scandalous5

I have a 1999 Malibu, Its been great so far, But while I am driving slow, my AC will be on and I see the light, then it will turn off. Then switch to cycle with the outside air. So It goes from cold, to hot air. I live in Houston So I need to to stcik on the AC and not come off. When thatheppens I can feel the enhine stutter..when I am driving over 50 mph it will stick 90% of the time. Does anyone know what to do? I am a girl with no clue, is it an electrical problem, compressor? Thanks

malibunut

I had the same problem in my 00 Bu. The light and a/c would go on then turn off every minute of so, and like you, I was getting very annoyed and pissed off about it cutting out... To fix the problem, I took the car to a local shop, and had them recharge the system... It fixed the problem, and now my a/c works perfectly!!!

shawnvw

yea it does sound like the refrigerant might be low

ktm521

the problem is the hvac control head common problem with this car

02_mdmalibu

KTM I tried to pm not sure if it worked. I have the same problem and agree it is the hvac control. I had the system "recharged" but it did not fix the issue. Do you know what fixing the control entails?? Is it a simple fix with the correct parts? I have done some simple electrical work on the car just would like to know if I could do it. Thanks for any help.....

slong

I had the same problem with my 97. After paying about $300 each time to have it fixed I googled it and found step by step instructions with pictures. I fixed it myself last time for free. It involves pulling the AC controls out of the dash & cleaning the PCB with alcohol. I will look to see if I still have the url & will post it if I do.

slong

Try this... http://www.imcool.com/articles/airco...Repairable.pdf

02_mdmalibu

thanks slong...I do not know much butcleaning the contactsmakes sense to me. Does not seem difficult at all, I have taken the dash apart many times so it should not take very long to at least give it a shot and see if it works. Money isn't the issue I just hate dropping it off at the shop when it is something easy to fix that I may be able to do myself.

02_mdmalibu

Took about 20 mins to take it apart clean it up and put it back together. Screwed everything back together and went out to run a few errands for about a hour. Never blinked once. So knock on wood, maybe cleaning the contacts and putting on a thin coat of graphite worked. A normal hour of driving with the AC on 2 or 3 it would be blinking on and off a dozen times as it did this morning before I read the above link.

02_mdmalibu

ok maybe i spoke a little too soon. So I did everything that the pdf link said to do and put everything back together. AC has been working without a hitch. BUT now I am unable to switch the vents from which the cold air comes out of ie just the floor vents, dash vents, both vents, or the defrost, etc. The dial moves but does not make the change. So I have air coming out of both floor and dash vents. I put everything back together how I took it all apart. The only thing that confused me is this rubber spacer and 'washer' type of ring that goes over it on the rear of that dial. I tried both ways putting it back together and still nothing. Any ideas?????????????