When I have my defroster running my A/C light(button) is on. So is the A/C really on? I looked for the info on disabling this on clubdsm.com but the link doesn't work anymore. How can I disable the a/c when defrosting?

yes its really on .. it works better with a/c on. ya could unplug your a/c compresor

Yes, AC is on with defrosting: cold air won't hold moisture, it condenses and drops out.

Take your radio out. Put one hand behind the HVAC controls.

When you turn the dial to defrost it will hit a small metal switch that turns the AC on. Take the little metal tab out that moves. That's it!

thanks for the help

Might be out of place, but here I go. My AC is not pushing out cold air, it is just slightly cooler than air outside, but you can hardly tell. I know (think I know) the problem is a lack of freon. Now I never use my ac, but my question is, will a lack of freon mess my car up in anyway? Someone told me I could "burn up" my car, but it was a unreliable source. Thanks guys.
-Rob

If you never use your A/C then just get rid of it. Simple as that.

Jake

You have no Freon© in a 97, it's 134a. You need a recharge.

Using AC or not, on high defrost it kicks in by design (cold air won't hold moisture). It's not expensive to recharge, it's bad for the compressor to run low on refrigerant.

Just go to pepboys and buy a 134A recharge kit, come with lines, 134A and presure guage and you can do it yourself very easy.

y does the AC come on when i set the air on def or feet/def! i don't want cold air coming out in the winter when i set the air on my windows. anyway to turn that off or what??

Originally posted by rdogg07
y does the AC come on when i set the air on def or feet/def! i don't want cold air coming out in the winter when i set the air on my windows. anyway to turn that off or what??

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All cars are like that. Just turn the nob towards heat and hot air will come out.

rdogg, its just a thing with out DSMs. The little green light will come on, but as long as you have the little knob pointed to heat hot air will come out. Pay no attention to the green light


Dave

It comes on to dehumidify the air in the car. Without it, your windows will fog up because of the high humidity level that accompanies wet weather. And it's usually with wet weather that you would use the defroster so I guess Mitsubishi decided to make it convienent for us to have the compressor turn on in defrost mode. This only applies to the 2G. The 1G doesn't have this feature. Just use the thermostat knob to adjust the temperature. Many people think that A/C means cold air and is just for cold air, but it's not. You can turn on the A/C with warm air too if you want to remove moisture from the air but have heat at the same time.

Originally posted by Boostmonkey
rdogg, its just a thing with out DSMs. The little green light will come on, but as long as you have the little knob pointed to heat hot air will come out. Pay no attention to the green light


Dave

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Every car I've had has done that and all of the cars I've been in. Not just mitsu. It goes on becasue its really the ac going on so when you want cold it will be there and if you want heat just turn it to heat. So it's not just cool air when u need cold, its cold air when you need it. And turn to hot when u dont.

my previous car didn't do that and i never had any moisture of fogging problems.

does running the AC affect gas mileage??

Not all cars do it. I believe most, if not all of the newer GM cars do it, as well as most of the higher end cars. Running the A/C compressor does lower your fuel mileage but not substantially. What was your previous car?

the newer cars do it, 00 civics do it, i think its one of the unmentioned luxury things

yea my moms 00 civic does it, but u could turn it off

Originally posted by rdogg07
y does the AC come on when i set the air on def or feet/def! i don't want cold air coming out in the winter when i set the air on my windows. anyway to turn that off or what??

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You almost can't disable it. What you're probably feeling is that bizarre "fresh air" lever to the right of the center dash vents. I don't know what the hell they had in mind with that, but it must have been something to keep the bimbo's face paint from melting off when the heater's on. Only cure for it I've found is to either close the center vents, aim them away from you, or put up with it.
As for the AC, you do want it to run with the defroster, it makes the moisture drop out of the air and increases defroster efficiency some 80%.

I could have sworn I saw an article where you could mod the HVAC controls so that the A/C only turned on when you hit the A/C button. I don't like the fact it automaticly turns on when you have it set on bi-level.

Can someone help me out?

Well, you can find the switch on the HVAC control lever, but it's not something you want to disable. Cold air won't hold as much moisture as warm, so with the AC running during defrosting you're pulling much more fog off the windshield. Are you that short of power that you can't spare a few horses for the compressor?

Originally posted by Defiant
Cold air won't hold as much moisture as warm, so with the AC running during defrosting you're pulling much more fog off the windshield. Are you that short of power that you can't spare a few horses for the compressor?

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Eh? I was asking cause I was gonna pull my AC

I don't like the fact when I have it set on vents/dash (my prefered setting) that the A/C kicks on. I still want to be able to have the A/C on when I defrost, but I don't like the fact that Mitsu decided I HAD to have the A/C on for the two settings.

I thought I read that if you take the selector out, there was a tab that triggered the A/C. I can no longer find that info.

I hate having the A/C come on whenever I turn my vent controls to the defrost position. Thats where I would like it to be at most, but I do not want my A/C on all the time. Does anyone know how I can disable this little "feature".

You could wire a switch into the A/C clutch wiring. When you have the defroster on and don't want the A/C on, flip the switch off.

The reason the A/C comes on when you run the defroster, though, is that it keeps the air dry so that the water vapor in the air isn't blown onto the windshield. If you have the defroster on, turning the A/C off can make the windows fog up, especially if you use Recirc.