My dad just brought an 04 Heritage model and he said the AC is not anywhere near as cold as my 2002 F150.

 

I have to agree. I have had my 04 Scab for a month now. The A/C is nowhere near what past vehicles were. When running with Max A/C today I was "almost comfortable" at best. Later in the day when it was hotter, I jumped into my buddy's Dodge, and I had to turn his A/C down before me teeth started chattering. Not sure what can be done, I still love the truck. Of course August is around the corner and it is our hottest month here in Idaho.

 

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been driving around with a high quality thermometer in the vent, trying to get a feeling how much of a temp drop I’m getting with the AC.
My truck sat outside overnight, temp in the high 50’s. Started it up around 7:30 AM, outside temp around 60. AC not turned on, just outside air. After about ten minutes I looked at the thermometer, it reads 70 degrees, ten degrees over outside. Do you think this is normal? Could the air be heated that much as it flows into ducting. I wonder if the air handler between the heater core and the AC evaporator core leaks?

 

1hfmvv2--in reponse to your post. when you are using your blower to bring in outside air only--make sure the temp control is counterclockwise to the max lower left position in the blue scale. I was checking mine and had the temp dial at 12 o'clock high to where I thought the control would be in a neutral pos. but it was warm until I turned it counterclockwise to the max and then it was cooler. My truck has the manual A/C controls.

 

it was all the way to cold

 

Have your dealership check it if you’re A/C isn’t freezing you out. A PCM re-flash is probably all that is needed; a simple fix. Whether you have the Manual A/C system or the (EATC) system the PCM regulates it.

 

Remember that the A/C can only get so cold..."acceptable" to Uncle Henry is something like 42-57 degrees F at the vent on recirc while running down the highway with the fan on high. Since I've drain, swept, and recharged mine with the proper refrigerant charge, I consistently see 45 degrees at the vent on max running down the highway. Which is plenty cold to me, especially for muggy, humid southwest Georgia.

Lots of people want their A/C throwing ice cubes at them, which is understandable. But generally speaking, anything lower than 40 degrees at the vent runs the risk of freezing the evaporator up. To see what your A/C is really capable of, set it on max, fan speed on low, and drive down the highway or put a big fan in front of the condenser to get some air flowing across it. I haven't checked to see whether any PCM updates will help regarding A/C performance; I'm assuming since my '04 is a relatively late build (Apr. 04) I'm guessing it has the latest calibration available at the moment.

Before I charged mine, I noticed my cycling pressures were kinda high. 50 psi on the low side, 250ish (I think) on the high side. Which made me believe that there might have been moisture in the system. Mine was also about 8 ounces low on refrigerant. Maybe it wasn't charged properly at the factory, maybe I have a small leak, I'm unsure. But mine was cooling decently before I fiddled with it, albeit intermittently. Run around town and on the highway with a thermometer in the vent, see what you're really getting before anything else.

 

Mine usually takes about 5 minutes to start blowing really cold, but once it does, it works great. I consistently have to turn it down because I get too cold. I'm down here in Florida and the past few weeks have averaged 90-95 with 85% or more humidity.

 

Quintin is the man to listen to on A/C, (he sounds like he's an ace on A/C)-must be a tech. But anyhow, he puts out real good info on this subject. thanks

 

Ace? Me? Replace the "c" and "e" with two of those crooked letters in Mississippi and you're getting warmer.

A/C isn't my speciality, but I've been dabbling with it a bit. Georgia summers don't lend well to technicians without knowledge in air conditioning, so I've had to kinda figure it out as I go.

 

My truck is in the shop for the vib. thing...

I have a rental focus for the time being and am getting frozen in that car and have to turn it down or off...

My new F-150 was cool at best... They measured the temp at 50 and said it was around 10+ deg. out of spec. The system was charged, but they are doing something else for it... PCM update???

IF your air doesn't feel very cold, take it in, it should for the money... The dealer will listen and fix it...

I talked to the dealer today and they said that they have to drain and sweep the a/c system. As far as the truck vibration, the dealer had the tires RFB'ed today and said it prob. won't cure the problem.

Ford did I think figure out the problems... Mine was built 04/27/04 and it has the latest PCM from factory, and it has the dampener installed from the factory... The driveshaft and axle assemble are going to come pre-assembled and they are prob. going to do that. They just remove the brakes and thats it!