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Enclave rear AC not blowing cold air

39K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  mtrot 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi,
Our 2011 Enclave recently had AC problems. It turned out to be a bad AC condenser. My trusted mechanic replaced the condenser and properly recharged (reclaim, vacuum, recharge, oil, etc.) the AC system. Everything seemed to work fine back in April. However, we took the car on a trip in July, and we noticed that the front air was really cold, but the rear air was barely cool. I thought it was a faulty rear actuator. I dissembled the rear panel, and I could watch both rear actuators move. They both worked fine.

Since I had access to it, and I could feel the air coming directly out of the rear assembly, I noticed it was barely cool at that point. So.... what to do next? Why would the front unit work fine, but the rear unit does not cool? Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate your help. ???
 
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
The rear evaporator may have leaked or the lines running to the rear may have leaked. The lines run under the car from the front to the back and carry refrigerant.

Here is one link talking about the rear evaporator even though it is in an Acadia. Yours will be the same.

ARGH! LED replacement (FINISHED) today, with pictures
 
#3 ·
A long shot-- Check the rear air controls on the back of the console. The other day my brother-in-law was messing with the controls and turned the air temp up and the next time I drove the vehicle the rear air stayed on blowing that warmer air. Once I turned the system off manually it worked fine.
 
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#6 ·
A long shot-- Check the rear air controls on the back of the console. The other day my brother-in-law was messing with the controls and turned the air temp up and the next time I drove the vehicle the rear air stayed on blowing that warmer air. Once I turned the system off manually it worked fine.
I'm sure glad you posted this. I had an appointment at the dealer tomorrow because the rear AC was blowing warm air. I never have anyone in the back seat, so I just assumed that the rear AC had gone bad. It turned out the the rear temp was turned up to +5 on the setting. I turned it back to 0 and now the rear air is not as cold as the front vents, but it's pretty cool. So you saved me from putting the car in the shop!
 
#4 ·
Can anyone clarify how the front and rear evaporator systems are designed? It seems that I have a single compressor under the hood, but two evaporator coils (front and rear). Does the single compressor run both coils? Are the two front/rear systems connected or are the separate? Is there a way that the front coil has sufficient freon, but the rear coil may have leaked all the freon out? Thanks in advance.
 
#5 ·
bigtexman said:
Can anyone clarify how the front and rear evaporator systems are designed? It seems that I have a single compressor under the hood, but two evaporator coils (front and rear). Does the single compressor run both coils? Are the two front/rear systems connected or are the separate? Is there a way that the front coil has sufficient freon, but the rear coil may have leaked all the freon out? Thanks in advance.
Here is a free download link for the factory service manual. You can find many of your questions answered there, and even more information that you weren't asking for. Safe to download and use as many of us on the forums do so. It covers up to the 2010 models, but even later models haven't changed much if at all.

https://mega.nz/#!zlFDEIJZ!lhEvdcmJL895CqO3HHkWfb1_8lGKFRajYnKT9Uac1i8
 
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