I don't think we are expecting to much from our trucks as mentioned earlier. I expect a 39K truck to have darn cold a/c. I just stepped out of a Chevy Silverado 07, and got into this truck. I drove the Chevy 117K in 3 years, and I very rarely, if ever, used max a/c. So I am comparing apples to apples here. The same body style pickup. 4 door. The same exact roads and area, and literally 1 day apart, and I can tell a difference.

I am glad however, that some of you are having good success with yours because it gives me hope.
Having said that, I took my truck over to a friends house that is a mechanic and he put his a/c gauges, and low and behold, it was low of freon. 700 miles. He put some in, and I bought a thermoter to put in the air vent.
Drove 400+ miles yesterday, and the outside temp got to 86F and the output at the vent was 45F. That is pretty good. I did NOT use max a/c, because I wanted to see what it would do on the normal setting. When the outside temp dropped to 78, the vent temp went to 40F
What I found when I let it sit and idle, was that it jumped to over 50F out of the vent, which would indicate that the fans are not spinning fast enough, and or moving enough air to cool the condensor at idle. They need to speed them up.

 

Barritia nailed it

I don't care what vehicle you buy, if it's a new one, the AC will be pretty lame, because of the refrigerant that they have to use now.

Totally reminds me of the situation with the old asbestos brake pads. They worked great ! Stayed cool. Lasted a long time. Okay, so they caused cancer....

But the new ones get hot way easier. Squeak and squeal. Either wear out themselves, or wear out your rotors faster. But don't cause cancer.

Life's full of trade offs. Our modern, lame AC is just another.

Fish

 

The refrigerant they use now is exactly the same as they used to. It's not some "new formula" everyone keeps thinking.

 

I have a 2003 SCREW when I select max a/c the air comes from the defrost but if I select auto it comes from the panels. I was told to try a test to make sure everything works and to look for an 888 code. Got the code and nothings changed. I was told by a Ford dealership that the climate control panel was bad the air works great just not in max a/c any help would really be appreciated.

 

No, none of the new vehicles seem to cool in extreme heat like we have here in Texas like to older cars before they changed from Freon. However, there is something not right with the F-150s. My 2010 Mustang GT cools almost immediately and it is black. My 2010 Chrysler 300C cools less quickly than the Mustang, but fairly fast. It is also black. My 5 year old Mustang (again black.....see the trend) gets cool pretty fast and my 2010 F-150 (dark blue w/camel interior) takes FOREVER to get cool. I don't get it.

 

This is a complaint I've had with my '04 since I bought it. I don't want to start a fight, but I'm telling you, if I get in our new HHR or my in-law's '06 Silverado or my wife's 2005 Grand Prix, they all start blowing very cold air almost immediately. I'm serious. If I fire up my truck when it's 90 degrees outside and just sit there, it won't get cold...it blows a little cool, but it's nowhere near acceptable. The other GM cars we have blow cold right away. If I start driving my truck, then it starts blowing colder. Very aggravating. I've had the dealer check it too and they say it's in spec/just fine.

 

The so-called "new" refrigerant R134A was implemented across the board in 1995. The previous R12 has not been installed by vehicle OEM's since before then.

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/609/wantknow.html

From a mechanical engineering HVAC perspective there is no reason that a vehicle with V8 engines like ours cannot cool a space as small as an F150 cab. It is larger than a sedan for sure but in terms of cubic feet of air it is still a tiny amount.

-Frozen

 

My 2004 was similar to what your saying, after installing the Flex-a-Lite 270 kit the AC works great.

 

wrong wrong and ummmmm........ wrong

the "old formula" is r12 and the "new formula" is r134. r12 is banned by the epa in the 90's due to ozone depletion. please have your facts straight before you say there is no new formula. too bad though as with the old r12 systems you could hang meat from your rearview mirror to keep it cold because the dam thing with just about make ice on the insides of your windows lol.. man those were some better days in the summertime. last time i sold some r12 in the shop the rate was like $55 a pound. i dont think you can find this stuff anymore if you tried. probably couldnt get that price for it anymore either as most if not all the old r12 vehicles have made it to the crusher now. retrofits to 134 have become pretty good to keep you from having to shop around for someone who might have some old 12 kicking around in their basement.

 

If 15 years old is NEW then you are on point.

-Frozen

 

So leave out the word new....

The stuff they used to use, R12, would freeze your ***** off, in a few minutes, on a hot day, in black vehicle.

The stuff they now use, R134, will barely make your vehicle cool enough to be comfortable, on a hot day.

I own two newer vehicles, an 07, and an 08, and the AC sucks in both of them. I have lots of buddies with newer vehicles too.... some of them really nice, expensive ones, such as an Infinity G37, and those AC are just the same. Sure, when new, most of the new AC systems will eventually get cool enough to be comfortable.
But who wants "borderline acceptable" ? How about AC that gets way colder than you probably need, and fast, then YOU can decide.

Anyway,
Fish

 

It is my understanding that R12 and R134a are similar refrigerants in terms of performance characteristics. The oils are different however.

The bad rap R134a got is because people were doing DIY conversations in the late 1990s of their R12 systems. The systems were designed for R12 and didn't function properly with R134a installed.

 

frozen i was referring to mavericks term of there being no "new" refridgerant.... always been using the same stuff. ive been fixing and driving cars long enough to remember when it was changed over..... dam now i'm dating myself here lol. i know that 134 is not something that is new and that its been out for a while.

only in the fact that they will cool off your car. different chemical compositions, different operating pressures, different molecular structures, different molecular sizes. oh and it is inherent and it will never change unless copper tubing is used (which we know will not happen due to vibrations and shifting in an automative engine requireing rubber hoses) that 134 WILL leak out of your system at the average rate of approx 1/2 lb per year. this is because the molecular size of the 134 is smaller than that of the rubber hoses and will physically pass through the hoses. this is why a yearly check up of your system is a good idea and to top it off a lil bit. this did not exist with the 12 systems as the size of the 12 was larger than the rubber.

 

I think the common thread here is that our F-150s do not cool as well as we think they should. Ford should step up and listen. This 2010 F-150 has the worst A/C I've had in a vehicle since I had no AC in my 77 1/2 Trans Am!

 

Fair enough....there is no question that R12 was fantastic in terms of cooling. My issue is that when you have such a small space to cool, it should be easy with 134a. I've had several vehicles including my 07 FX4 that did a far better job than my 2010. I was playing with it today and it really seems to me that it is moving less air than my 07 did.

-Frozen