I keep following this thread to see if anyone has ever gotten results under 40-45 degrees...and it seems ...some have... It never seemed "Cold" enough to me... my my '99 Ranger i use to own (traded it in June 18th) blew around 35...according to the vent probe(s), But I never ever did service the a/c system since I bought it May 11, 99..
I'm unsure if its worth hashing it out with the dealer ...besides...im soon to tint these enormous windows..so hopefully that will lower the "feel" of the cab temp. and keep my a/c from workin overtime all the time.

 

With the fresh recharge today it was blowing 42 degrees at the vents.

 

My Screw lariat isn't very cool at all. It was about 117 yesterday, and I had the climate control read out on 75, and the fan never stopped blowing on high the entire 1 hour drive. I do have the black leather, so I'm sure that doesn't help.

 

I was curious how accurate the outside temp sensor was so I took some measurements. It was around 76.6* F outside tonight, and the truck read an outside temp of 77* F. Pretty accurate I guess. Any idea where the sensor is located?

On the topic of AC, I wanted to know the temp at my vents, with manual AC in cold and on Fan#2, the temp cooled to 42.5* F and average 44-48* in normal occasional stop driving. Maybe its just me, or the noise could be something else, but the AC condenser seems to cycle frequently. This was driving in 76-77* weather. Should I check AC level?? Thanks

 

I think one of the issues we are failing to realize is the size of the greenhouse we're driving in. The windshield is downright immense and the side windows aren't exactly petite by auto standards. Tinting the front windows would help, as would parking the truck in the shade or with it's back to the sun.

And let's also not forget, that 117 is HOT!! a normal household airconditioner is usually only able to lower the temp a max of 20 degrees below the outside temp. The big thing is humidity removal, not freezing meat. However, with that being said, I still think these trucks could use a better system. I'm thinking rear vents on all models, particularly the crews, would make for a much cooler cabin, with less blower speed after the temp has been established.

 

I need to have my A/C serviced but I think my air is much cooler and works much better this summer than last. I did nothing but is doesn't suck as bad as it did last year.

 

Does anyone have the service manual? What is the temp at the vents supposed to be by factory specs?

 

\

Where did you ever get the idea that a house unit can only lower by 20 degrees?
That's plain wrong. 34 nominal degrees from a swamp cooler. Any amount you wish to pay for from a refrigeration system.

Down in the throat of our systems it gets below freezing, but due to the large vent system the output air is controlled at about 40.
Use a temp gun and shoot it down the throat, right after you first start it, and these trucks get as low as 15, till the system gets stable. Then the output air stays at 40 roughly.

And the green house is a major part, but so is the lack of insulation in the cab. They used quiet steel, rather than bulk insulation. They then increased the blower capacity to compensate
Chris

 

Responding to a prior reply I had my truck in today for servicing and explained to them the AC wasn't blowing cold, which it wasn't, spoke with the service person and he told me they found nothing wrong with the unit itself but it was a little low with the coolant and they topped it off... Hmm.... Interesting...

 

My system had leaking o rings.

 

Chris,

Not for nothing, but your tone in answering posts can be a little on the abbrasive side. It doesn't bother me, but does it makes it hard answer politely sometimes. Notice the wording in my post. "usually", and what swamp cooler are you talking about? I got the information from the commercial HVAC work i did for 2 summers while in college. Was a tin knocker for major warehouse construction or refurbish projects in NY. And yes, there is a huge difference between auto A/C systems and industrial systems. That being said, i don't think it's necessary to measure the throat temp, as we don't get this in the cabin for any length of time, hence it's irrelevant. Temp at the vents is important, as agreed.

And if they increase blower capacity to compensate for the lack of insulation, doesn't that bring into effect the notion (which i believe was mentioned by you) that the faster the air passes through the system, the warmer it is, as it has less time to spend over the cooling coils? So aside from more noise, the A/C system would not be as effective at cooling the cabin.

 

I had my truck in the dealer this week for poor A/C performance. They found nothing wrong. I asked them if they called the Ford Tech line, and they did. The test they used to check my A/C was, A/C on Max, Engine @ 2500RPM. They had a reading 50 degrees. 50 degrees is what the Tech Line told them was spec for the A/C output air. So basiclly I got the old NO PRONLEM FOUND answer from the dealer.

 

I don't mean to be abrasive, but I am typeing with thirty one stitches in my left hand, so am short.
already posted about temps in this thread.
No one who works on A/C would tell you that refrigeration only can cool 20 degrees.
Swamp cooler is slang for evaporative cooler, the least effective commonest type of A/C in USA and world.

in theory EC can only cool 34-36 degrees below intake air.

There is no such factor in refrigeration.
None. It keeps getting posted, dozen times this week. different number each time, but it's still not true.

Refrigeration is what you use in your freezer at home. It cools better than twenty degrees below ambiant?
A hundred below ambiant is what mine is at today. Not a challenge. I have worked on A/C systems that could pull 200 below ambiant. Not rare. Used on Computers.

The exact same tech used in car a/c. Just more robust on computer systems.

The system n these trucks is very good. some are low on R134, others have a leak. several suffer from bad dealerships.
50 is not normal. If you can't pull below 50, take to place that knows about a/c.

This is with accurate gauge, recirculate, closest to evaperator.

If you have a climate control, that is at lowest setting. Only. If you vary any of these things your reading will be higher.

Actual reading is much lower than 40, 40 is stable reading.
down near the evap it gets much colder. You are limited by moisture in air freezing on expansion valve, not design.
That's why they can't go lower. because on damp days ice freezes on the valve and stops the system, so it's built to not exceed that.

We are experiancing record hot over much of the west/south.
my truck a/c works fine at 117 degrees.
nice and cool inside.
I passed about 30 2004-5 F-150 trucks today, all had their windows up, everyone looked fine.

The argument is about whether the trucks are designed wrong, and they are not. some have problems. 1,000,000 built, looks like 1 percent have too little 134, etc. That should be fixed.

People are posting that either the design is bad, or that good a/c is impossible to achive.

Why do that?
It's an attack on the owners that don't have the problem. The implication is that they are all lying, and that somehow, since 1% (maybe) has problem, usually easy to fix, some are posting that the trucks are no good.
I am now bleeding again, so I will end this. shouldn't have even posted the first tim.

 

Honestly, i didn't even read the whole post. No need for a lecture here, we all know you're smart. What I fail to see, or take it as such, is how you feel that this is an "attack" on the owners with good systems. I think it's just people pissed that they paid $30K+ for a vehicle that needs to have refrigerant added at the first sign of heat. My system works fine for me, but perhaps others would not think it was cold enough. In that case they should do what they can to get the vehicle to their satisfaction.

And sorry about your stitches, but maybe you should rest your hand instead of typing a thesis on air conditioning. KIDDING!!!!!!

 

I had to take mine in today for A/C, i made the dealer check the charge and it was low. it used 18oz of 134, that is almost half of the charge on the system, someone was slacking at the plant or the compressor seal is leaking, ill find out