I have a 2004 FX4 5.4 with out climate control. I have always had issues with the AC not getting cold. I know I am not the only one. My question is has anyone found how to fix it. I have a full charge of 134a. I will have a few days a year where the AC will be very cold but most of the time it is just a little better than just running the fan.

 

I know how you feel! I have a 2006 Harley Davidson 5.4 with 3000 miles that has always blown slighty cool air and not cold. The truck has been serviced by two different dealers and both say the same thing to me. It's within normal operating limits. They take a temperature reading at the vent and say it's ok. well it's not, it only blows at the coldest 62 degrees after running on max a/c driving about 20 minutes on the highway. I had them today get a new truck and park it next to mine and set the a/c controls the same and compare the difference, it was about a 10 degree difference. They said it was because my truck was black and the test truck was white. It was 93 degrees outside today. They never even checked the charge with any pressure gauges. I called Ford customer service today and they offered no assistance what so ever. They even called the dealer and verified what happened and they said they would look into it. I filed a complaint against the dealer because the service advisor had a really bad attitude and was starting to argue with me about my a/c problem. I'm looking for a fix also. I heard that if you delete the clutch fan & blade and add a set of electric cooling fans, it will make the condenser and engine run much cooler. Any other Ideas that might help?

 

I have an 04' CC F250 that I had the same problem with. I bought the truck in July, so I noticed it right away I figured it took awhile to cool because of the size of the cab, well not the case. I actually just dealt with it and figured if it kept up I would take it in, but the more I drove the truck the better it got. I don't know why, but it did. I've had the truck for two years and last summer it would freeze you out if you kept it on Max w/ fan on hi. And so far this year with the weather getting warm it still works fine. give it a little time and see what happens. Good luck.

 

If I remember correctly... there should be quite a few lengthy threads a while back...on this particular issue.. You may wanna do a forum search...

 

Same here. I have to keep my air at max just to feel cool. Dealer told me the same thing.

 

I had to have my AC serviced on my 04 SCAB within months of buying the truck. It turns out that not only was it low on freon from the factory, it was also contaminated with moisture. The only way to fix that is to have the stealer evac and then recharge the system. If they havn't done at least that, they have just been wasting your time. Now my ac works better then before, but not great. One trick that works on my truck is to NOT use the max setting. It cools off quicker if you put it on the next setting down, but close the recirculate vent. I have always thought that right there shows the weakness in system. If it cools better on the regular setting then the max setting, there is a design problem somewhere.

 

Max setting just enables the recirculating circuit.

 

I thought that too. That max setting was the same as the regular setting except that it closed the vent. Nevertheless on my truck the best AC performance is with the regular setting with recirculate on.

 

From Ford...interesting that they'd run the compressor longer. Doesn't make sense from a psychometric viewpoint.

“Saving money can be as simple as turning down the air conditioning, just to bring the cabin to a comfortable temperature,” says Hunter. “Try parking in the shade so that the cabin doesn’t heat up while the car is parked. If the cabin temperature is greater than the outside temperature, open the windows to let the heat out of the cabin, rather than relying on the AC alone. Setting it to ‘Max AC’ forces the air-conditioning compressor to work overtime, where a lower setting often makes the cabin just as comfortable, but is more efficient using the air-conditioning compressor.”