Gents I'm hoping to tap into someone knowledgable in Air conditioning. I have a 1996 F250 powerstroke which only blows luke cool air. There is a full charge of freon in the system and the system does not leak. Back in the winter I replaced the condenser as it had a major crack. I took this over the weekend to a garage and had the technician check for leaks and fully charge the system. There has got to be something wrong with a component as this just will not blow cold air. Here in Memphis in July/ August if your air is sub par its miserable. If the system has no leaks and freon is in the system what component could be causing the lack of cold air? Thanks for your input in advance. Maxx

 

Does the compressor clutch lock up when the AC is on?

 

Yes it engages just fine and the lines get cold, but it just doesn't get cold in the vents only cool. Maxx

 

Make sure that the condenser as well as the radiator are clear of dirt, bugs and leaves. Use compressed air to blow everything as clean as you can. I usually remove the grill for this. Since the condenser is new it could the rad is plugged up with dirt and not allowing the air flow needed for the A/C

 

Pinch off both heater hoses under the hood, if you get cooler air out of the vents you may need a blend door actuator in the HVAC box.

 

remove glove box and heater box cover and remove ink pen (or whatever you throw on your dash) from the bottom of the box. if there is anything in there it mixes the hot air and cold air, by not letting the diverter door close tightly.

 

what kind of pressures do you have on your high and low side?? Check for propper air flow over the condenser. Are you checking your duct temp on MAX or NORM ?

 

I think helifixer is right !! the other thing you can check is the white vacuum hose by the evap case it on the right side. They get crack up.

 

another common thing is plastic getting sucked up off the floor and blocking the evaporator
Bart

 

Gents thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will try opening the box up first.. Maxx

 

Gents one more question about this. Not being a heat and air guy does hot coolant circulate all the the time thru the heater core even if the temperature selector is set to cool? And also what is the best way to get to and clean the evaporator? From inspection it appears that the evap box is located in the engine compartment. Do I get to it from that area or is there some way to get to it from inside the truck? I kinda feel the evap may be a little cloggged as the blower is alfully weak even set to high (Not much air flow thru the vents) Thanks for all the great advice. Maxx

 

hot water always runs through the heater core unless you install a vacume operated by pass valve in the heater hoses. if the air flow feels weak pull the fan and check for paper or plastic obstructions.

 

I wanted to post the resolution to the a/c problem I was having with my 96 F250. After reviewing the suggestions I was given on this thread I decided to pull off the blower motor and see if anything looked out out of the ordinary as a first step. Once the blower was off I reach my hand up into the evap compartment and discovered why I had little airflow and not very cold air. There was a 1/8" to 1/4" layer of packed in muddy substance on the face of the evaporator blocking 99% . I dont know how any air was being allowed thru. I then took my handy garden hose with sprayer and reached up into the blower housing and commenced on blowing it out. I was getting muddy water draining for 10 minutes. When I finished I put everything back together and its like a different animal now. Airflow is great and it is very cold. Thats for all the suggestions guys. I hope this helps the next guy having this issue. Maxx

 

Great!!! glad it was an easy fix. That muddy substance was probably just years of dust and water stacking up on the outside of the evap.

I probably ought to clean mine out it's working fine but probably couldn't hurt. Lemme get this right .. you just hosed off the evap from the blower hole right? Did you get any leakage of water into the inside of the cab?

 

Great to hear! thanks for posting back the resolution! many of us may need to look at that!