I live in Phoenix, AZ so good A/C is a necessity. The past few summers, I have been questioning how good my A/C is on my 2003 R53.

First, I wonder if my blower motor is blowing at full power. The volume of air from the vents seems lower than most other cars I drive in with the fan speed set at maximum speed. We've owned the car since new, thought when we bought it, we lived in Tucson which isn't quite as hot as Phoenix. My wife daily drove this car when new and I don't recall her ever complaining about the A/C in the car. She doesn't mention it now either whenever she drives it. I replaced the cabin air filter 2 years ago and that had no affect. The one that came out during that replacement wasn't very dirty anyway.

Also, the vent temperatures seem a little too high from what I see on other cars. With outside temperatures at 110+ degrees, I measure about 60 degree air temperatures coming from the vents with my settings at Max A/C.

I haven't done any diagnostics (I am a Volvo master certified and Ford certified technician), I am just wondering if this is normal for an R53. I normally see Volvo's blowing 45 - 50 degree air from the vents in our summer heat and Fords normally blow at about 50 degrees, so the vent temperatures from my Mini seem too high. A couple of summers ago, I did drain and refill the refrigerant in the Mini and don't recall any improvement.

So how satisfied with the A/C in your R53's are you?

 

The A/C in my 03' R53 works OK...but not what I would call great. The majority of the air comes out on that vent on the top of the dash....not the vents facing the driver and the passenger.

The air comes out "cool"...but not "cold". Not sure on the exact temp, but it's not as cold as my other vehicles AC. I've gotten used to it....I think that's just how it is. And if you are in 110 temps.....yeah, it's going to have a hard time keeping up. Also, make sure you have the recirculation button turned on..makes a big difference.

 

Couple of things to check ... I recommend changing your cabin filter, at least every year, I try to do mine every time I change the oil. This prevents the filter from filling with debris and worse, becoming a petri dish for all kinds of nasty things that can grow mold but also fill the cabin with some rather nasty smells.

A nice test is to run the fan on all the speeds evaluating the air flow from the different settings on your climate control from the Inlet settings, Outside air vs Recirculated and the outlet settings e.g., floor vent, floor and dash vent, dash vent, defroster outlet, etc. Then remove the filter and do the same test to observe if there is any obvious difference in air flow. This may help identify issues like the outside air intake is clogged with leaves or rodent nests.

Second, I notice you mention you have a 2003 R53, when is the last time you had the AC checked? Even tough the AC system is a closed system you can/will have loss of refrigerant, additionally though the prolonged use of the system for example the dryer desiccant will adsorb all that it can and should be replaced. Other than that, hooking it up to an AC Service Tool, and purging the system and ensuring it is properly charged. And of course a damaged or failing compressor will not be able to properly regulate the refrigerant flow in the AC system, and as a result, the AC will not function properly. and the flow should be able to be monitored with the AC Service Tool. (I don't know off the top of my head what the proper flow range is, I'm sure that information is available somewhere). Generally you can expect that you will get 8-10 years of service from the compressor and dryer. Generally ... to much use, to little use can also affect the operational lifespan of the system

Best of luck.

Motor On!

 

Good info guys!

That vent on the top of the dash? Never noticed it! If I did, I assumed it was the defroster. On my drive home from work today, I ran through all the air distribution buttons to verify the damper motors are working like JABowders suggested. I am now convinced I don't have a weak blower. I never realized air was coming out of that vent when I had selected the dash vent button.

As far as the vent temperatures in my hot climate. From a technical perspective, I can accept them. The rule of thumb for A/C performance is half of ambient temperature, however, in my experience, I have seen (from Volvo and Ford anyway) that they actually do much better. Perhaps our R53's are more in line with that.

The suggestion to replace the receiver/drier is legitimate. I'll have to give that a try. But first, I am bringing my car into the shop tomorrow for an oil change. I may just hook up the A/C machine and check my charge just to eliminate that.

Thanks for the insight.