I'm assuming you guys with a/c issues have looked into TSB 08-23-6. The TSB replaces the actuator motor for the blend door with a redesigned part (no. 9L3Z-19E616-E). The old actuator motors had difficulty regulating temperatures. My 2008 would blow heated air out of the vents in the summer. Haven't had any issues since I replaced it.

If you're a/c is not cooling at idle, check to see that you don't have bugs blocking the fins on the condenser. If the condenser is not clean, you will not get maximum efficiency from your a/c. I think you could improve the efficiency of the condenser by pulling more air through the condenser without resorting to additional fans. If you blocked off the gap in the radiator support above the condenser and the same gap on the radiator side, air can't get around the condenser as easily. Air can get around the condenser through these large openings and more likely to do so if your condenser is full of bugs and other road debris.

 

There are some good posts in this thread. There are also some guys, That need to step away from thier truck, and keep the hood closed

 

I'm going to do this mod today after I eat lunch. I've about had it with my a/c. I'm going to take my '96 escort to town, buy this valve, put it in my truck, close it, run the truck at idle, and down the road and get temp readings, then I'm going to open the valve and take the readings then while the outside temp is the same. I'll post results later.

 

I did the mod, I didn't notice much difference. Seemed to cool maybe a little faster, but only get's to 60 degrees at idle, and drops to about 55 going down the road. I took the glovebox down to check the blend door operation. It seems to be working fine. I replaced the fan clutch the other day also. I guess my next move will be to vac it down and recharge to the recommended amount of freon. Other than that, I'm out of options to try.

 

Here's what I found, I had to make a 40 mile trip yesterday, all highway. I started the truck to let it cool down, 97 degrees outside. It cooled down to 70 degrees coming out of the vents with the blower on 4. I drove 12 miles on the highway with the blower on 4 it got down to 50 degrees at the vent. I got into town, it warmed back up to about 53. I turned the blower down to 3, the temp dropped to 38 degrees in no time, at 30 mph. The truck cooled right down, I then switched it to 4 and the temp rose to 42 degrees was all. Seems like the air wasn't getting cooled down fast enough as it was recirculated, Once it got the front of the cab cooled down it would keep it cool on 4. Maybe the evaporator isn't thick enough. I dunno, at least I can get it cooled down now.

 

with the Chicago heat, humidity, construction and the hot shop I work in my a/c is always on going home...
one thing I noticed is that going over 30 mph my truck a/c works great...
but once I stop, slow or crawl for traffic the blower motor seems to slow and the air temp coming out the vents goes up...in my opinion...

I added 35% tints on the driver/pass windows and it helps...legal here is 50% and 20% is just asking for a ticket...

I have heard that an e-fan(s) will help gretaly with this problem
not to mention help the truck warm up faster in the winter and adding a few HP by getting rid of the oem fan & clutch...

since the 2010 F150 has a dual e-fan set up it seems to be a project Ford likes and one that I can handle...for about $300...my superchip programer was more than that and it maybe gave me 15 hp...

just my 2 cents

 

i see that you have an 07. may be that your fan clutch is shot. my 05 has cooled real bad for a couple years. moved to florida and needed the cooling. took it in and the freon was a pound low. cooled good then while i was moving but then in slow traffic or stop it went hot. replaced the fan and cooling even when idling is great. do hear the fan at 800 to 1500 rpm. i also see that my mpg has gone down. the old clutch at ambient temp (85 degrees) would spin with very little effort. before i installed it the new clutch took a lot for it to turn. the old one was obviously shot. i thought about the efans but then did some quick math. to gain 1 mpg it would take a long time to pay off the cost of the efans.

 

OK...

but if my fan clutch is bad would my truck run hot???...just askin

because it does not run hot...

so if I try to spin the fan manually it should spin freely???

still lookin into the e-fans...
15 hp...1 mpg...better cooling...faster winter heating...
worth the $300...IMO...

 

2004 scab (4x4 manual type)
Like many others my ac was crap when I bought the truck used this summer. I had my mechanic check it and the freon was up to par so I decided to take it to an ac only place because I was desperate.
They re-did the whole system for $598 total and he handed me what he called an orifice that inserts somewhere in the front ac cooling core.... it was mucked up with dried plastic like black powder substance. He said that's what happens when it gets all dry internally. It was about the size of a pencil, about 3 inches in length. I was going to post a pic of it, but I think my wife threw it away when she cleaned house. If I find it I will post a pic.

Anyway my ac is very cold now and money well spent.

 

Sounds like you're describing an orifice tube.

 

This is a long thread and probably im off topic from OP. To answer your question i bought my 2006 lariat new and since day one on hot startups the ac would blow hot, kinda cool, then hot and kinda cool. when truck would start to move ice cold. I changed low and high pressure switches and went as far as changing the electronic control panel. Many times it went to dealer and all was to spec. After 4yrs of putting up with this, it turned out to be the FREAKING FAN CLUTCH. To answer your question, i pulled trailers and did alot of traviling in hot tx sun, but my truck would never overheat.

 

Probably enough cooling capacity that they won't overheat. Just not getting enough airflow over the condenser may cause cooling trouble. I replaced my clutch, it was shot and spun freely when the motor was hot. Didn't help my a/c situation much though. I'm thinking of putting in a new orifice tube and dryer and vaccing it down and start over.

 

You might want to look into the Smart VOV. A little over 10 years ago, I had a 92 Bronco that I converted from R-12 to R-134a. I heard all sorts of complaints that R-134a wouldn't do as good a job as a refrigerant. I ordered one of the Smart VOVs since I was changing out a few a/c components with the switch over and everything I read said it lowered temperatures over conventional orifice tubes. The air was plenty cold when I was done and Bronco's didn't have dual a/c units.

 

Your fan clutch is a fluid viscous clutch. As the temp of the engine bay rises the fluid heats up and the clutch locks up causing the fan to spin at the same speed as the engine. It does spin before it heats up (don't try to grab it though). Yes it should free spin when the engine is off, but it will always spin when the engine is running.

Your A/C is cooler while moving because there is more airflow going past the condenser up front than a fan can move while staying still.

If you can can physically here and feel the A/C fan (int he cab now) move faster as you rev the engine then you have an electrical problem. Can you describe it a little more?

 

I haven't been around for a while so sorry if this has been said before. The only thing I could really tell that helped in the summer was just leaving the fan speed at 3 once the cab got bearable. I don't know about the rest of you guys' trucks but on mine, after about a minute there is a pretty big drop in the AC temp on fan speed 3 compared to 4. On speed 3 I've gotten it down to about 45 idling compared to 52 on speed 4. Hope that helps a few of you, it took me a while to finally realize it.