Why does 2011 Chevrolet Aveo A/C quit working after about an hour?

60

Asked by joe7930 Jul 04, 2014 at 12:02 PM about the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo 1LT Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Bought a 2011 Aveo.  The A/C works OK for about an hour, then loses cooling.  Fan
blows, but temperature increases from 40 deg to 60 deg and stays there.  Shut off engine
for about 10 minutes and cooling comes back, then quits again after about 30 minutes.  
Each time you shut off A/C, it comes back and works, but only briefly.  Had the
compressor replaced, but didn't resolve.  Any ideas?

11 Answers

60

Bought the car from Carmax and they claim there is no compressor cycling switch on this model. They say it's internal to the compressor. Does that sound possible?

3 people found this helpful.
60

OK, thanks all for your help. Sounds like Carmax doesn't know what they're talking about. Jim, will give them the part# you have and see what they say. Will advise. Tks, Joe.

1 people found this helpful.
10

The aveo has 2 possible compressors depending on the engine size the 1.6 liter uses a variable displacement5 cylinder compressor aka V5 this compressor does not use a temperature sensor to cycle the compressor it varies a wobble plate inside the compressor to regulate the pressures to avoid icing up the fix would be to replace the compressor drier and expansion valve

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60

Draggin51, thanks for the advice. Carmax claims they have replaced the compressor and the Delcco refrigerant pressure sensor Jim advised about. AC system still freezing up after about 1 hours operation. I'm at my wits end. Don't know what else to do. If they replaced the compressor, would that include the drier? Thanks, Joe.

1 people found this helpful.
45

My 2011 Aveo had same issue. Turned out it was a bad expansion valve and a bad compressor. Replaced both and now ac back to normal.

60

Papa2100, thanks for your response. Do you think it's possible the 2011 Aveo's had poorly designed compressors? The first thing they did was replace the compressor. After that I drove it on a 5 houor trip and it worked just fine. On the way back, it went back to only working for about an hour and started freezing up again. Could the new compressor have gone bad that quickly???

45

The expansion valve is what regulates how much freon comes in the evaporator. If you only changed the compressor but not the expansion valve then thats the problem. Your expansion valve is getting stucked and is freezing the evaporator. Change the expansion valve. That was my exact same issue.

1 people found this helpful.
45

Also, all vehicles from GM Korea have DAK compressors which are crap. I changed all my ac system with aftermarket brand compressor and parts and now works even better than stock original. Changing the compressor alone wont do it.

60

OK, it's all beginning to make some sense. About a year ago, Jim advised, "Just looked it up. It's referred to as a "refrigerant pressure sensor". It's Delco part number 1551289. HTH. - Jim". I looked up this part and gave it to Carmax, who claims they got one and installed it. I don't know if that's the expansion valve you're describing. But I had a sneaky suspicion it could be crappy parts (poorly designed compressor). It sounds like replacing with aftermarket parts might be the answer. Thanks for your advice.

1 people found this helpful.
45

I bought my Aveo from Carmax. They are good selling cars. They suck at fixing them. I have my own mechanic from Your Mechanic .com. Get an independent mechanic. Check your mechanic .com.

1 people found this helpful.
20

where is the expansion valve located? how can I get to it? I have enough pressure in the system, but no power on the clutch. Relays and pressure switch are bypassed, what else could be the problem?

1 people found this helpful.

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