a guess what they have patent on it too. The good old ozone scare CFC eating it wow since it's heavier than air how can it. Oh that worlds oceans put out more CFC in 1yr than mankind has made. If we dumped all the CFC man has made at once worlds oceans still beat us.....R134a is by far more harmful to our air than R12 ever was R134a is lighter than air so it does go up into the atmosphere.
Wow, so much BS wrong here im not sure where to start. Take off the tin foil hat and listen a moment.

1) Dupont didn't have a patent for Dichlorodifluoromethane (R12). There are some abiguous patents for various cooling compounds, but they all were expired by 1950. Infact, there were atleast 4 major companies I can think of off the top of my head that produced R12.

2) Yes, Dichlorodifluoromethane is heavier than air, but once broken down the atomic chlorine is released and it does a job on ozone.

3) atomic chlorine is not released from R134A as it does not contain any.

4) feel free explain to me how CFC's can occour in nature. Must be some squirrel chemists running around that figured out how to isolate these compounds before we did...

Chemistry FTW
 
#23 ·
I've discovered that you pretty much have to keep it on max ac all the time for it to run the coolest.

I find it strange that when you turn it off max ac, despite not touching the temperature knob, there is a noticable increase in the temperature of the air coming out of the vents...

So as of now, except in the mornings at 6:30 on the way to work when it's a merciful 80*F, I'm running it on max ac all the time and just dropping the fan level down as it cools down and eventually just drop it to the lowest setting and it's perfectly comfortable.

Doesn't cool the car NEARLY as quickly as my volvo's AC does but... what can you do?
 
#24 ·
After using mine a few times I noticed it cooled better. I have the dual climate control and also found that taking it off of dual worked better.

Still not the greatest AC I have owned but so far so good.
 
#26 ·
Mine didn't work very well for about 3-4k miles. I have 6500 on it now and it works like a champ. Seems to get colder every time I run it.
 
#27 · (Edited)
You need to take your car in if it seems its not getting cold enough. Temps need to be accurately checked with digital thermometers and the systen needs to be tested with proper equipment. These cars have an excellent A/C system and if yours appears to be not getting cold the chances are you might have an issue.

By the way, I wont bore anyone with why I know this as fact but, FREON unlike Qtip or Bandaid, common misconception, is NOT a brand name but is a registered trademark. Others can and do use the term FREON for thier products, but pay a royalty to use the term.

Freon - The History of Freon

inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfreon.htm - CachedSimilar
Freon is the registered trademark for several different chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs - trademarked by Dupont

Google for a dictionary, whats this country coming to!
 
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