[Electric Tire Shredder]

Don't worry about temps below at least 113F. I've driven hard in that heat & plugged straight into full-power 6.6kW L2 & the A/C never even needed to activate to keep the battery cool. Even the rad fans only came on audibly for a minute, before cycling too slow to hear.

Other owners have found A/C repair shops which can diagnose & rebuild the compressor if needed.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

..temperature reading displayed on the dash... temperature sensor under the rear view mirror...

The outside temp sensor is outside, in the right sideview mirror.

The sensor on the glass by the rearview mirror isn't for temperature, it's for humidity. Its one & only function is to eliminate the need to tap the 1-touch defrost button if the glass fogs up in "auto" mode.

It's VERY prone to false-positives, so it prematurely activates the A/C compressor, creating excess wear.

It can also cause many different false alarms that can even prevent the car from starting. To ensure proper vehicle function, the humidity sensor MUST be left unplugged.

Also, is it true that the AC cools the battery...?

Sorry I didn't actually answer your question:

Yes, it's true, but only in extreme heat.

My E is heat-reflecting white, but I drove my friend's hot charcoal E in 113F. An hour at high-current heat-inducing highway speeds, then a few miles of low-airflow city speeds, then immediately plugged into a 6.6kW charger in baking noon sun.

The rad fan came on high for a couple minutes, then cycled between low & off. I checked carefully periodically, & the A/C never even came on at all.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

To clarify, even with HVAC completely off*, the sneaky POS humidity sensor activates the A/C compressor without even lighting the A/C button, & without even a tiny hint of fog on the glass.

Here's how to stop it from killing your car: Humidity Sensor SUCKS! (until you unplug it)

* With the "off" button lit, which closes the vents, OR with all button lights off, which is required to get outside air with fan-only, to reduce the need to run the A/C compressor.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I believe so. There's some A/C info in the service technician training manual:
Service Manual (training course)

Again though, an automotive A/C shop should be able to diagnose it, however an OBD scan might help. Do you have an OBD dongle?

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

If you don't, you should get one anyway, to keep in the car: There's no way to avoid a contactor glitch that prevents starting and charging, & you need OBD to fix that.

There's also no way to avoid proxy misalignment that can make the % gauge read really high, making it die while driving. Proxy alignment & also A/C diagnosis both require a $13 "yellow adapter", which dosen't work with every dongle:

$81 Full-Function OBD Dongle? (to avoid stalling)

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

we run the AC pretty much always

Understood.

Me & others have found less need for A/C after finally learning the crazy trick to blast the fan with freah air, which you definitely want when A/C fails! It wasn't easy to discover, & it's not easy to describe, either:

You have to tap any lit button in the left HVAC cluster (auto, a/c, off, recirculate) until all 4 are unlit, including the "off" light.

Then set the temp on "LO" to keep the heater off, & crank up the fan.

You still should leave the humidity sensor unplugged though, since it can cause many different errors, some of which prevent proper function, including airbags, ABS, cruise, HSA, PRND, stuck key, etc...

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Vent fan works even better when driving solo & shutting off the passenger vents.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

If I recall correctly:

• @twintorboz car is lowered. 2" I think. That makes such a big difference in airflow that it improves range by over 10%.
• @twinturboz is the only one I can recall ever reporting A/C activating to cool the battery, likely due to the reduced airflow, even when charging: The fan can't push as much hot air out of the radiator.

Still, I recommend keeping an eye on the max cell temperature in OBD, & in the unlikely event that it gets a bit warm, let it rest a bit.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Ok, so it seems like my point stands:

Below 113F or more, a stock 500e doesn't seem to need A/C to cool the battery.

It only seems to need it if it's lowered to reduce airflow, or maybe if it has heavy non-aero wheels that increase heat-inducing acceleration & deceleration current.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Nothing. It's Fiat's robot forum member.

The dealer is wanting $225 just to diagnose the system... I'm tempted to just order the compressor and slap it in and see if that fixes it before their appointment.

$225 for a 5 minute scan is still better than the $600 that a local dealer here wanted. Past tense because the owner took the car back & fixed it with a $30 OBD dongle.

On that note, if doesn't just "plug & play", & you want to see if OBD's climate control module will get it working, those cheap dongles don't work. You'll need an OBDLink MX+ or LX. It would help a lot of others if you try the less expensive LX: All the evidence I found indicates it will work*, but I didn't find any actual reports of success with a 500e, YET: You could be the first one to report that.

*
$81 Full-Function OBD Dongle? (to avoid stalling)

Many Flashing Odometers! Konnwei KW902 Won't Fix...

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Right.

* With the "off" button lit, which closes the vents, OR with all button lights off, which is required to get outside air with fan-only, to reduce the need to run the A/C compressor.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Get a diagnosis cost estimate. A dealer here charges over $600 just for an OBD scan.

I recommend you take it to an automotive A/C specialist shop.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Code-clearing discussion is on the code-clearing thread you started here:

How do you clear Service Electric Vehicle System light?

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

You might want to reschedule the dealership appointment until after you get/make a yellow adapter to try some Active Diagnostics...

I just loaded AlfaOBD's Climate Control function, selected the Yellow Adapter, & all these Active Diagnosis procedures are available there:

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

I never knew you could make one side a different temperature than the other.

You can't.

How do you fix a stuck valve?...valve failure.

Maybe an A/C specialty shop could back-flush it. On the other forum someone mentioned that when a compressor fails it can send debris into the system & get lodged anywhere in the circuit.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Dealerships usually only replace parts. No repair or even cleaning.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

DIY! Even better!

It looks like there's a pretty good diagram of the system's valves & other components on page 186 of

Service Manual (training course)