Accent Air Conditioning Hesitation

Hi everyone,

I have a 2004 Accent, and I just had aftermarket AC installed from the
dealer (why I chose to do this rather than just buying a new Accent with
factory AC is a long and unpleasant story). My question is, while I'm
driving, I can feel the compressor cycling on and off every 20 seconds
or so. So two or three times a minute, I feel a very annoying jolt. I
called the dealer about this, and of course they tell me this is normal.

Now, I've owned and driven a lot of cars with AC (including many really
junky ones that had engines a lot smaller than the Accent's), and I've
never experienced this before. Is the dealer telling me the truth? Is
this something I'll just have to learn to live with, or is something
wrong here? I can't believe that these cars routinely do this and I
haven't read about it anywhere.

Otherwise, the car is pretty good, especially for the price. But this
thing with the AC is getting on my nerves. It seems like the least that
can be expected from a car is that it delivers power smoothly and reliably.

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

Mike

 

I'm presuming the dealer added the factory air conditioning system which is
available in a kit.

Although this seems a little quick for compressor cycling, it could be
normal. Unfortunately, this diagnosis is something that requires the car
to be present.

 

Thanks for your response. Yes, it was a dealer-installed AC kit. I've
taken the car in to the dealer, and they said they drove it and didn't
feel anything, which seems pretty unlikely to me (especially since this
dealer has repeatedly lied to me about all kinds of things in the few
short months that I've owned the car). They say it shouldn't hesitate
at all, even with the AC running, which has been my experience with
other cars over the years. But the problem is definitely noticeable. I
guess I'll try taking it to a different dealer to diagnose.