One thing I forgot about regarding automotive A/C systems is the fan clutch.

This is a device hooked to the radiator fan that allows the fan to 'freewheel' when more air is coming thru the radiator than the fan would otherwise be pulling thru, for instance when you are going down the freeway.
The clutch is controlled by ambient temperature, and as it warms up, it locks up. when it cools off it freewheels.

So when the vehicle is standing still and underhood temps begin to rise, the clutch will(should) lock up, pulling as much air as possible thru the radiator.
This is what causes that roaring sound of air when you first pull out of your driveway, then the sound slowly subsides as you drive along.

When I worked on automibiles for a living and suspected a faulty fan clutch I would put on a good thick glove and try to stop the fan with my hand while the engine was running, and at operating temperature. If the fan stopped easily, the clutch was defective. if, on the other hand the fan shredded my glove and trimmed my fingernails, it was okay.

(Kids, don't try this at home. and if you do, make sure you know which way the fan is spinning. cause if you stick your hand in the wrong side you WILL lose more than one fingernail)

Seriously, if the fan clutch is good, the engine warm with the A/C running you should not be able to stop the fan in this manner without enduring at least a minimal amount of pain. if you can stop the fan, get a new clutch.

Probably a safer way and one that I would recommend is to check it after the engine has been running for a while, and say you stop for gas. Put the gas in, run in and pay and when you come out, pop the hood and see how easily the fan blade spins. (this gives the clutch time to soak up some heat).
It should spin, but you should feel a good deal of resistance. If it spins easily and the temperature under the hood is like opening an oven door on Thanksgiving day, you have a problem.

Also, if you have electric fans disregard everything you just read.

BTW: Still got all my fingers!

 

A much safer way,our 2007 expedition has gauges,if the fan clutch was bad the motor at idle would push the gauge into the HOT zone,does your motor run HOT,what do you mean the other dealer will not look at your car,drive up to service and ask the service manager to look at your car, tell him/her the air conditioner is blowing warm/hot air(dont call 1st) My son bought his truck in Illinois and our ford dealer here in Starke work's on it, bought our expedition in St aguestine and will not be driving back for service,they will do it here in starke,my 2002 f350 was bought in Gainsville 26 mile's away,it get's serviced here,DON'T ASK/CALL 1ST,drive in like you were on a trip out of town,it's same thing,your still under your 3year 36,000 mile's right,if they turn you down a call to ford corp will take care of it,lady you need some backbone,stand up for yourself,you have a right to have cold air for what paid for this car.

 

I do have a backbone!! That's why i do not take no for an answer. And now the dealer calls me yesterday to tell me that they have found a problem with 2007 expeditions and to bring it in and they will get it taken care of right away. The reason the other dealer said they will not look at it is because I had contacted Ford direct to voice my concerns with this vehicle and was told that no further service calls for this same problem would be approved. So the other dealer said he could not look at it without charging me. And why should I have to pay out of pocket when there is less than 3000 miles on it. The deal is that several owners have been complaining and as we know 1 persons complaint does not matter.

Thanks for all of your guys advice. I will keep you updated to let you know if the fix worked out.

 

Please do! If others are having the problem then a "fix" posted online will only serve others down the road.

 

A bit uncalled for.

 

Not at all,when you SPEND $40,000.00 and get the runaround from a dealer or dealer's you need to raise some/alot of HELL,now that she come's out with the "rest" of the story on why she was getting that runaround and ONE has all the fact's/story it change's every thing "PER" her last post,that info was not stated/shared earler in her issue with her dealer, A HUGE diffrence between,can't fix and what is stated later in the post, better reread from the top down and think about it, the fact's mame,just the fact's.

 

go to the ford dealership you purchased yours at and go test drive another new one off the lot, any of those sales people would jump to try and sell you a second truck, see if it does the same thing.

 

I stated the same thing in a diffrent way,I said to also have her husband take the service manager for a ride and SHOW him the issue,they were picking up on her weakness and blowing her off,having the service manager with him/her MIGHT have gotten a ,sorry your having this issue,can't figure out what's wrong at this time but will dig into it deeper and will get with FMC to get this fixed to your satisfaction while he wipe's OFF HIS forehead!!!.

 

I have an 07 expedition as well, and unfortunately ford dealerships are not all that helpful in fixing things they cannot replicate. From day one since I bought my expedition, the transmission had the lag from 1'st to second, which two different dealerships claim they cannont fix or do any tsb service bulletins until they can replicate the problem. The last time I went in, I handed them the copy of the service bulletin explaining the problem and they still did not want to do it. I am 6'6 and I talked to ever service manager basically laying it out that you are supposed to keep customers happy and if they want there $40,000 truck to run correctly and if they are claiming there is a problem, then they should assume the problem is there and fix it, instead of claiming they have to replicate the problem. In my case it does not do it all the time, just randomly. The dealership claims they cannot do any service warranty work unless they can replicate the problem, because if they do the service and it doesnt fix it, ford can decide to not pay the dealership for warranty service issues for the same identical problem later on, supposedly. The service department where I bought the truck has screwed up any relationship i had and I can promise I will never buy another vehicle from them, strictly because they have lack of concern on whether or not my vehicle runs correctly. Next time, considering Chevy has fixed the 3rd row folding seats, I will consider buy a chevy or gmc.

 

My wife has been complaining yesterday again about the A/C not blowing cold at idle & low speed, and that our old van (1997 Safari/Astro) cooled down much faster. I looked under the hood a little bit while I was installing the tow package relay and I saw that there is an electrical device on the fan clutch. I've heard of electric fan clutches, and if this is what it is and not some type of sensor, perhaps its not engaging at idle if there's not enough air flow through the a/c condensor to keep blowing cool. Assuming its controled by the computer, perhaps the fix is to reflash it to engage with the A/C on. I'm just guessing here, because it cools down quite well at highway speeds.
Did the dealer happen to mention what the problem was with the 2007 Expeditions? I asked my service manager about 1 week ago inperson if there were any issues or recall and was told there was not. I know dealers don't always tell the truth, but I would think a dealer would WANT to perform warrenty work for the income. Does your vehicle have the tow package? The only reason I ask is because with the larger transmission cooler in the very front, it very well could radiate even more heat and block more free flowing air through the A/C condensor.

 

I asked in another tread if anyone knows what the Ford A/C test specification is. When I had the Factory Service manuals for my old Safari/Astro and there was a specific test to determine if the A/C was performing properly or not. From memory the the A/C was supposed to blow so many degrees below the outside ambient temperature within a certain number of minutes. I'm sure Ford has a similar test procedure that the dealer can follow and anyone could follow on their own to see if the A/C is up to the Ford spec. I don't have access to the Expedition factory service manuals, but the dealer should. I would ask to see what this test is and go from there.

 

38 degree's lower than the ambient temp at the vent outlet's is a good base temp for most unit's regardless of who make's the unit,that from an old ac guy neighbor of mine,guess i lucked out with our's after reading the tran's and ac problem's on here,and it's the 1st time in 34 year's that we bought USED,got an 07 expy eddie bower,certified by ford with 14,034 mile's on it, has2 year's and 4 month's or 20,966 mile's of the bumper to bumper left and they included a free powertrain warrinety tell nov 2012 or 100,000 mile's,has most of the option's,memoryseat's/front and back automatic AC/powerfold 3ed row power fold seat's ect,it's redfire and tan and we just love it and paid just over $28,000.00, plus tax/title and lisc transfer, less the wife's 10 year old explorer,they allowed $7491.00 for it with just over 80,000 mile's on it,enterprise must have worked the bug's out of our expy,it's been 100%.

 

My sister in law has a 2007 Expedition (regular length so less interior volume) and said once it got hot, her A/C stopped working very good unless she's driving at a pretty good speed. She even lets her car run for a while in the garage (door open) and it still doesn't cool off very good. She just lives down the street so our vehicles see the same temperatures. Mind you its been 107-115F lately in Phoenix, but these should still cool down better then they do. I wonder what changed in the A/C or cooling system between the 2006 & 2007. Oh, she has the HD tow package too.

 

having worked on automotive A/C systems in the past, and fed my family doing it for better than 10 years(I work on commercial A/C systems these days) I think I may be able to help with a test, of sorts.

with the vehicle idling, by setting the A/C system in MAX, (RECIRC) mode and running the fan on the 2nd fan speed, this should duplicate how the system will function going down the highway at 60-65mph with the fan on high speed.

keep in mind, we are looking at the temperature of the air in this test, not the volume.

so, for purposes of this test if the outdoor temperature is 85 degrees and you see 45 degree air coming out the vent, the system is functioning properly.

I've tested this theory countless times in the past and it has never failed me.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm now wondering if the A/C compressor is being turned off. I haven't had a chance to duplicate the hot A/C idle problem, but I did have it running with the hood up the other night (not as hot) and I heard the A/C clutch kick off, I looked down and sure enough it wasn't spinning the compressor. It came back on shortly, but if it did that at night with lower ambient air temperatures, perhaps its doing it during the extra hot times. Next time I get hot air at idle, I'm checking to see if the compressor is engaged.

BTW, even at idle there is A LOT of heat pushing through the engine compartement. I had a hard time telling, but I think I could observe the fan clutch (possibly electric) engage and dis-engage. The Fan appeared to spin at a different speeds then then drive belt, and I could feel and extra rush of hot air. I wish I had some way of measuring the air flow and see how much the fan speed varies.