Hey all,
My A/C is not cooling worth a darn in traffic. It "feels" fine except when it gets over 90* outside. I put 2 cans of R134A in it tonight.

After the 2 cans, the gauges read 45 low side and 225 high side.

Do I need more freon?? Or is there a problem with my system??

If it matters, the air coming out of the vents is 50*, w/ outside temp of 84*.

Thanks in advance, unfortunately I can't call my retired mechanis/Dad anymore to ask.

 

at one time I had this problem my son took to school auto shop my problem was my condenser and radiator were cloged with dirt ,mud, birds, after this all was fine

 

too much refrigerant will cause it not to cool, let some out to about 25 on the low side. follow directions on the can.. if the compressor clutch is staying on rather than cycling on and off rapidly then you have enough refrigerant. if it rapidly goes on and off then you are low or high if all the pressure senders are working correctly...
mine does not cool that well either. here is what i noticed but haven't corrected the issue yet ( only noticed it now as this is my first summer trip to CA with my Ex) doesn't get hot enough very often in Colorado to be an issue

the trans cooler is between the condenser and radiator so there is too much open space between the two so it does not pull enough air with the fan while stopped or going slow.. get some foam strips or pipe insulating foam tube and fit it sung on each side and top of condenser edges between the radiator and condenser. this will force more air to be pulled thru the condenser by the fan..
other option is add an electric fan in front of condenser and set it to remain on while ac is on
or do both even better
or move condenser back flush against radiator and put factory aux trans cooler in front of condenser

 

Pressures sound high and as the outside temp raises the pressure will increase so I think too much refrigerant has been added as soutthpaw states too much refrigerant will cause not to cool properly. Maybe one can would have been enough.

 

I agree, maybe too much refridgerant...

If you remove the gas and open the system for ANY reason, install orifice tube part# 38639 instead of the stock one. This $2 mod will likely drop your air temp 15-20* from stock at the vents in the hottest weather. One problem, running your AC on MAX in the low-fan setting may cause evaporator to freeze up! (just use higher fan settings or switch to reg. AC when ya get COLD)

Also, the Ex's all have valves on the coolant return for heater cores. This valve closes in MAX AC setting IIRC and limits the hot coolant sitting in the cabin. I say limits because it is in the return line and I've read it actually has a hole in it, to prevent 'stagnant' coolant from being trapped in heater cores... I have added a ball valve to the coolant supply on my F350 and close it all the way in summer - yes, it helps! Check the temp of heater core hoses to see how badly you are contaminating your cold air with HOT heater core and make sure the valve is at least closing w/MAX AC. Since that valve is in the return coolant, it may be a further benefit to add a valve or valves to the coolant supply (one on each side of the block in Ex)

Let us know what you end up with! (then come by and fix the AC in our Ex - since I haven't had time yet...)

 

One more thing, make sure you have adequate air movement over condensor when checking pressures! Sitting still in the heat can cause higher pressures, especially if engine is already HOT. When I lived in FL, we often misted some water over condensor while working on AC systems in hot weather, sitting on asphalt in front of the shop - read: no air movement and well over 100* air where we were working sometimes. A big box fan may be enough in a pinch!

 

I used a 1/2" copper sweat valve and used 1/2" hard copper for 'barbs'. If you are really paranoid, cut a couple 'rings' off of a 1/2" coupling and solder them on ends of pipe, to provide a lip helping to hold hose on. (my experience is the rubber quickly welds itself to tubing and it is hard to take off when you WANT to - not likely to fail at the 14-16psi MAX your cooling system see's). Of course for a few more $$ ya could just get a threaded valve and real barbs I guess...

Here's a pic of valve on the F350:

 

I just had my rig into a Ford dealer in Klamath Falls,Ore. for a service engine light and the tech asked me if I thot my A/C was putting out enuff cool air and I told him no. It seemed to be working,but didn't get as cold as it used to.He told me that while checking a couple of things under the hood,he noticed that one of the vacumn (?) hoses was disconnected,so he plugged it back in and man, does it ever get cold now,even driving in 105 heat a couple of weeks ago..
All of this and only a $50 bill. Check service light,turn it off,two road tests (one w/o me and 1 with me),checking to make sure that an IRP (?) sensor was working right (noticed it had tape on the wire),plugging in the hose and briefing me on what was going on with the engine..All in 45 minutes AND they let me plug the trailer into a 30amp outlet so the DW could have the A/C.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I have been out enjoying the X in the mountains.

I will have time this weekend to check some of the ideas posted and see what happens. that is in between pulling another motor for my son's car.

We are heading to Tucson, AZ in 2 weeks and having the A/C working to the max will be very important ( to the wife)

Thanks again

 

SkySki,

Next time I am in Dalton checking on my house, I will fix your A/C for ya. That is saying I get mine fixed.

 

LOL, thanks but I don't think the wife is gonna take it much longer! I should get to go home next week and it will be priority one... I was ready to do it last time I was home, but she refused to drive my truck to school, because she has trouble finding a place to park it! Luckily, we are in the mountains and she leaves early AM and returns late afternoon, so it has not been toooooo miserable! Its her midday trips while she's out of the mountains that suck. Like tomorow, the kids have dentist appt's in Woodstock - easily 10-15* hotter there than our house which is over 2000ft above sea level and mntns around us go to almost 5000ft...

We are an hour or so from Dalton, look me up next time you're in the area! (especially if ya need a hand, tools or a tow/trailered in - we gotcha covered. )

 

I think you live in my area where I was running the USMC recruiting office out of Dalton. We used to cover from Rome to Blairsfield to Dade county. 14 counties total.