HVAC issues on new R1S

[rotatores]

Took delivery of my vehicle in June, and within 2–3 weeks the AC started acting up. About 1–2 times a week, it would only blow hot air—or air at outside temperature—for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Then, without warning, it would start working normally again. I brought it in for service at the Franklin, TN location. Based on the initial diagnostics, the plan was to replace the entire HVAC system. However, after the part arrived, they changed course and decided to just evacuate and recharge the system instead. They towed the vehicle back to me (I’m 2.5 hours away), but on first startup, the AC wasn’t working at all. I did a hard restart, and it’s been functioning since then. That said, I’m still suspicious the issue hasn’t truly been resolved. Prior to service, hard restarts never fixed the problem, so I’m unsure if this is just temporary. Would you recommend giving it more time, or should I bring it back in for another look? Appreciate any insight.

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[MidnightM00N]

Had the same issue the day I took delivery last year. It ran for 30-45 minutes only blowing ambient air in 90+ degree heat. It randomly switched back to blowing cold, but not as a result of a reset. Could tell the heat pump wasn’t running when it wasn’t cooling. Once it randomly started working, it’s never been an issue again. Seems like a software or wiring bug more than a hardware problem. Hopefully you’ll never have it return, but keep close tabs and if it does, make note of whether the heat pump is making its loud noise or not. Listen outside and inside the car with the heat pump on/off now to get an idea of what you’re listening for.

 

[VSG]

@rotatores:

• Some vehicles have been delivered with overcharged/undercharged A/C.
• Some vehicles have been delivered with a vent hose disconnected.

Although the incidence of these defects has gone way down over the past few years, they still happen. I'm surprised this these things weren't the very first things the SC thought of.

These things are usually noticed early on, when you start stressing the system and it doesn't work as expected.

So for your new vehicle, if it was one of these things, it didn't "break" - instead it was never correct in the first place. The remedy of recharging the system sounds perfectly reasonable, and if the level of refrigerant or an air bubble was the problem you can expect it to continue to work.

Also, if you have an R1S, there are some peculiarities about needing the third row vents open for A/C to work properly? I haven't paid close attention to that because I have an R1T, but there are a number of threads here that discuss this. But perhaps search for and read those threads because the "correct" settings could improve your cooling significantly.

 

[mrodriguez]

I'm having HVAC issues this summer as well. I have a 2023 R1S Gen 1 Quad. I never had issues in the past 2 summers and would generally set it at 69-71 and on Auto and be comfortable even on those hot 90+ days. This year anything above 80 and the system cannot cool. In fact, I monitored the cabin temp from the app and on multiple occasions the temperature actually goes up while using and this is setting it at 63 and forcing the recirculate to stay on or taking it off auto in general. Similarly, it is blowing air, but it seems like it's not cooling that air. When on auto it does switch between recirculate and outside air and when that happens the temperature sky rockets because the outside air is warm and humid without any cooling happening. Usually I flip it back to recirculate right away to at least extend the time where its bearable. I've been keeping it on pet mode if I'm going to be somewhere <1 hour and interestingly that helps. Using pet mode at 63-65 and the seat coolers on makes the cabin quite cool upon returning, but the temperature climbs quickly once actual driving resumes. The other thing I will mention is in early May I took it on a road trip and noticed the compressor running hard even when the outside temperature was only like 65 and the inside cabin was comfortable. The compressor was sounding like it normally does on those 90+ days. That struck me as odd at that time of the year, but I didn't think much of it. It's going in for service tomorrow on this issue and the seat belt recall, so I will keep you posted on what they say.

 

[NashvilleR1S]

Gen 1 Quad, same issue. AC starts working fine and then about 5-10 minutes into the drive it kicks off and blows warm humid air for a WHILE. My kids refuse to ride in my car this summer. I put in a service request on the app, but haven't heard anything.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Gen 1 Quad, same issue. AC starts working fine and then about 5-10 minutes into the drive it kicks off and blows warm humid air for a WHILE. My kids refuse to ride in my car this summer. I put in a service request on the app, but haven't heard anything.

My ‘22 Launch Edition R1T is showing the same issue and goes in for service tomorrow at 59,932 miles. Rivian made it clear the truck must arrive under 60,000 miles—regardless of when the issue was reported—for coverage to apply.

This will be my final service under the Rivian warranty, as I’ve now transitioned to X-Care for extended coverage.

 

[PaythePiper]

My ‘22 Launch Edition R1T is showing the same issue and goes in for service tomorrow at 59,932 miles. Rivian made it clear the truck must arrive under 60,000 miles—regardless of when the issue was reported—for coverage to apply.

This will be my final service under the Rivian warranty, as I’ve now transitioned to X-Care for extended coverage.

That’s complete horseshit considering their days out to get it in is usually 2+ months.

 

[pmd5700]

My ‘22 Launch Edition R1T is showing the same issue and goes in for service tomorrow at 59,932 miles. Rivian made it clear the truck must arrive under 60,000 miles—regardless of when the issue was reported—for coverage to apply.

This will be my final service under the Rivian warranty, as I’ve now transitioned to X-Care for extended coverage.

I also have had this issue since I took delivery a year ago. I initially brought it in right after taking delivery and they said it's normal, part of cooling the battery down, but they recharged the AC just in case - but found it at the correct level of refrigerant. It still did it off and on, but summer was coming to an end, so I didn't really notice it.

Fast forward to this summer, it was more noticeable again, so I brought it back in to look at (among other things). They said they were unable to duplicate it, but they did say the refrigerant was low, so they recharged it. Of course, it started doing it again right after I picked it up.

I made another appointment to just look at the AC (and a piece of trim they messed up last time). Once again, they said they couldn't duplicate it, but the refrigerant was low again (but said they couldn't find a leak?). They recharged it and did a 30-minute test drive with no issues. Once again, the very next day it did it to me again.

It's now in the shop for the 4th time. They've escalated the issue internally. They said they've had some others in recently that have similar issues and say it's some internal sensor on the HVAC circuit. He said it's hard to diagnose since it doesn't throw error codes unless it's actively happening. I referenced this thread which seems to point the same issue.

 

[mrodriguez]

I dropped mine off for service today for this issue. Tech looked at the service screen before I left and could see all the coolant levels were off. He suspected a leak and was able to replicate the issue. In fact we went on a little drive and the car was already getting unbearable hot and it was only upper 70's and cloudy. Side note, I did get a Chevy Equinox as a rental which was interesting since I haven't been in one yet. I asked for an EV since I have solar at home and didn't want to go to the gas station every time. I wish they had more loaners, but alas they did not.

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