Guys need some input. I have noticed my air conditioner seems to not be cooling very well. I am original owner and the truck is 7 mo. old with 5200 miles on it. My 03 tahoe will frost the ***** on a polar bear. Any advise is more than appreciated. Truck is way under warranty.

Mike

 

Check out the 04-06 forum. This is an extremely common problem. There are 3 chain of thoughts on the cause of the problem:

1. Many new f150's have been shown to be low on freon from the factory. For this, have the dealership test your system. They most likely will only do a pressure test, but that is not as accurate as doing a complete purge & re-charge (but they probably won't do that).

2. The fact of the matter is that the (relatively) new R134-A systems are not as efficient as the previous A/C's. This true, but a good r134-a system will still get pretty cold.

3. The A/C system in the new f150's is poorly designed. I feel there is some truth to this. In fact, there is a TSB out on new f150's for poor A/C performance. They reprogram the PCM. I've had it done, and yes it does help a little.

Since it's still under warranty, you should definately take it into the dealership to have it checked out. If it's a good dealer, they should be able to help you out. But then again, don't expect it to ever be ice-cold... My wife has a Honda Pilot, and that thing gets really really cold...

 

Thought I would add a couple of things from a technician's point of view.

You are exactly right about the pressure test not being accurate. It takes very little refrigerant for the pressure to appear normal.

There could be a leak from when the system was built. My truck had a leaky pressure switch from the factory. The first time I tried the A/C - nothing.

A properly designed R-134a system can work efficiently. They may not get down to 32 degrees (and freeze) like some of the R-12 systems from the 70s but every one I have serviced so far this year I have gotten to 42-44 degrees at idle. The only air moving across the condenser was whatever the fans could pull. On the highway with some airflow those systems are going to be cold.

Finally to clear something up - Freon was a trade name for R-12 refrigerant. Even though the name still gets used frequently it should not be used to describe R-134a refrigerant.

 

Mine is doing the same damn thing. 10 months old with 12k miles. A/C sucks. "There is nothing wrong with it" says the dealer. Freaking jerkwads, not sure what to do. It blows "cool" but not cold like my brothers 5 year old GMC Sierra. Pisses me off that I pay 30k for a truck and the damn A/C doesnt cool properly.

 

I'm taking my 05 into the dealer's shop tomorrow to have the AC checked. It doesn't blow cold - sometimes hot as if the heater is on. It will eventually cool off but it takes about 15 minutes, although it will never cool off at idle speed - must be at cruising speed. I was in San Antonio last week (where it is extremely hot and humid) and drove a rented Taurus all week. It's funny, the AC on the Taurus would blow cold almost immediately at idle speed. If Ford can design a good AC for one vehicle, why not all? I may have to request that the dealer install a Taurus AC in my $40k F150.

 

Unfortunately, Ford has not ever had an a/c system in their trucks that will compete with GM trucks and Full Size SUVs, especially anything on the C/K platform built since 1995.

My '05 F150's a/c system has been drawn and refilled twice to spec by the most honest mechanic I know (myself) and it plain and simple won't work as well as I wish it would, especially compared to my '00 Suburban.

 

My A/c freeze me out to the point that i have to turn it down or shut it off. Most of the time it will produce water on the glass if the vents are pointed in that direction.

 

The 04 and 05s have the wrong fan clutch on them.

Here is the info.

Failure of the A/C compressor may be due to high side system pressures resulting from insufficient air flow across the condenser at idle and low speeds. A revised cooling fan clutch is available to improve air flow and prevent compressor failure. P/N 4C3Z-8A616-SA.
TSB #05-19-3.

I know the TSB says:
04-06 Econoline Poor A/C Cooling/Compressor Failure:

But it applies to very poor cooling on the F series too.

This TSB was from:
The Dieselmann’s Page
http://www.intellidog.com/dieselmann/home.html

 

Consider yourself lucky that you got a good unit - I think that is more the exception than the rule. However, there is somewhat of a difference in the climate in Albany, NY and Birmingham, AL. Mine does OK early in the morning when it is 75 degrees, but at 3:00 when temps reach 100 in the shade, it is miserable.

 

I also keep mine on recirculate. I have found that like today when it was hot the best way to get it cool quick was to open all the windows till it starts to blow cool the close it up and it seems to get cold faster. I know when I lived in Jacksonville N.C that is how we cooled our cars after sitting in the sun all day long. But I know what you mean by the intense heat. But from the sound of it your problably right about being lucky with the unit my last truck shipped with no 134a so it didnt nothing but hot air till i brought it in and they said it had no refirgerant in the system.

 

Dealer calls me today and says that there was a bad gasket in the compressor and the unit basically had no refrigerant in it. Part ordered and I will pick it up tomorrow. I guess I'll find out then if that corrects the problem. You're right about the recirculate - it does seem to help on the front end.