Another vacation, another problem.

cc_windsurfer

Active member
2018 ncv3 170. 5k miles

Last year the damn thing wouldn’t start within 20 min of stopping.

This year the air conditioning is shutting down.
Yesterday, it quit blowing air for ~20 min. Turning the fan up gave more noise, but no air flow. After 20 min it started working again.

Today, it happened twice. Seems that shutting the air off will give us airflow better than when when fan is on max after ~5 min. Then if we turn the air back on, it runs fine.

Temp is 90s. Works fine for a couple of hours, then stops blowing. Shutdown, and it will work for another hour or so.

Day 2 of a 3 week vacation, any help would be appreciated.
 

JJ Holiday

New member
Can’t run low fan speed with temp set too cold. I believe it’s stated in the owners manual too. I found out the “hot” way too. Once I figured it out, no issues.


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2018 ncv3 170. 5k miles

Last year the damn thing wouldn’t start within 20 min of stopping.

This year the air conditioning is shutting down.
What do you mean by "shutting down"?

Yesterday, it quit blowing air for ~20 min.
Under what conditions?

Turning the fan up gave more noise, but no air flow.
So you trying to say that there was no air flow, or are you trying to say that there was air flow but it wasn't cold? What do you mean by "more noise"?

After 20 min it started working again.
After 20 minutes of what? Explain the circumstances of your symptoms.

Today, it happened twice.
Define "it", and describe the conditions under which "it" happened.

Seems that shutting the air off will give us airflow better than when when fan is on max after ~5 min. Then if we turn the air back on, it runs fine.
What do you mean by "shutting the air off"? Are you talking about the front air-conditioning system? How did you shut it off?

Temp is 90s.
What temp? The outside ambient temperature?

Works fine for a couple of hours, then stops blowing. Shutdown, and it will work for another hour or so.
You've got to do a better job of describing your symptoms if we're going to be able to help you. What are you seeing, hearing, feeling, and/or smelling, that is causing you concern?

Day 2 of a 3 week vacation, any help would be appreciated.
I'd recommend taking it to a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter dealership and presenting your concern to the service consultant at the counter.
 

Cheyenne

UK 2004 T1N 313CDi
It sounds like you are freezing the condensate in your evaporator.

Try turning the temp setting up slightly to prevent freezing. This has been reported many times on here recently.

Keith.
 

irvingj

2015 RT SS Agile (3.0L)
"It sounds like you are freezing the condensate in your evaporator...." Ditto, known problem, mentioned by JJ above as well. If the thermostat's set quite cold and fan is on lowest speed, the evaporator can (and often does) begin to ice up. This causes more loss of airflow, then more ice...

I rarely set thermostat below 65-70 and keep fan on higher speeds, at least #2, when it's really hot out. If a loss of airflow is noticed, I'll raise the thermostat a degree or two.

Yes, there could be other problems (like low refrigerant, as Mickyfin pointed out), but if evaporator is iced up, once it's shut off it will thaw out fairly quickly and then magically "start working" again. Probably takes about 20 minutes.
 

72chevy4x4

Well-known member
Check the hvac filter, which is in the engine compartment. Mine looked ok, but once I began washing it out, could tell it was full of fine dirt particles.


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hoosierrun

Active member
I've had the same thing. Had to drive across the width of Illinois with no AC. Wife was furious. Next day AC worked fine. Just a bug I guess. 2016.
 

dm1127

New member
My 2015 (with 40k) was in the shop last week for the same thing. My mechanic (in Portland OR) found that it was the blower and the blower resistor. They are covered under warranty and he is replacing both.

Fingers crossed.
 

4wheeldog

2018 144" Tall Revel
My 2018 did this in dry, dry NM with the outside air temp above 90. Fortunately, I had read about the freezing evaporator thing, and I figured it out, pronto.
 

blackseven

New member
My 2018 does this, particularly often here in very humid florida, and almost guarantee it will happen if it's raining. If you put it on low fan and 60 degrees it'll freeze everytime. You have to turn the heat on for a few minutes at max fan. I've gotten chunks of ice to fly out before.

Point being, don't run the a/c on low fan at 60degrees. Set it higher, and it won't freeze.
 

cc_windsurfer

Active member
Was running low fan, thermostat about 60, so that matches others symptoms.

Problem was loss of airflow, despite the fan setting. Turning the fan up resulted on more fan noise, but no air flow.

Drove through the cascades today, temp in upper 60s, so no ac problems

My wife laughed when I read the “my wife was furious” post to her
 

cc_windsurfer

Active member
Just double checked the thermostat, we were set around 64 when the problem started. Turned it down to try to improve things when it started getting hot.

The started working again after 20 min episode was with the fan on max. Working again in 5 min was when we turned everything off
 
Was running low fan, thermostat about 60, so that matches others symptoms.

Problem was loss of airflow, despite the fan setting. Turning the fan up resulted on more fan noise, but no air flow.
MUCH better description- good job. :thumbup:

There are four steps to vehicle repair. They are referred to as "the four C's". The four C's are Complaint, Cause, Correction, and Confirmation.

Now that you have provided a good Complaint, the next step would be to determine the Cause of your Complaint. After that would be the Correction (the actual repair), and finally the Confirmation (road-testing it to confirm that the Cause of your Complaint has been Corrected).
 

4wheeldog

2018 144" Tall Revel
Was running low fan, thermostat about 60, so that matches others symptoms.

Problem was loss of airflow, despite the fan setting. Turning the fan up resulted on more fan noise, but no air flow.

Drove through the cascades today, temp in upper 60s, so no ac problems

My wife laughed when I read the “my wife was furious” post to her
The "No air flow" part is because the voids where the cold air is supposed to pass through are full of ice. Turn up the thermostat and the flow will return, as the ice melts. You can actually feel that the air flow doesn't return all at once.
 

gltrimble

2017 170 4x4
Coincidentally this occurred to me yesterday returning from Northern California. Temperature dial was set to 60 and fan speed on low. I remembered this particular post. Turned it off for 10 minutes before raising temperature dial to 68. Worked fine remainder of trip.


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