I am not sure that the AC in my 2005 F250 is blowing as cold as it should. I put a thermometer in one of the center dash ducts and with the AC on MAX, the air was blowing 62 degrees. The outside temperature was 100 degrees. The cooled air never dropped below 62 for the first 40 minutes of my ride home. By the time I reached my house 45 minutes later, the outside air temp had dropped to 86 and the AC was blowing 55 degrees. But, shouldn't the AC be blowing at about 45 degrees all of the time?

Thanks.

 

Mine has auto 60*. Makes it a little nipply in the cab on a long drive. Desert temps in the "hundred and teens" this time of year. Put some gauges on it and see if the pressures are right. If doing it yourself "do not overcharge". It's worth the $100 bucks to be done right.
My $0.02 worth

 

Words to live by.

 

What is "auto 60"? Does that mean it is cooling the cab to 60 or maybe that the air coming out of the ducts is always 60?

thanks.

 

He has the automatic controls that includes an "AUTO" setting. It has a minimum set point of 60F.

Your system is definitely under performing. A lot of 05 and 06 F-series were undercharged from the factory. Others have slowly leaked down over time. Yours might be low on refrigerant, but, without gauge readings, it's a bit hard to do more than speculate.

 

If you are seeing 60 degree cab temperature in 100+ heat, your system must be putting out air that is much cooler than 60 degrees at the vents. I would guess that you are seeing around 45 degrees at the vent. I will have mine checked since I don't have the tools or the time to do it. I am sure that mine had previously blown cold like yours but the cab has been off of my truck 4 times now......yup, it's a 6.0.

Thanks.

 

I dunno, it's pretty standard in HVAC that the temp differential should be approx. 20 degrees from ambient air to conditioned air.

So, 100 degree air can cool to around 80, on max setting you are recirc cab air which in time cools so you get the 80 degree air and cool it at around 60 degrees, gradually dropping as the cab cools.

It just takes time to cool a 100+ degree cab in summer heat.

 

ruschejj, you may be right. I just talked with the big Ford dealer here in Columbia, MD. The service writer told me that he would be glad to take my money but he thinks the AC is working correctly and that I should not bring the truck in for service. He said that if I am seeing 60 degree air when the outside air is 98, the system is working correctly. He said that a 30 degree temperature differential from the outside air is very good.

 

Well that's good, I'm not a HVAC person so I'm just going on things I hear. I do hope that your system is working correctly.

 

Whoa. On MAX, you should be recirculating inside air so you're not cooling air from outside.

My manual-controlled 01 will drop the center temp down to near 40-42F after the cabin interior is cooled and while I'm running down the road, even on sunny 100F days.

This is quite true. It takes a good 10-20 minutes to pull the excess heat out of the interior of the cab after it's been baking in the sun. I suppose if you have a black interior, it will be longer.

 

25-30*F temp differential is what most standard A/C systems should drop down to from the outside ambient temp.
If you’re sure that your blend door is working properly then the next step just as a sanity check would hook gages to the system and see exactly what the High and Low side are doing. It might need a little tickle of 134a?
Also clean the condenser of any road debris and bugs. This will improve its efficiency. I know the space between my cond and rad was full of debris when I purchased the truck. Blow out with compressed air. If its greasy use condenser degreaser and warm water. DO NOT use a pressure washer.

 

A quick check of charge level is to feel the suction (low) side hose as it enters the A/C compressor. With the unit running for five or ten minutes, the suction side hose should be cool. If its warm or hot, you're probably low on charge. If its ice cold, you may have a dirty evaporator coil.

 

I'm a residential A/C tech and the differential should be approx. 20 degrees from ambient air to conditioned air as stated above. Your getting 62 degree air on a 100 degree day and your complaining??? You should be happy Fords system is working so good and thank somebody because it could be 80 degrees and not 62 degrees

 

I think the big SD cabin with lousy insulation is too much for standard AC to cool down at 3-digits outside. Hot all the time heater core is not helping neither.
Our sedan has sensor display on the dashboard and I can display cores temperatures while driving. At full output the cores drop below 40F. That is what it takes to stay comfortable.

 

Actually, on Max A/C the vacuum operated hot water control valve SHOULD close and stop water flow to the heater core. Might be worth checking to be sure its working.