Hey guys,

I'm with the Air Force, currently deployed, and use an F250 for airfield support. I've looked through the FAQ, and didn't see anything on an in-cabin air filter. As you might expect, it's sandy and dusty here, and our airconditioner is not keeping us cool any longer in the 135+ heat. The air is fairly cold coming out, but hardly any air is coming out of the vents. The blower sounds normal, and all positions of the fan work correctly. If there is an in-cabin air filter restricting the air, where is it located so I can get to it to clean it? Anything special I should know about or tricks of the trade to make it easier next time?

I have an '04 King Ranch waiting on me at home with less than 20000 miles due to deployments, but I love it! Take care, and appreciate any help!

 

Nope, as far as I know the cabin filters were only an option until 00-01 and then were discontinued around 03. Never to be heard from again.

A good air conditioning system can cool to 20 degrees ambient temperature. Which relatively is nice, but your still looking at 115 degrees. Somethings to look at are the blend door and possibly bypassing the heater core.

 

The air is cold enough, but the volume of air coming out of the vents in normal or max air is about 1/3 of what it should be, at least judging from my '04!

 

Heater by-pass is easy and will recover some capacity. Just pull the two hoses and connect so they return to each other. When the truck gets moved to where heat is required they can reconnect. A/C will still defrost well night time cool with humidity. Can you pull the fan motor and make sure its not covered in dirt. Once the blades are all dirty it gets less and less efficient. My old 150 this is what happened from all the field dust. Had to pull the fan off the motor and pressure wash it clean. Put it back and good as new. The other thing given 135 degree heat is probably need to insulate the truck better or atleast the cooling ducts and always run on max a/c (outside air blend will decrease efficiency).

 

Well if your capacity is limited you probably need to clean the system out. You should be able to pull the blower and vacuum or hose the evaporator out to improve flow. I'm sure if there is debris to get stuck it is in there.

 

Thank you for the ideas. I'll try cleaning the squirrel cage blower fan since it's so dusty and humid here, that it probably makes a good mud mixture on the fan vanes during really humid days. I'll let you know!

 

Follow Chris' advice - clean the evaporator also!

 

Blower fan was a bit caked with "mud" and evaporator coils were completely clogged. In-cabin filter would go a long way for this problem for us. Thank you all!

 

It only works if the filter is between the vents and the fan. On my two non-Ford vehicles (my son has an SD), the filter if after the fan - will not do what you need it to.