theophile
Well-Known LVC Member
2002 LS V8. 95,000 miles. A/C compressor seized up on me about 2 years ago and I had the entire system replaced (all components) by a reputable shop. They did the full dash pull, had it for several days, the whole 9 yards. No issues since then, until (possibly) today.
I had a 6-hour round trip to New Orleans, and it's been hot and humid all day. Most of my driving was through rain. I normally have A/C set to 72 and auto and that usually works fine. After about an hour I was feeling hotter than usual so bumped it down to 70. Then to 68. Then I manually turned the fan speed up and noticed it was making an unusual whistling sound, and the volume of air coming out the vents seemed lower than what I thought it should be. But it was hard to tell over the rain, wipers, road, and radio.
On the way home, during a downpour, I started noticing visible vapor "fog" coming out of the console vents from time to time. I still needed to set the setpoint to 68 with the fan turned up to get the inside temp/humidity to a comfortable level. Still making the odd whistling sound, almost like there was a disconnected duct somewhere and air was being pumped inside the dash. When I got home, there wasn't any rain but there was an almost continuous trail of condensation running up the driveway, and there is now a large puddle under the car from condensation drip.
I don't have gauges to check A/C pressurization, but some of the symptoms seem consistent with when a household HVAC system is low on refrigerant. But that wouldn't explain the whistling sounds from the vents, which I confirmed continues without change even when the A/C is off.
I'm grateful for any theories anyone might have.
I had a 6-hour round trip to New Orleans, and it's been hot and humid all day. Most of my driving was through rain. I normally have A/C set to 72 and auto and that usually works fine. After about an hour I was feeling hotter than usual so bumped it down to 70. Then to 68. Then I manually turned the fan speed up and noticed it was making an unusual whistling sound, and the volume of air coming out the vents seemed lower than what I thought it should be. But it was hard to tell over the rain, wipers, road, and radio.
On the way home, during a downpour, I started noticing visible vapor "fog" coming out of the console vents from time to time. I still needed to set the setpoint to 68 with the fan turned up to get the inside temp/humidity to a comfortable level. Still making the odd whistling sound, almost like there was a disconnected duct somewhere and air was being pumped inside the dash. When I got home, there wasn't any rain but there was an almost continuous trail of condensation running up the driveway, and there is now a large puddle under the car from condensation drip.
I don't have gauges to check A/C pressurization, but some of the symptoms seem consistent with when a household HVAC system is low on refrigerant. But that wouldn't explain the whistling sounds from the vents, which I confirmed continues without change even when the A/C is off.
I'm grateful for any theories anyone might have.