air conditioning problems 2004 2500

[MMead]

How often should I hear the A/C cycle in 80 degree humid weather?

 

[MHorne]

Well i just picked up my truck from the dealer and they said that there is suppossed to be a 12 degree difference between the drivers side and passenger side. That is what star told them and there is nothing they can do about it. My service guy admitted that this is a problem but there is nothing more he can do since this is a "normal" problem according to star. That just pisses me off. I bought a 34,000 dollar truck with a/c problems and i live in arizona. Not a good combination. What i want to know is where should i go from here i mean the dealership has finalized there answer i guess. Do i have a lemon truck. Or is dodge hiding some big problem that they don't want to fix or what. I;m getting real aggrivated and i'm worried there is nothing i or dodge can or will do to help. Any ideas.

 

[DPKetchum]

Thats what I was told a year ago. its a CHEAP OUT. When it works correctly(I have TWO thermometers in dash,one in d/s one in pass/side) theres not but a 3 or 4 degree differance on fresh.

 

[MHorne]

so what do i tell the dealer to do or is this something i'm going to have to fix myself. I was getting ready to take it down to the dealer tomorrow that i bought it from and see what they will do. If they give me the same answer i was going to ask them to set up an appointment for a factory representative to meet me there and explain to me whats going on. is it worth the trouble or is your dual thermostat worth doing by myself.

 

[DPKetchum]

Sounds like a plan. My dual thermometers is just to monitor the temp. Try the other dealer and push for the Rep if needed. 12 degrees is a LOT of differance.

 

[MHorne]

well this dealer seems like they wanted to help me with my problem. They say that i have a bad evaporator core inside the a/c box. They have to go through quite the job to get there so i'm glad to say that they are at least doing something about it. We will see if that is the problem, the guy says they have had a few of these trucks come in with this problem and another problem is that it might be a warped door inside the box. He claims he has seen that to. But hey i'm just happy they are finally pulling the thing apart. Thanks for the input and help.

 

[mmhjs]

Low Refrigerant

This sure sounds like a low refrigerant problem to me. A good ac shop can test the system to check the super heat, that is a more accurate way to charge a ac system than just weighing in a charge maybe dodge is wrong about the amount of charge needed. :--)

good luck

 

[DPKetchum]

Was told a while back that there was a slightly differant design on the evaporator(newer part number) on the newer models mainly fin temp sensor location. A tech thats done this job a few times can replace the heater box/evaporator etc. in about 4 hours or so. Talked to the tech at the little dealer near me(12 years at it) and one week he had three to do that week. I saw two tore down and in stages of going back togather. He comminted about 4 hours or so each work time. ONE was a parts warranty on a leaking evaporator(two in 12k) Two were broken heater box doors that needed whole heater box housings.

 

[kdbvulcan]

youre condenser could be plugged up,my car did the same thing,and thats what it was

 

[kdbvulcan]

youre condenser is probably plugged up

 

[MHorne]

well how would i unclog my condensor because i got my truck back today and its still doing it. I'm going to give it a couple of days before i take it back in but man i thought for sure this was going to be a good fix this time. They pulled my dash off pulled the evaporator out and replaced it but its still doing it, its not doing it as much but now it feels like when it does do it it is blowing out warmer than it did before. I don't know but i will be talking to the service guy tomorrow and see what he has to say about it.

 

[MMead]

I finally took my truck to the dealer to check out the mediocre a/c, and just as many have suggested on this site, the charge was a half pound low. They recharged the system and put some dye in. Seems to work better now, we'll see how long it lasts this time.

 

[DPKetchum]

Wonder why there all LOW! My 98 1500 has never had anything done to the ac. I've had others that IF they needed any it was years down the road. Not in the 1st year or 2/3 etc.

 

[SKing]

This is what I have said for 3 years. All the A/C systems have a low charge. Thats why its the first recomended repair for poor A/C cooling in the dodge sevice manual. Evacuate and recharge system!!!!!!!!!!! This is just a fine example of another dash job that was not needed. There are people in the TDR that have facts and some think the old way and just dont know what there saying.

 

[Bertram65]

My AC has never been great, this spring when my truck was in for a front axle U joint, first time back to the dealer, I asked them to check the AC as it has never been great, they said it was fine, the truck is now 6k miles out of warrantee.

I needed the AC for the first time this year two days ago it could not cool the cab at all. Yesterday after reading this I went to Autozone and bought a can of 134a with the fitting and put it in, it took the whole can, it made a world of difference now the AC is much colder, wish I had tried it sooner, I am thinking of trying another can, does anyone know if you can overfill it or will it only go in if it needs it?

 

[MMeier]

Buy one of thier cheapie gauges, it just snaps on over the same fitting you charge into. It is usually color coded so you know how much is in the system.

 

[Elite1]

My AC has never been great, this spring when my truck was in for a front axle U joint, first time back to the dealer, I asked them to check the AC as it has never been great, they said it was fine, the truck is now 6k miles out of warrantee.

I needed the AC for the first time this year two days ago it could not cool the cab at all. Yesterday after reading this I went to Autozone and bought a can of 134a with the fitting and put it in, it took the whole can, it made a world of difference now the AC is much colder, wish I had tried it sooner, I am thinking of trying another can, does anyone know if you can overfill it or will it only go in if it needs it?

That was very similar to my experience... last year, my AC wasn't working well & on long trips it would freeze up at the condenser, the dealer wanted to replace all kinds of AC parts for about $2k... .

While deciding what to do, I asked them to just do a normal AC service to see if that helped, I made an appt. , left the truck with them all day came back at the end of the day & they didn't get to it. I was pretty PO'd... So I went by an auto parts store & bought a can of 134a with some gauges, I have no experience with working on AC units, but I added 1 can and the AC has worked flawless ever since.

 

[SKing]

There is a balance in the A/C that is needed. Take the truck to an A/C shop and have it done right for about $65. You can screw up your A/C if you over charge it. . It needs to be evacuated and then recharged to balance the system. If there is moisture in your system it will not allow the charge to balance. The moisture takes up space where there needs to be coolant. Due it right to avoid $$$$$ latter. Under your hood there is a sticker that states how much frion is needed.

 

[lgjohnson]

After reading thru this post a couple of times, I've decided to toss in my 2 cents worth. My '03 would freeze up on a long trip and was just not pulling the temp. down in the cab like it should on a hot humid day; a problem that many of us seem to have on here. I believe that we are all the victims of "bean counter engineering".

The "bean counter" mindset works like this: "If we can keep the fill fluids at the bare minimum on every vehicle, we can put thousands of dollars right to the bottom line; ie: more profits. Thus, you will find the bare minimum charge on the A/C system, minimum differential fluid level in the rearend, etc. etc. This is NOT to say that some folks on here don't have some real serious problems with their A/C, but the majority us are just simply under-charged. What exaberates this problem is that 134a refrigerent is very permeable; that is, it seeps thu the seals etc. at the molecular level so that over a period of time, we will see the symptoms of a low charge due to minimum fill and permeability of the refrigerant.

I put the gauges on mine on a 90 degree humid day here in south Louisiana. I had 20 psi on the low and 225 psi on the high. Per the service manual (Page 24-3), at 90 degrees, the low side should be around 30-40 psi and the high side can run from 250-350 psi. Obviously very low on refrigerant. Our trucks only take 26 oz. of refrigerant and the cans are 12 oz. each. That is the other thing about 134a that is different from the old R12; it has to be spot on the mark to work efficiently. You shouldn't just "dump a can in there" like you used to be able to do with R12; you can very easily over-charge the system causing all kinds of other havoc. You need to charge it to the setting/tolerances given in the service manual. It takes a set of gauges to do this, but its not rocket science. I ended up adding about a 1/2 can to my system bringing the low side pressure right up to 40 psi. I had about 285 psi on the high side, called it good and valved it off. For the cost of a can of 134a, I'm now seeing 49 degrees at the center vent outlet. We get some terrible hot humid days here and I've tried to make it freeze up (cranked way down, low fan speed, outside air), but so far, its been working great... . knock on wood.

 

[Bertram65]

Finally got a gauge on my AC after putting in a 16oz can a couple weeks ago, it was right right in the middle of safe so guess it was pretty low before I put the can in. Everything has been working great since.