yodlebenz

ok all you people in hot climates, have you experienced this before?

the A/C is running fine, nice cold air, then it just shuts off. you turn it back on, and a minute later it does the same. repeat 2 or 3 times. then it's fine and stays on. doesn't happen all the time, i've just noticed it the last couple of weeks as temps have started getting in the 90's.

any ideas? is this some feature i have yet to experience or does it sound like it's time for a trip to the dealer?

Robert Schrader

Is the 'auto' button off? ( No offense intended, it's easy to overlook )

revstriker

I don't have that problem at all. Like Robert posted, I would first check the auto button. If you do not have this selected, and the AC is still cutting off, then I would bring it in for service.

yodlebenz

well the auto button is on. the problem is really that it is shutting off WAAAAAY to soon. repeatedly. i mean i go out to a hot car on a 90+ degree day and the a/c shuts off in 2 minutes. while i'm still sweating in the car. before i'm even getting cool air from the vents for that matter. it must be 100+ inside when it does this.

sounds like a trip to the dealer is due...can have them take a look at my creaking sunroof while i'm there. lol.

truelove

yup, if you have any doubts, at least call the dealer. might as well tackle every little thing you can while you still have the warranty.

trench

I remember reading either on these forums or in the manual that the AC will shut off if the refrigerant level is too low, which it probably does to avoid damaging the AC compressor.

Have fun at the dealer.

- BT

session

I had this exact same problem last summer and my dealer said they could find nothing wrong. It hasn't happened since.

*shrug*

dontwakemeup

I've encountered this as well. Fix? There is a way to reset it. Like the sunroof and windows, the switch can get out of synch. Is your fan speed (left knob) pointing down? If so, turn AUTO off, turn fan knob to middle setting (pointing left). Turn AUTO back on.
After that, you can return the fan speed knob back to the original setting.

That worked for me. My girlfriend had the owner's manual out while I was trying to drive. Either she is a good guesser or the manual had it listed as a "Note: ".

Hope this helps!

moomeh

i never had probs with the a/c. i actually roll down the windows and turn up the a/c. that way, you get a fresh cool breeze. not dull cold air with the windows up, or hot air alone with the windows down.

MarkL

When you say "shutting off", do you mean the whole thing shuts down including the fan? Or you just think the level of cold air is reduced? Even when the cabin temp reaches the target, the system never "shuts off" -- the fan speed lowers and the air temperature is moderated to maintain the selected temperature.

I believe the LED on the EC (or AC OFF) button lights to show the compressor has been disengaged if refrigerant is lost.

schwarz c230

Mine just started doing the same thing, if you have it in auto it just stops, you turn it back on the auto light stays on a few seconds then tuns off again, one day it happened about five times, next day same thing, now it has been working fine for a week or so

muhri

A friend of mine is having the same problem in a W211! Please post the fix if one of you guys gets it fixed. He's been to the dealer multiple times with no luck!

Mark08859

Have also been encountering this issue. Will try your reset solution. Thanks!

charlesu

It gets pretty hot here in Hawaii and I have never had that happen.

BenzOwner02

It also happened to me as well 2 times in a row. It was a pretty hot day. Not sure if this is just a safety feature in the car to turn the fan off so the AC wont over work. who knows. But seems like alot of us are getting the same problem. Hopefuly someone can figure this out.

peet

I had a similar thing happen, but the ac went off once, I then pushed it back on, then it blew up.

Yep the compressor disintegrated.

Search for my thread on it as it was a lengthy story, but the short of it was I needed a new compressor, about 12 hours of labor to put it in (apparently it's located in a lousy spot) and tons of little parts including a new belt.

Peet

P.S. Took about 3 weeks to get a compressor too - none to be had in the US or German spare inventories, they finally pulled one off the production line and a car didn't get built!

BenzOwner02

Peet, thanks for the info. But most of us this happened once or twice and never happened again. If you went to the dealer they will tell you that they are not able to duplicate it. So in a case like this would you think 1) its because it was too hot and the compressor could not deal with the heat and turned off? 2) we all have an issue waiting to happen like you, in this case what would you recommend? Also any one else with input please comment on this.

Mark08859

Just wanted to say "Thanks!" to dontwakemeup. The solution seems to have worked. Have left the dial in the "point left" position. The problem has yet to reoccur.

BenzOwner02

I don't think what you did fixed any problem at all. Like I said earlier I had the issue 2 times in the same day and since then it hasn't happened to me and I did not rest the AC as you had mentioned. There has to be another explanation as to what is happening to us or something is going on in our cars that we are unaware of