I was riding with a friend of mine with a 2009 Ponitiac G5 on a particularly hot day of more than 95F, well too hot for me. As he fired up the car he cranked the A/C and a little bit of cool-ish air petered out. I asked him if his fan was working correctly and he said on a previous trip he had the system pressure tested and the fan is working on all speeds and then charged him a fee (..of course) as he and his kids were quite uncomfortable during the trip.(115F)
I asked him when was the last time he changed his cabin air filter and he replied he had no idea what that was. As I explained its purpose, I opened his glove box and confirmed he had one. We pulled into a car parts store and I proceeded to remove his cabin air filter for inspection. It was the.most.nasty filter I had ever seen. It was stiff and the pleats were spread wide open, with each one more than 3/4 full of silt, with leaves and bug on top so that all the top of the filter was covered. It was a factory original completely choking off the airflow.
I said to him, I believe I have found your problem and we proceeded to purchase a new filter. Upon beholding a new filter next to the old he could not believe it. I mentioned that with increased airflow not only would his A/C work to its potential, but in the winter he would get more heat velocity. He promptly offered to buy me blizzard and sang my praises all the way back to the road trip origin.
Moral of the story, when you acquire a used vehicle, check the cabin air filter along with all the other items in the once over.
I asked him when was the last time he changed his cabin air filter and he replied he had no idea what that was. As I explained its purpose, I opened his glove box and confirmed he had one. We pulled into a car parts store and I proceeded to remove his cabin air filter for inspection. It was the.most.nasty filter I had ever seen. It was stiff and the pleats were spread wide open, with each one more than 3/4 full of silt, with leaves and bug on top so that all the top of the filter was covered. It was a factory original completely choking off the airflow.
I said to him, I believe I have found your problem and we proceeded to purchase a new filter. Upon beholding a new filter next to the old he could not believe it. I mentioned that with increased airflow not only would his A/C work to its potential, but in the winter he would get more heat velocity. He promptly offered to buy me blizzard and sang my praises all the way back to the road trip origin.
Moral of the story, when you acquire a used vehicle, check the cabin air filter along with all the other items in the once over.