I got down to 42.7* A/C on max fan on 3 in a one mile stretch of 25mph road. As soon as I hit the freeway it spiked to 50* then slowly creeped back down to 45*. The Screw has a lot of space to cool, maybe thats why I'm not seeing the results I thought I would.

 

Bookmarked due to practicality and for a challenge (installation of either the vac valve or the electronic). It also helps that I am an Air Conditioning mechanic and the AC has always been horrible in my truck.

 

Well, I think I'll do this "mod" tomorrow. I went to Lowes today, and got this valve.





Brought it home tonight and gave it 4 coats of Rustoleum high-temp flat black paint. Of course I used making tape to cover the inlet, outlet, and valve. Although I don't go around showing everyone my engine compartment, I don't really want to see an obviously out-of-place valve sticking up.

Tomorrow I'll go buy 1' of heater hose, so that I don't have to splice into my factory hose.

I'll report back once it's done.

 

It finally got hot enough today for me to really test the A/C in my truck.

Had the Panel on 60F and it just wasn't cold enough. Hate to bandwagon, but this mod is just screaming at me. I'm worried about corrosion in my Heater Core though. Since I live in Hawaii, the Heater won't be used until Jan 2011 at the earliest. Lowest temp I've seen in 8 months has been 65F so far

So, I'm going to get a 3-way tee (x2) and a orifice/throttle vlv + some heater hose. The pic below demonstrates what I'm going to build. This way I can keep some flow through the heater core, but still minimize it's effect on A/C performance.

I'll probably end up using a throttle valve vs. orifice and just crack it open slightly until I feel a slight change in temp on the outlet of the heater core. That should provide enough flow??? while effectively bypassing the Heater Core


F-150online rocks

 

Anyone? Anybody? Bueller?

 

the heater core itself won't necessarily corrode away. but the chemicals in the coolant and any little impurites from the engine and radiator can/will collect in low flow spots (aka core with flow cutoff).

these impurities then "breed" (for lack of better term). also, over enough time, enough will deposit to clog passages.

we're not talking about immediate failure...but over the course of 4, 5 years I can see this causing premature failure

 

All you have to do is open the valve once every 1-2 weeks and let the coolant flow thru for a few minutes! Come on guys,this is not rocket science!

 

No, but it's science!

 

another trick to help cool your a/c is get some e-fans.

I'm sure its been said, I read a couple pages, but couldn't get through 10 !! Just another idea.

 

A/C is probably the biggest complaint I have in my truck. It's the only vehicle I've ever owned that needs to run on the lowest temp and the highest fan mode (along with recirculate) constantly. I don't care how long of a trip it is, the truck just never gets cold enough for my liking.

I think I may try this mod.

 

What is it with the newer trucks and AC? On my 02, I rarely need to go past the 2nd speed, but I did test drive an 07 Screw w/ leather, AC on full blast for 30 minutes, never got that cold and my back was sweating . Honestly, it is one of the things keeping me from upgrading...

 

Ok i am new to this forum and got my 08 black on black leather screw in feb. The a/c has sucked in these trucks since the body style change in 04. There are some issuse with faulty fan clutches in the early years. But haven't seen any with the new electric fan clutches.... yet. Knowing that the a/c sucks in these truck i thought of doing this mod a few months ago before i found it on here, great minds think alike. There should be no issuse with the valve IF you use your head. Many of the trucks have used this over the years but they where vacuum controlled and opened when not in max a/c mode. So just use your head and open the valve from time to time during the summer months. Oh and too answer someones comment on the heater cores being still copper, they have been aluminum since atleast 97 in the trucks. This is a mod i plan to do, hopefully electronic to close when in max a/c. Yes since 04 all doors are electric.

 

Guys I have been fighting with Ford for 3 months now and they just keep agreeing with the dealer who says it is all in specs but yet my vent temps do not get below 52 degrees when it is over 90 degrees. They get down to 42 when it is 70 degrees outside. It is as if something changes with the AC when it gets hot outside. The last time I took the truck in they said they clamped off the hose going to the heater core and the vent temp did not go down. So they said that meant the blend door was working. My question is if you clamp off this hose that everyone is talking about putting the valve in and the vent temp does not go down, it would seem to me that this mod would not help me. Is this correct thinking?

 

Does anyone have experince with this refrigerant as a replacement for r134a? It sounds like the es 12a gets a lot colder.

 

If they only checked the a/c just after clamping the hoses off then there was hot water in the heater core and it will still read the same.Now,if they checked it about an hour afterwards they might have got a lower temperature reading.I say "might" because the hoses could have still hot water flowing thru them if they were not 100% clamped shut.
Install the ball valve;that is the only way to shut the circulation of water to the core!