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ZB vs VF Climate Control

Overwatch

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Hi y'all...I'm new to this site and joined the forum as Holden and its dealers (surprise) have been unable to assist.

I've transitioned from a VF2 to a ZB (why you may ask-another story) and in the VF2, the HVAC was sweet. I could set the dial to a certain temperature, push the aircon button to 'Off' (the Aircon LED light would go off) and the air would still be cool without (I think) the aircon being on, eg. say 21 and it would be 26 outside. If I did press the aircon button to on (the aircon LED would light up), I would hear the compressor starting up and the air would be even cooler.

With the ZB, this no longer happens. If you want cool air, you now always need to have aircon on. It will simply not blow cool air without the aircon on.

My question is what was the difference between the VF2 and ZB HVAC systems that the above happens? I loved the VF2 HVAC, I would get cool air without having to turn the aircon on, regardless of the temperature outside.

Question to Holden ("we're not mechanics here, call a dealer) and to dealers ("sorry, the ZB is new/not built to Aussie conditions/we didn't build it/too new for us to know/not trained yet etc. etc.) were not productive. Suttons City suggested I ask here.

Any advice appreciated!
 

benny66

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Yes good question as unless I put the air conditioner on I get warm to hot air flow not the ambient temperature outside . It is almost as if the air is coming from around the engine bay and is being heated. Love to know
 

tuckerbag

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Hi y'all...I'm new to this site and joined the forum as Holden and its dealers (surprise) have been unable to assist.

I've transitioned from a VF2 to a ZB (why you may ask-another story) and in the VF2, the HVAC was sweet. I could set the dial to a certain temperature, push the aircon button to 'Off' (the Aircon LED light would go off) and the air would still be cool without (I think) the aircon being on, eg. say 21 and it would be 26 outside. If I did press the aircon button to on (the aircon LED would light up), I would hear the compressor starting up and the air would be even cooler.

With the ZB, this no longer happens. If you want cool air, you now always need to have aircon on. It will simply not blow cool air without the aircon on.

My question is what was the difference between the VF2 and ZB HVAC systems that the above happens? I loved the VF2 HVAC, I would get cool air without having to turn the aircon on, regardless of the temperature outside.

Question to Holden ("we're not mechanics here, call a dealer) and to dealers ("sorry, the ZB is new/not built to Aussie conditions/we didn't build it/too new for us to know/not trained yet etc. etc.) were not productive. Suttons City suggested I ask here.

Any advice appreciated!
Typical that the Holden dealers know nothing
 

MattSAU2XR8

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I've transitioned from a VF2 to a ZB (why you may ask-another story) and in the VF2, the HVAC was sweet. I could set the dial to a certain temperature, push the aircon button to 'Off' (the Aircon LED light would go off) and the air would still be cool without (I think) the aircon being on, eg. say 21 and it would be 26 outside. If I did press the aircon button to on (the aircon LED would light up), I would hear the compressor starting up and the air would be even cooler.

Not sure if I'm reading this right, but it sounds as though the VF was able to cool the outside air down from 26 to 21 degrees without the use of the aircon compressor?

Yes good question as unless I put the air conditioner on I get warm to hot air flow not the ambient temperature outside . It is almost as if the air is coming from around the engine bay and is being heated. Love to know

This could make sense - depending on where the HVAC system draws air from, it could vary in temperature. I imagine in older cars, eg. 1980 with big vents in front of the windscreen it could be quite cool (or ambient) , where in newer cars where the bonnet seems to almost touch the screen there might be a tendency to draw air from the engine bay...

As an aside, I've always found light coloured cars much better from a cooling point of view. Hence my white RSV Wagon. Makes sense when you consider that direct sunlight delivers about 1000 watts per metre squared - so if just the roof of the car was say 1.2 by 1.5 metres for a sedan this is close to 2000 watts. And I would suspect that even with an insulated roof lining at least a quarter of this, eg. 500 watts would be leaching into the cabin if the roof was black... Maybe not such a big deal if car is moving fast as ambient air can cool it down, but if parked or moving slowly would get hot a lot faster.

https://ag.tennessee.edu/solar/Pages/What Is Solar Energy/Sun's Energy.aspx

Although RACQ in Queensland did some testing back in 2009 and sort of reached the conclusion that paint colour and window tint have little effect. Not sure I agree - assuming a car is moving and the aircon is producing maybe 2000 watts of cooling, and the airflow is removing some heat from paint and glass, this is a different situation, and a few hundred watts either way will lead to car warming up or cooling down over time... Interesting read though...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiWgobB44zmAhWEe30KHXnoAsoQFjAKegQIBRAC&url=https://www.racq.com.au/~/media/pdf/racq%20pdfs/cars%20and%20driving/driving/0814_temperature_in_cars_survey_2009.ashx&usg=AOvVaw2k4SQVzk4JxZJUS8Ov-Jnf
 

benny66

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Typical that the Holden dealers know nothing
Explains partly why they are struggling to sell the car. The dealers don't their product. They need some training in how to sell ice to Eskimos or heaters to tropical islanders .
 

Chalks1971

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My experience is the other way.
I came from a VF SS & two things that peeved me with the ss

1. The "climate control" was crap. It always seemed to be either off or full throttle & you were forever chaging the temp to get the mix right. To me thats not climate control.
2. youd have cruise control set to 105, look down on a small slope & you were doing 120
 

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Is there two of these threads?
 

Calaber

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A couple of possible solutions to the OP. Both are uneducated guesses.
1. The VF might pass ambient air through the condenser when the air con was turned off. Even without the gas circulating, perhaps the condenser cools the ambient air slightly. Consider too that moving air is cooler so an ambient temp of 26 will reduce slightly due to movement into the car. The ZB might not flow the air in the same manner when the air con is switched off.
Its highly improbable that any modern car would draw air from the engine bay. Apart from the obvious fumes/heat/noxious gasses this could present, the additional heat would have a drastic effect on the cooling efficiency. These days, if cowl vents are not part of the car's design, the air is ducted from around the headlights or grille. This air would warm slightly padding through the ducting within the engine bay before it reached the plenum, and could be warmer than air drawn directly through the plenum.
 

Holden17

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My experience is the other way.
I came from a VF SS & two things that peeved me with the ss

1. The "climate control" was crap. It always seemed to be either off or full throttle & you were forever chaging the temp to get the mix right. To me thats not climate control.
2. youd have cruise control set to 105, look down on a small slope & you were doing 120
Can’t speak for the ZB but I regularly drive a VF1 Calais V and our two VF2S (ute & SS wagon). I find the climate control brilliant in all three whether that be quickly cooling once getting in on a hot & humid Qld day or just modulating correctly while driving along...never have to adjust anything. Sounds like your VF climate control wasn’t working correctly.

As for the cruise control, yes maybe not as accurate as it could be but at worst, reaching close to 110 downhill when set to 105 I have found. Most inaccurate if i have for example, accelerated to 105 at the peak of a hill and then set the cruise control for the downhill run ...it tends to overshoot in this instance in particular but not a biggie.
 
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