Poor A/C performance and noisey valves

Discuss any problems, warranty, repair, or replacement issues you are having with your Vibe & Matrix
Post Reply
WifesGT
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:36 pm

Poor A/C performance and noisey valves

Post by WifesGT »

Hey all. Anyone have trouble cooling there car down? I have an 03 and the A/C sucks. It always has since day one. Dealer can't find anything wrong. I've read somewhere this is a known problem or complaint. Also my valves are very loud (tappet noise) almost sound like a diesel at idle. IN the owner's manual it says to get the valves adjusted at 60k if their is a tappet noise. I'm only at 38k atm. Hmmm. I don't know if this is common in GT's or not. Thanks for any info.
User avatar
ColonelPanic
Posts: 8419
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:48 am
Location: South Central Indiana

Re: Poor A/C performance and noisey valves (WifesGT)

Post by ColonelPanic »

Wow, you've got the same two gripes I had with mine. For the A/C problem, two things: If you haven't, check the temperature control cable to see if it needs adjustment. You can check here for details on it. Super easy procedure. Also, a few here have insulated their A/C lines and have found some positive results. I, too, thought the Vibes A/C wasn't that competent... And it saw many trips to the shop due to A/C problems but still never was working as good as it could have, or at least as good as I thought it should have.For the engine noise, yep, been there too. I don't recall too many (if any) complaints with the GT engine, there have been a few complaints of noisy base engines, one of those was on the Vibe I had... I never bothered to get anything done to it, the noise developed at about the same mileage you have now and was still there at 74K when I traded. Sounding like a diesel pretty much sums it up. I could have had it fixed for the low, low price of $499 or something though (IIRC) so I decided it wasn't worth it. The procedure is pretty involved for getting the valve clearance back in spec if it is out of whack. Hope you can get everything resolved soon!
03 Vibe base. Born 10/14/2002 06:07 AM
Auto, Moon & Tunes, power package. 143k
Neptune/dying clearcoat/primer grey. :lol:

Image

'21 Elantra Limited - 2.0L/IVT
'15 Escape SE - 1.6L EcoBoost (hers)
Image Image
zionzr2
Posts: 3174
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:59 am
Location: Austin, TX

Re: Poor A/C performance and noisey valves (ColonelPanic)

Post by zionzr2 »

Quote, originally posted by CP »For the A/C problem, two things: If you haven't, check the temperature control cable to see if it needs adjustment. You can check here for details on it. Super easy procedure. Also, a few here have insulated their A/C lines and have found some positive results.I'll second that! Check the Temp control cable in the Passneger side foot well.And please insulate the large A/C line in the engine bay with the foam pipe insulation. Any hardware store should carry it and most is protected by a fire retardant just in case. I noticed at least a several degree deference after perfoming this simple, and very inexpensive mod. more Here: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=4914about halfway down the first page i have pictures showing what i did and a little further down the first page i show actual measured results.Sorry I can not provide any help with the Valve issues are having just dont know enough about them. I would probably just take it to a Dealer. Unless the experts chime in with a better solution.
ToolGuy
Posts: 3584
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:38 am

Re: Poor A/C performance and noisey valves (WifesGT)

Post by ToolGuy »

Check things like the others stated...If it goes back to the dealer, see if they will show you the car hooked up to the AC recovery/charging machine. The machine will show the actual pressure of the system and there should be a sticker under the hood for what the systems pressure should be too. I have not looked so I am not certain but there usually is. Also, make sure your inside cabin filter is clean and good if not new... I just hope the noise is not your compressor going south!
WifesGT
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:36 pm

Re: Poor A/C performance and noisey valves (MiVibe-ToolGuy)

Post by WifesGT »

Well i finally clean the cabin filter for the first time in four years! I know i know. Anyway i just washed it and it looks almost new. After slapping that in i did the cable adjustment and it move almost 1/2". Made a click sound when it stoped moving to the left. Would that be the door closing all the way? Anyway i went to Lowe's and bought some insulation and zip tie's for the A/C tubing. Will jump on that tomorrow. Thanks guys for the info!
high revin
Posts: 290
Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2006 3:30 am

Post by high revin »

GT engine noise is normal theres alot of valves in there and its pretty common to be noisey no worries
WifesGT
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:36 pm

Re: (high revin)

Post by WifesGT »

Should be same amount of valves for base or GT. 16. Right?
northvibe
Posts: 7641
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 2:25 pm

Post by northvibe »

yea DOHC I4 should have 16 valves for both 1.8's
LongRyder
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2017 1:00 pm

Re: Poor A/C performance and noisey valves

Post by LongRyder »

I found this "Poor A/C performance" post while looking for instructions on the control cable adjustment, but all the links to instructions were dead, and it took some ninja googling to find a live one. I normally wouldn't resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to add a working link in case someone else has this same problem.

viewtopic.php?t=1004
Post Reply