Heating and AC delay

[goodvibe77]

::Sigh:: If it's not one thing its another.After I just got the car fixed I'm having another problem.There is a noticeable delay from when I turn on my car's heating/ac to when it actually comes on.Today my air conditioning finally came on 5-10 minutes after I turned on the AC. Could it be the fan or something else?

[lannvouivre]

First, we're going to see if the blower (interior A/C and heating fan) is turning on right away. Turn on the fan to setting (on) 1, 2, and 3. You should be able to hear the motor blowing, ESPECIALLY at setting 3. If you get little or no airflow, pull out the glovebox. Open the flap to the cabin air filter (see owner's manual if necessary) and pull out the filter's condition. If it looks like a dusty treemonster exploded inside of it, you need to either clean it out (I like to blow it clean with compressed air) or replace it. Get a flashlight and shine it so that it illuminates the fins of the blower, then turn the fan on. It should turn on immediately. When you run it through the different speed settings, it should speed up or slow down noticeably.

To see if the A/C compressor is delayed in engaging, start the car with A/C off. Go outside, see if your radiator fan is going. Look at the A/C compressor: it has a clutch that is magnetically engaged and spins with the pulley to drive the compressor when you turn it on. When it's off, the clutch plate will be stationary. It's the flat triangular metal plate on the outside of the pulley.

Now, turn on the A/C button and turn the fan on. Look under the hood and see if the clutch plate is turning, and if the radiator fan is going. They both should be. The fan kicks on to help pull air through the condenser. They should turn on immediately, and this should actually be noticeable from inside of the car via the RPM/engine load increasing.