Colder A/C in under 25 min?????

[seafish]

Mike, you da man, but that MUST be the wrong diagram... my 5. 9 uses Zerex G05 antifreeze which is yellow, not Prestone which is what your diagram show... LOL... just kdding GREAT find!!!

 

[JHumphries]

I found it:
http://www.carbonitecummins.com/Documents/AC%20Upgrade.pdf
He says it can't be done, but looking at MWilson's pictures and the pictures in the file above, it can be done, if you use the right pipes.

 

[mwilson]

Well, Drats.



If you look hard enough at the drawings I posted and then read JHumpries link. it is quite possible that the bulge in the heater line close to the number 1 could be the threaded connection for a banjo bolt. I thought that it was a brace with a bolt hole in it that attached to the engine block.



The service manual may be showing a generic turbo coolant to EGR connection and for some reason the RAM trucks had to be plumbed differently.



I try to post good info but I may have tripped on this one. Sorry... .



Let's see if someone can post an underwood picture or two of heater lines from some more RAM 3rd gen 6. 7 trucks.



Going to slink back to the recliner now... .....



Mike.

 

[mwilson]

Just jumped back out of the chair, I'm not going down in flames just yet.

If the line from the cylinder head to the heater core on a 6. 7 has nothing else hooked to it then it is no different from a 5. 9 as far as the flow goes. If you close the line off from the head the coolant from the turbo will still flow and dump into the pipe using the banjo fitting just like the transmission cooler on a 5. 9 will still dump back into the "y".

I will continue to ponder this but am thinking that guy in the link did a lot of work for nothing.

Mike.

 

[mwilson]

Think about it this way. .

I find it hard to believe that any engineer would knowingly create a situation where a plugged up heater core would starve any other components of proper coolant flow.

So after more study of the coolant flow it appears to me that lines tapped into the head are on the pressure side of the system. That's why you are seeing the banjo fittings and "Y"s on the other line as it is the return side.

So one can place a shut off on the line from the cylinder head to the heater core without worry.
Don't block off the return and that way any other shared component can still return its coolant to the water pump

I think that is the deal.

Mike.

 

[gtobey]

That coolant flow information is awesome! Answers a lot of questions with one picture, doesn't it? Great job providing important information. Is the same info available on the old 5. 9L HPCR engines?



The website http://www.carbonitecummins.com/Docu... Upgrade.pdf had some very good information. The specs from the genuine Dodge service manual regarding the temperatures from the vents at the different exterior temperatures was just puzzling when I read them for the first time. It pretty much explained why we don't ever get cold enough air in the cab of these trucks when 50 some degree air is all they'll do! I agree fully about the need for a driver controlled heater control valve so that some heat could be provided to the A/C system when using the defrost setting on cloudy, humid, rainy, 78 degree days when the windshield and side windows fog up on the inside. That's why I used a DPDT switch in the cab to be able to choose to fully bypass the heater core for no heat or any stop the control valve for any infinite setting all the way to full flow through the heater core.



It finally has warmed up to the upper-80's here in the mid-east, and after all of the rain we're getting, when the sun finally shows, it feels like a sauna. I plan on testing the dash vent temperatures with my A/C thermometer and report some results here. After work one day last week it was hot and sunny, with about 65% humidity, and the truck windows had been closed up tightly all day without a sun shield inside the windshield to block the sun. Of course, opening the driver's door and putting your head in takes your breath away for a second. Fired it up, turned the A/C on max, high fan, and with no coolant passing to the heater core, the interior felt as if it got cooler much faster because I had to slow the fan down to the 2nd speed! Last year, I would keep it on the highest fan speed setting for the full 1/2 hour drive going home. I know this is not a true scientific test, no more accurate than a "butt dyno", so I will get my A/C thermometer and report some vent air temps later on.



I do wish Chrysler had installed a much larger evaporator in our Mega-Cabs, but that would've meant another part, more engineering, etc. When they say they test these vehicles in the cold of Canada to the heat of Death Valley, I wonder if they tested these trucks during Summer in Canada, and the Winter in Death Valley instead of vice-versa? Just a question I ponder from time to time...

 

[gtobey]

Quick report... 95 sunny degrees outside, about 78% humidity, inside cab temperature 135 degrees, and with the heater control valve in the position that the coolant bypasses the heater core, I can cool that Mega Cab oven down in about 10-15 minutes now! The temperature of the air from the left center vent on recirculate and fan on 3rd position is a cool 39 degrees! What a difference! Lots of difference than before! When we went to Columbus, IN for the Rally at the CMEP, I had to turn some heat back into my side as I was freezing! Of course, the wife enjoyed it immensely with her side set on "deep freeze". Never before was I able to get it to perform any better than about 45 degrees on a cloudy, cool day.

 

[Scrappy]

View attachment 85285Here's the fix for my 2006 Mega Cab which I installed when I fixed the faulty recirculation door, redesigned and replaced the blend doors, and installed physical stops in the heater box. I had to remove the entire dash, so while in there, I found an electric powered heater control valve with 5/8" heater connections. To correct the problem of the missing Heater Control Valve, I researched the web and found a four port electronic heater control valve, model 354-69494, with 5/8" ports from a company named Thermotion, in Mentor, Ohio. In the picture you'll see I installed it with silicone heater hose. The valve is to the left being temporarily held up with a wire tie until I get to make a mounting bracket for it.



This valve is designed specifically for this sort of application, and they further recommend that it could be used in an HVAC system without any blend air temperature doors. It comes complete with an integral position feedback potentiometer so that it could communicate its position to a temperature computer and work without blend doors. But for my application, I would not need to connect anything to the potentiometer connections. Thermotion did install an optional voltage dropping resistor in the motor power connections to the protect the motor if it receives power all the time. Having that resistor provided me several wiring options and I could consider each before deciding how I wanted it to operate in this system.



Thermotion explained to me that this actuator is not waterproof, as it is not in a sealed housing that would prevent water from getting into the actuator. However, mounting it properly under the hood should provide some degree protection if it is mounted in a way to not encourage the intake of water. In this application, the valve would be high up under the hood near the passenger side battery, which was certainly high enough to avoid direct water ingestion, and it was tilted slightly during mounting so any water would not travel down the actuator shaft into the motor. I used a double-pole/double-throw illuminated, 3-position rocker switch with a center-off position to power the valve. I could power the valve to provide coolant to the heater core, and turn the switch off once the actuator reached the end of its travel, and vice-versa to block coolant to the heater core for max A/C cooling, right from the driver's seat.



With the Edge Insight, I can tell if the engine temperature changes with the valve open or closed, and it doesn't. I know that the proper coolant flow will be provided to the rear of the cylinder head even while towing! Works great.



Here is their web address: http://www.thermotion.com/default.aspx

for clarification, the 4 port valve is not a shutoff valve, it is a bypass valve. the bypass valve would be perfect in the fact that it never stops the flow so the possibility of cooking the turbo in a 6. 7 is remote if not impossible. Ford uses a similar valve in the Ranger/Explorer. it is vacuum operated in that application though. I think it is even made by the same company!

 

[JFought]

just make sure you use a ball valve unit, as a gate valve tends o corrode more and internally break- thus its stuck at the location it was at

 

[Axekicker]

Goodguys75,



I had my A/C shop install Ice32 about 5 years ago. Read up on it here. http://www.ice32.com/ Amazing product and it does what it says. I used my contact-thermometer and put it into my RH-drivers dash vent and watched the temp-drop from 55 degrees to 40 degrees in a couple of minutes as they added the product into the refrigerant-stream. Really made a difference. This past 10 days it's been 110-117 degrees here in town and my a/c always blows ice-cold. If you want to try it, go over to Auto Air & More on W. Trop just off Decatur and have them put it in; but call first and make sure they've got it in stock (if not... order it on-line and take it with). Here's their website http://www.autoairandmore.com/ and tell them Inspector Glenn sent you over. They've been taking care of my A/C for 5+ years and I'm very happy with their work. Check the 'sig'... . we're all in 'Vegas-baby'.

 

[gtobey]

Goodguys75,



I had my A/C shop install Ice32 about 5 years ago. Read up on it here. http://www.ice32.com/ Amazing product and it does what it says. I used my contact-thermometer and put it into my RH-drivers dash vent and watched the temp-drop from 55 degrees to 40 degrees in a couple of minutes as they added the product into the refrigerant-stream. Really made a difference. This past 10 days it's been 110-117 degrees here in town and my a/c always blows ice-cold. If you want to try it, go over to Auto Air & More on W. Trop just off Decatur and have them put it in; but call first and make sure they've got it in stock (if not... order it on-line and take it with). Here's their website http://www.autoairandmore.com/ and tell them Inspector Glenn sent you over. They've been taking care of my A/C for 5+ years and I'm very happy with their work. Check the 'sig'... . we're all in 'Vegas-baby'.

I have seen the commercials for that stuff, and wondered how it worked. What do you think is in it that makes it work so well? Have you had the pressures tested on your system after putting it in? Are they in specs?

 

[Superdawg]

Colder A/C is always good. I put in a 4" riser out of the block, a street 90, a 3/4" ball valve, another street 90, and a barbed fitting for the hose. Rigid support for the ball valve.

 

[jwduke]

On a semi, the inlet & outlet both have valves. Wonder if this would increase the cooling of the AC, as could hot antifreeze backup into the heater core?

 

[Axekicker]

I have seen the commercials for that stuff, and wondered how it worked. What do you think is in it that makes it work so well? Have you had the pressures tested on your system after putting it in? Are they in specs?

Go to their website and click on the 'About Us' tab. It gives you some history of Dr. 's Mosier and Massey who developed the formula, as an 'improver' to the newer classes of refrigerant, which were less effective than the ones' they replaced. The product reduces friction (metal-to-metal) and improves heat-retention of the vapor-to-liquid-to-vapor cycle which is at the heart of modern 'refrigeration' systems.

Yes... I had my A/C serviced BEFORE I added the product. On our hottest days in Las Vegas, the A/C was just not keeping up so I took my truck to the A/C shop... had the old refrigerant removed and fresh refrigerant and oil put in... took my base-line temp-drop (delta-split) readings in the cab... then had them add the Ice32 as I watched my contact-thermometer inserted into a dash-vent, go from 55 degrees to 40 degrees. Ultimately It settled at 39 degrees and for the past 5 years the product has not failed to perform... . and 'yes', after they added the product my high/low pressure-splits were at 'spec'.

As I mentioned previously, over the past 2 weeks our daytime temps have been over 115 degrees and the air coming out of my dash is 'Ice32-cold'. I'm not a fan of liquid additives... . whether to oil... gas... diesel... anti-freeze etc. but I thought I'd give this a shot (the science and lab-test results 'were' impressive') and see how it would perform. Needless to say, I'm 'sold' and am reaping the benefits.

My advice: skip the 'mods' talked about in this thread and go straight to the A/C shop and just have them put Ice32 in your system. Then come back here and tell everyone... what I already know.

 

[goodguys75]

thanks for the info, will read into it... ... . yes the last 2 weeks have been our little slice of hell here... ... . i just drive with the o/d off so the rpms stay up more... ... . sad situation for these trucks..... I wounder if the new generation trucks have the same issue, or if they have good a/c... ..... I know Chevy has there a/c systems dialed in... ...

 

[ZBrooks]

I've had the ball valve mod on my truck for 3 years now. Works great. I put one on the wife's 7. 3 Excursion, as well. I only wish my HVAC was built as well as hers!

 

[DBroadhead]

Colder A/C is always good. I put in a 4" riser out of the block, a street 90, a 3/4" ball valve, another street 90, and a barbed fitting for the hose. Rigid support for the ball valve.

View attachment 85827View attachment 85828

Is the riser 1/2 on one end and 3/4 on other then 3/4 barb to 3/4 ball valve?

 

[DBroadhead]

Meant 3/4 st 90 not 3/4 barb

 

[JR]

It should all be 1/2" plumbing, unless they changed the size of the port between the 2nd and 3rd gens.
Does the valve cover have to be slid off to the passenger side before being removed, or can it come straight forward? If it has to be slid off to the pass side then forward like the 2nd gens, that plumbing will have to be removed each time the valve cover is. A street 90 directly out of the block will keep a low enough profile to allow the valve cover to be removed without the hassle of opening up the heater core line each time. You may have to loosen the cover and shift it to the side to thread the street 90 into the block, but would make it easier down the road. Not a big deal either way, but could save a little time down the road when it comes time to wrench on the ol girl.

 

[Blakers]

All the older vehicles controlled heater temperature by controlling the water flow through the heater core, unlike most today which control the mix of hot air and cold air entering the cab. The newer system always seemed like a dumb idea to me since there is always going to be some hot or cold air leaking into the ducts when it is not desired.