A/C performance during this heat wave

[Brisoup1]

For the next few days, the ambient daytime temp. is going to be around 100 F. I've tried somethings that will hopefully improve the time it takes the cabin to cool.
1.) I bought a heavy duty sunshade for my windshield from Auto Zone. (Haven't used one of those since the late 1990's).
2.) Prior to shutting down the engine, I put the A/C on LO with it in the re-circ mode. I have the 8.4" Uconnect screen in auto comfort mode whenever the engine is started. For some reason, only the cooled seats will come on but not the HVAC system, unless the HVAC system was left on when I last shut off the engine.
3.) I'm going to start the engine via Uconnect and let it run for approximately 10 minutes prior to getting in the Truck.
I hope these steps will help with the A/C cooling issue I'm having.

 

[Jtr]

I'll be experiencing the same climate as you bro and those are great tips. I'll have my truck baking in the sun today and I'll use those tips. I have a cheapo sunshade from walmart but it should help some.

For the next few days, the ambient daytime temp. is going to be around 100 F. I've tried somethings that will hopefully improve the time it takes the cabin to cool.
1.) I bought a heavy duty sunshade for my windshield from Auto Zone. (Haven't used one of those since the late 1990's).
2.) Prior to shutting down the engine, I put the A/C on LO with it in the re-circ mode. I have the 8.4" Uconnect screen in auto comfort mode whenever the engine is started. For some reason, only the cooled seats will come on but not the HVAC system, unless the HVAC system was left on when I last shut off the engine.
3.) I'm going to start the engine via Uconnect and let it run for approximately 10 minutes prior to getting in the Truck.
I hope these steps will help with the A/C cooling issue I'm having.

 

[Gsmith223]

search on here for the work around, clamping heater core hose helps

 

[ColoradoCub]

Now that my valve is in place there are no worries about the AC performance. Seen several 95-99 deg days, it blows plenty cold!

 

[Brisoup1]

Now that my valve is in place there are no worries about the AC performance. Seen several 95-99 deg days, it blows plenty cold!

I might do that as a last resort. As of right now, the A/C performs OK at nite time, on cloudy day's & after I've been driving at highway speeds for about 15 mins or so. The Temps coming out of all the HVAC vents have been consistency the same. The issue I'm having now is when the Truck has sat in the sun for several hours with the windows up and the temps are 85+ degrees, the air coming out of the vents is not as cool as I would like. I'm hoping the Sun Shade will keep the Dash board & the HVAC componites inside of it cool enough to help the A/C cool faster.

 

[cjmst23]

Does clamping the a/c hoses void warranty?

 

[ColoradoCub]

You aren’t clamping the AC lines, you are blocking the hot coolant from flowing through the heater core by clamping or blocking flow with a valve.

Air conditioning Hack

Today I was able to get 36-38 degrees blowing out of both the drivers side and the passenger side ac vents. Previously I was getting 44 out of the passenger side and 50-52 out of the driver side. I installed a water shut off valve in the heater hose going from water pump to the heater core. It's...

5thgenrams.com

 

[Brisoup1]

Does clamping the a/c hoses void warranty?

Quite possibly. Some dealers will use this as a excuse to deny warranty claims.

 

[steveved]

I have been experiencing temps in excess of 94 degrees F here in NC for the past month and a half, my AC seems to work just fine.

Maybe I got lucky. And I put min in Auto mode.

 

[Jwsmith]

Mine is also plenty cool. I attribute it to high relative humidity with temperatures in the low to mid 80s. Mine is set auto 72° and actually blows a little cool for my taste. I could imagine high temperatures with low humidity would present different issues, just like we use AC here in Michigan to lower moisture and "swamp coolers" to add moisture was more effective when I was in New Mexico and Southwest Oklahoma years ago. More comfortable than my suburban LTZ and a better ride and mileage.

 

[steveved]

I know that yesterday, when left my office, my Camaro was telling me it was 104 outside. My wife didn't complain about the AC when she got home (she drives the Ram to work everyday while I drive my ZL1 Camaro).

And trust me, if the AC was not cool enough, I would have gotten an EARfull from the missus and would have been expected to take it back to the dealership.

And, I have (well, she has) 13,000 miles on this truck now.

 

[TruckDriver]

In northern california it's pretty much 95+\- for the last few weeks; easily in the 100's a few times a week and I park with no shade, so here's what I've done:

- agreed on the sunshade, tint also helps a ton (ceramic)
- lower the front or rear two windows plus the rear slider for the first 20s of startup/driving (evacuating the hot air)
- remote start if I can so the compressor is already running by the time i get there.

You made a good point about ambient humidity; I've definitely seen that humidity affects how cold the air feels or how quickly it seems to turn the temp of the cabin

 

[cotonymopar]

in the high 90s here in Colorado, black truck, no sun shade, and within a few mins, we are cooled off... wonder if it has to do with the amount of humidity? we have low humidity compared to a lot of places...

 

[Biga]

Best thing is to park in the shade if possible, if not use a sun screen in the windshield.

 

[Differia]

I have been experiencing temps in excess of 94 degrees F here in NC for the past month and a half, my AC seems to work just fine.

Maybe I got lucky. And I put min in Auto mode.

So what temperature are you getting out of the vents?
Are you seeing a huge difference in temperature between the driver side and passenger side?
I can tell you with my truck I didn't notice how poorly the AC was till we hit temps over 100 degrees.
I do not think anybody got lucky with this AC system. Every thread I have read were members have provided temp readings shows the same issue we all seem to be having.

 

[Brisoup1]

For all it's worth, my work truck is a beater 2012 Silveraldo base cab with 170K on the odometer and it'll blast me out of there even though the truck mostly idle's and never go's over 30 mph, even on a day like today. Just about everything else has took a crap on it but the HVAC system just keeps working like new. GM always made decent HVAC systems. It's one of the only things they actually do well.

 

[ldoh]

in the high 90s here in Colorado, black truck, no sun shade, and within a few mins, we are cooled off... wonder if it has to do with the amount of humidity? we have low humidity compared to a lot of places...

TFL Truck, located in Colorado, did a recent youtube a/c comparison between the new Ram 1500 and a new F150 with dismal Ram results. The Ram's a/c vent output was significantly and consistently higher than the F150.

 

[Hackmunch]

auto set at 68 degree and heater hose clamp = ice cubes

 

[ColoradoCub]

I think that most if not all of the new trucks are afflicted with the same faulty AC system but I do think that whether it’s working well or not is subjective to different peoples comfort level. I see guys say they set the AC to 73 and there’s no way 73 is good enough for me at 90+ deg temps. In my Ram 2500 that I traded in my AC was always set between low and 69 on hot days. But the AC blew in the low 40’s on its coldest setting. In this truck before I did the valve at 95 deg the coldest it would put out was 59 on the divers side. Even at 70 deg the coldest it would blow hovered between 52-54. That’s just unacceptable. My wife’s Lexus and my sons Tacoma both put out low 40’s driving around as did my trade in Ram. They have a faulty blend door design is my suspicion and I don’t see them admitting it or fixing all of them anytime soon. So for now the valve blocking heater core flow works like a charm!

 

[shaveman]

I'm in the camp of not noticing any issues with my AC system, but I get that it can be subjective. Still, I'm usually pretty sensitive to underperforming AC systems, as I can't stand the system that's in my wife's BMW X5. The one in her car is terribly ineffective here in Houston.

By the way, I also have ventilated (cooled) seats in my RAM. Do ventilated seats run off the same AC system? Just curious if anyone experiencing issues with their AC also has ventilated seats, and if so, does the issue cause problems with both? It may be a stupid question, but could be good to know if there is any correlation between people having (or at least noticing) insufficient cooling from their AC and whether or not their trucks are equipped with ventilated seats.