Reason for lackluster AC

[Jason B]

My understanding was that the warping happened on the automatic climate control and not the base single zone version. Is that not the case? It does change vent position from head to defrost and to heat (not that it’s been needed here in Houston) just fine.

I'm not sure on the base AC. It could be that it's the same, just controlled manually instead of electronically. But IIRC the diverter that switches from floor, dash and defrost is different from the blend door. The blend door 'blends' hot air from the heater core (it's always hot unless on MAX AC) and cold air from the AC evaporator to achieve desired temperature.

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[Jacob]

Get the grill insert. I did after I did some involuntary trash removal on the highway. Caught a plastic bottle in it lol. Also if you are coming from an older vehicle just know they changed the refrigerant type again. This new refrigerant is even worse than the prior and no where near as good as the refrigerant from the 60s…… and my grandfather thinks I never listen haha

 

[Shawn_Mc]

Youd have to flatten ALL of the condenser fins to cause a measurable problem with the heat transfer out of the cooler. As far as needing a top off of the R134, yeah, not remotely surprising. It's an automotive system. it's wiggling and wobbling and vibrating and bumping down the road, the compressors arent all that great and as a former Service writer at a Ford dealer, you'd be astonished at how many evaporators get replaced for leaks. Having an opinion that this is substandard is fine, but it's not realistic. It is what it is. Some leak, some dont. And the number of blend doors that fail would also make you shake your head in disbelief. In my Automotive AC class, the instructor said you were an absolute rock start AC tech if you can get the AC to blow more than 45 degress below ambient. 30F lower than ambient us usually the norm. 70F on a 100F day is about all you can really expect. The condensors just arent big enough to move more heat than that.

 

[Frenchy]

Youd have to flatten ALL of the condenser fins to cause a measurable problem with the heat transfer out of the cooler. As far as needing a top off of the R134, yeah, not remotely surprising. It's an automotive system. it's wiggling and wobbling and vibrating and bumping down the road, the compressors arent all that great and as a former Service writer at a Ford dealer, you'd be astonished at how many evaporators get replaced for leaks. Having an opinion that this is substandard is fine, but it's not realistic. It is what it is. Some leak, some dont. And the number of blend doors that fail would also make you shake your head in disbelief. In my Automotive AC class, the instructor said you were an absolute rock start AC tech if you can get the AC to blow more than 45 degress below ambient. 30F lower than ambient us usually the norm. 70F on a 100F day is about all you can really expect. The condensors just arent big enough to move more heat than that.

One problem though..... it doesn't have R134...... it has the oh so fancy R1234 which is crazy expensive.....

 

[Shawn_Mc]

Really doesn't matter if it's R12...they all leak.

And that changing the refrigerant is just a scam. Im an old guy, 60+. My uncle drove a Dodge truck for 20+ years with propane in his AC system. Blew ice cubes out of the vents.

 

[JimJa]

Unfortunately a little loss in refrigerant will result in a huge loss of cooling capability. Personally, I'd take it to an A/C shop (unless it's a warranty claim). There will be plenty in Huston. I'd also have them evacuate the system and probably replace the misting valve (that's probably not the correct name). It's a fine screen and not too expensive and is normally easy to get to (can't speak to our Ranger's tho) and easy to replace. A little bit of dirt in that screen will reduce coolant flow and make a significant difference. There is plenty of reserve capacity so don't worry about the bent fins. I've seen some vehicles with so many bent fins I wondered how air even got through, yet it cooled fine.

Question for the group. I have a '19 with auto heat. A/C works fine but I'm now paranoid about the blend door. What are the symptoms and how do I trouble shoot the door to see if it really is sticking?

 

[Jason B]

Unfortunately a little loss in refrigerant will result in a huge loss of cooling capability. Personally, I'd take it to an A/C shop (unless it's a warranty claim). There will be plenty in Huston. I'd also have them evacuate the system and probably replace the misting valve (that's probably not the correct name). It's a fine screen and not too expensive and is normally easy to get to (can't speak to our Ranger's tho) and easy to replace. A little bit of dirt in that screen will reduce coolant flow and make a significant difference. There is plenty of reserve capacity so don't worry about the bent fins. I've seen some vehicles with so many bent fins I wondered how air even got through, yet it cooled fine.

Question for the group. I have a '19 with auto heat. A/C works fine but I'm now paranoid about the blend door. What are the symptoms and how do I trouble shoot the door to see if it really is sticking?

Try going to the extremes. After the truck has reached temperature, switch to the coldest setting.
You should feel very cold air coming from the vents. Then switch to highest heat setting, you should feel very warm air. If the temperature doesn't change much from one extreme to the other, you may have a blend door stuck.
I'm not sure how to access the blend door, but if you could see it, you should also see the actuator move from one extreme to the other.

 

[JimJa]

Thanks Jason. Would a "wand camera" be able to see if it was working properly?

 

[Jason B]

Probably, but it may be as simple as removing the glove box and watching the actuator. I just don't remember how to access it, but there are post somewhere that show it.

 

[Gizmokid2005]

Mine seemed like it never got quite as cold as it should've and when I had a blend door failure and took it in, turns out my evaporator had been leaking for a while. They had to replace that and performed the SSM for the bolt and orings for the blend door. It's been super cold ever since.

 

[airline tech]

For Dual Auto Temp: You have 4 Actuators.

Drivers Side: Upper - Air Distribution Door - Moves air to the selected duct.
Drivers Lower - Drivers Air Temp - Controls the Temp Door Movement for the driver's side, this opens/ closes the door of the air flowing through the evaporator and it is mixed with the heater core air flow. (AKA Blend Door)
If you look to the right of the gas pedal and upwards you can see the Air Temp Actuator, the Air Distribution actuator is above it and hidden.

Passenger Side: Upper - Air Inlet Dor Actuator - (Recirculation-Door) Just above the cabin filter
This is the mouse entry point along with outside odors skunk, exhaust etc.
Passenger Side Lower - Passenger Side Air Temp - Same as Drivers Side (as far as operation)

You can easily see both of these if you pull glove box.

When these start to fail, you will notice Temp control issues and or a popping sound as the actuator is trying to move to commanded position and gets lost, now if door is sticking and or binding the small actuator (just a plastic gear) cannot overcome the extra force needed and starts popping as it is basically jumping the gears internally.
From my understanding of the whole issue is that the early design of the heater box housing is that the Air Distribution door (Selected Air Duct-Movement) and or the Drivers Air Temp door was warping from temperature changes (Hot Sun) and causing the failures. (Its only plastic) so as it warped it created a bind for the gear driven actuator to move it.

So, access to the actuators
Drivers Upper - Dash Removal
Drivers Lower - Steering Colum (Drop) for easy access, can be done without dropping but you will need to drill hole in steering collum support to get a straight shot for the screw head.

Passenger Upper and Lower - Pull Glovebox and clear view of them.

Doors - Dash and Unit Removal

I don't know exactly where it is (thread) AZ Scorp, band-aid fixed his by manually moving the driver's actuator every season and leaving it in position (Hot or Cold)

 

[airline tech]

Now, for underperforming AC, with actuators all working.
1. Check Cabin Filter
2. Check and ensure you are draining condensate, on the ground, this is hard to see as the drain ports out on top of the transmission bell housing.
3. Low on Freon
4. Clogged Condenser (Blocked)
5. If you are noticing low air flow, then the Evap is freezing up and blocking air flow and not allowing proper circulation for cold air distribution

 

[Augie81]

I don't know exactly where it is (thread) AZ Scorp, band-aid fixed his by manually moving the driver's actuator every season and leaving it in position (Hot or Cold)

I think the video he referenced for the work around is the one in this post:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...g-noise-from-the-dash.9659/page-2#post-223216

More info on changing it manually in this post as well:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...-noise-from-the-dash.9659/page-10#post-417013

 

[rydfree]

In my Automotive AC class, the instructor said you were an absolute rock start AC tech if you can get the AC to blow more than 45 degress below ambient. 30F lower than ambient us usually the norm. 70F on a 100F day is about all you can really expect. The condensors just arent big enough to move more heat than that.

You only need to cool @20 degrees below ambient. Anything more is awesome . You need to put the AC in recirculate on very warm days to keep cooling down the inside air. If you try to cool the outside air constantly you'll be losing the battle

 

[Gizmokid2005]

You only need to cool @20 degrees below ambient. Anything more is awesome . You need to put the AC in recirculate on very warm days to keep cooling down the inside air. If you try to cool the outside air constantly you'll be losing the battle

No, a fully functioning automotive AC system should cool -30F below exterior ambient temp, anything less is not functioning properly.

As a note, you're always trying to "cool" the outside air because you need to draw heat out of the condenser which is why you measure off of ambient and not "feed temp" of the system.

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