What happened to thermostat regulated climate control?

I remember a car where you set and forget the thermostat to 72 degrees and
the climate control system heats and cools as needed. No need to move
levers back and forth, trial and error style to get the cabin to a
comfortable state.

GM had this, I believe. Is it offered by D-C?

Maybe if they had systems like this, Kookorian wouldn't be buying out
Chrysler for a song.

 

I hope you're joking, George, but I just can't tell. This came out in the
1960's, and it's still around.

 

It's called ATC.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Chrysler's unit in the 300M was the best I've ever had. Even knew when to
defrost. Toyota's and Honda's auto climate control are a joke by
comparison. I've owned all 3 plus a Ford Taurus with ATC in 91. That was
better than the 2001 Toyota and current Honda units too.

 

When I bought my '04 Caravan, it had the dual temp levers (so driver &
passenger could have different temp levels). It occurred to me that if I set
one all the way up and the other all the way down, maybe I'd get a line of
thunderstorms between the front bucket seats...

 

Only car with automatic climate control I've owned is my Porsche 944,
and it works great. Unless it's summer and/or the windshield is fogging
up, I never even think about touching the controls.

nate

 

Chrysler's unit is good (and utilizes the sun sensor on the dashboard in its
decision making), but I've noticed some weird things with it:

1.) The defroster (with the defroster icon lit) is turned on much more than
really necessary. Not a huge deal, but the a/c compressor is cycling when
ambient exterior temperature is over about 30 degrees, which is something I'd
like to keep to a minimum for the job both for wear/tear and high energy
consumption.

2.) When neither the defroster nor the a/c (snowflake) icons lit, I can often
hear the a/c compressor cycling. It's not hard to hear in my car given the
fairly large hiss it makes 2-4 times a minute when the clutch engages. (The
hiss and frequent cycles are claimed to be normal by the dealer and factory rep
since day 1 of the car). Why does it turn on the a/c when the display doesn't
indicate defrost or a/c? I have no clue.

Some other observations:

a.) I can often hear the air doors making frequent tiny adjustments. It's
trying to get the temperature setting "just right."

b.) When you open the door, you can just barely hear a little fan inside the
dashboard console turn on for about 30 seconds (until you start then engine) to
allow the interior temperature sensor inside to feel interior air.

I almost always use manual mode and appreciate the temperature setting
control. If I want warm air both near my hands and feet, I select it. The ATC
system and electric air doors has proven to be more reliable than the old GM
manual systems that relied on vacuum to move the dampers.

 

I have the Chrysler ATC system on my '95 LH.
I'm only partially pleased with it so don't run it in full manual mode.
The auto temperature aspect of it is OK most of the time, although
manual override is necessary when we are cold and it is putting out cool
air. The sun seems to be causing this.
The auto fan control is not good, so to avoid having the fan running
full speed creating much noise I always operate the fan manually.