Insufficient A/C Airflow

[MTB-BRUH]

I have the same issue when blowing out of bottom vents. Hardly anything comes out. Anyone take theirs to the dealer yet?

I’m about ready too

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[Dean W]

I have the same problem on my 2019. Is there a fix?

 

[Dean W]

Hi guys,
I am having an airflow issue in my Ranger and I want to see if anybody else has the same issue.

(1) When I select the icon that sends air to regular vents, I get good airflow out of the main vents (see photo #1).

(2) When i select the icon that sends air to my feet only, I get air down there but not as much as I would like (see photo #2). It's not like it's the same amount of air as in #1 just redirected to the floor.

(3) Finally, when I select BOTH icons at the same time (see photo #3), which would split the air between the upper and the floor, I can hear more air noise near the front of the dash but I get virtually NO AIRFLOW from either the main vents or the floor vents. It's like it is almost completely blocked.

Anybody else experience this?

Please note that I have the fan control turned to maximum for each of the three cases above.

I have the exact same problem. Did you ever find a solution?

 

[RangerCat]

Nope. My dealer didn't seems to think it was a big deal and I have not had time to investigate further myself.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I don’t have that particular issue but I am not thrilled with the overall air conditioning so far. It is decent on max but feels like a fan on regular.

In the regular A/C setting, air is drawn in from outside the vehicle. Max A/C works like building A/C: it recycles the interior air back through the evaporator core to be cooled again, so the already cooled air is recooled. If you are driving in very hot weather and/or stop & go traffic, the system has a harder time keeping up with the sun load and heat radiating from the engine & transmission in normal A/C.
Also, check that the A/C compressor is engaged when in A/C. Might have a fault in the control unit.

 

[acefield]

I don’t have that particular issue but I am not thrilled with the overall air conditioning so far. It is decent on max but feels like a fan on regular.

I concur. The AC in my new Ranger just doesn’t keep up here in Central Texas. Been back to the dealer 3 times for AC work. Leaks fixed, etc. Still unacceptable. Very distressing cause I otherwise love the truck. Good AC is essential in Texas. . I’m going to have to get rid of it for this reason alone.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I concur. The AC in my new Ranger just doesn’t keep up here in Central Texas. Been back to the dealer 3 times for AC work. Leaks fixed, etc. Still unacceptable. Very distressing cause I otherwise love the truck. Good AC is essential in Texas. . I’m going to have to get rid of it for this reason alone.

Might also be the sun load sensor? It controls how often the compressor cycles. e.g.: 80º in the sun=more, 80º at night=less

 

[AzScorpion]

I concur. The AC in my new Ranger just doesn’t keep up here in Central Texas. Been back to the dealer 3 times for AC work. Leaks fixed, etc. Still unacceptable. Very distressing cause I otherwise love the truck. Good AC is essential in Texas. . I’m going to have to get rid of it for this reason alone.

There's definitely something wrong because mine freezes me out here in AZ. That was a huge issue for me in my Tacoma,it NEVER got cold enough. I could drive 10 miles with the fan on high and it would never cool off. When I test drove my Ranger it was 108 out and it was like an ice box within a couple miles. Even on days where it's hit 114 it might take an extra couple miles to cool off if my trucks been sitting out in the sun at work but it still cools off nicely.

 

[Ed Venture]

I concur. The AC in my new Ranger just doesn’t keep up here in Central Texas. Been back to the dealer 3 times for AC work. Leaks fixed, etc. Still unacceptable. Very distressing cause I otherwise love the truck. Good AC is essential in Texas. . I’m going to have to get rid of it for this reason alone.

I too struggle with keeping it cold here in central Texas. I finally took it to the dealer and they spent 4 hours working on it while I was there. They said I was a bit low on refrigerant so they topped it off and used dye to look for leaks. Finding none, they went through a range of diagnostics ranging from pressure to electrical/controls. They all came back clean.

The good news is that they admitted that it just wasn't right and they gave me a loaner and sent me home so they could work the problem until they figure it out. The bad news is that they said (and I believe them as it is totally reasonable) that Ford won't let them swap parts out on suspicions unless they can prove with the diagnostics it was necessary. Hopefully they find something diagnostically that can point them in the right direction.

I hope they get it solved and soon. I am about to embark on a 3,000 mile round trip back to Michigan at the end of the month and the last thing I need is for the AC to crap out on on me.

Ed

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I too struggle with keeping it cold here in central Texas. I finally took it to the dealer and they spent 4 hours working on it while I was there. They said I was a bit low on refrigerant so they topped it off and used dye to look for leaks. Finding none, they went through a range of diagnostics ranging from pressure to electrical/controls. They all came back clean.

The good news is that they admitted that it just wasn't right and they gave me a loaner and sent me home so they could work the problem until they figure it out. The bad news is that they said (and I believe them as it is totally reasonable) that Ford won't let them swap parts out on suspicions unless they can prove with the diagnostics it was necessary. Hopefully they find something diagnostically that can point them in the right direction.

I hope they get it solved and soon. I am about to embark on a 3,000 mile round trip back to Michigan at the end of the month and the last thing I need is for the AC to crap out on on me.

Ed

Hi Ed,

Hope they find something...We are in Arizona with daytime highs of 109+. Ranger A/C works so well my wife wants to take the Truck in hot weather rather than her Lincoln Nautilus.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[orangegrower]

Hi Ed,

I am another AZ hot as hell weather guy. No problems here either. I did run into a problem on a 6 hour drive back from San Diego a few weeks ago. I like and prefer to run my AC in the recirc mode. I have allergies and don't see the need to try to cool 110 degree air. About 4 hours into our trip the evaporator iced up restricting most of the flow from the vents with little cooling. I shut it off for a while to melt the ice and then all was good the last 2 hours. I hope you find a resolution to your problem.

 

[SymChris]

I too struggle with keeping it cold here in central Texas. I finally took it to the dealer and they spent 4 hours working on it while I was there. They said I was a bit low on refrigerant so they topped it off and used dye to look for leaks. Finding none, they went through a range of diagnostics ranging from pressure to electrical/controls. They all came back clean.

The good news is that they admitted that it just wasn't right and they gave me a loaner and sent me home so they could work the problem until they figure it out. The bad news is that they said (and I believe them as it is totally reasonable) that Ford won't let them swap parts out on suspicions unless they can prove with the diagnostics it was necessary. Hopefully they find something diagnostically that can point them in the right direction.

I hope they get it solved and soon. I am about to embark on a 3,000 mile round trip back to Michigan at the end of the month and the last thing I need is for the AC to crap out on on me.

Ed

How’s the A/C in the loaner? (was it another Ranger?)

 

[Ed Venture]

How’s the A/C in the loaner? (was it another Ranger?)

Nope - It was an F-150, but it was ice cold

 

[Ed Venture]

UDATE: Day 2 at the dealer and all diagnostics come back within spec, but the acknowledge that it is just not cooling as it should.

Tomorrow they are pulling an identical spec truck from the lot (likely a 2020 instead of a 2019) and are going to do a side-by-side spec comparison of the two vehicles - reading for reading. Hopefully something will stand out with this experiment.

If it doesn't - I don't know what they'll do.

I am no AC guy, but is it possible the the blend door is stuck or not closing in a way that allows warm air from the heater core to be injected? It could be that the AC is cooling fine, but its battling against the heat.

Thoughts?

 

[db_tanker]

doesn't help much with me piling on but in Houston and my outside air showing 104 I'm doing fine. I kick on max a/c and by the time I'm about 10 minutes down the road I can switch to auto w/recirc activated.

this actually sounds like the blend doors and ducting doors are needing better calibration. hopefully the dealer will do an flow check as well as temp. back in the late 80's Chevrolet had a really cool vacuum florescent display (VFD) AC control and had a gizmo called quad drivers. they would have to be re calibrated for proper operation and this sounds very similar to what you folks are dealing with. I hope the dealer has an AC tech that may know about this.

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