A/C Performance

[ColoradoCub]

Turkeyhunter22 isn't a lucky one. He's one of the vast majority of 2019 Ram 1500 owners. 300,000+ trucks now built and complainers about a couple hundred? That's about .06%

You really think that only 200 owners have unacceptable AC performance? No way in hell, this forum is just a small slice of the pie of Ram owners but when you have a dozen threads and thousands of post about a single problem, the problem is much bigger than you can imagine!

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Forums are the first place owners with issues go. So I felt a significant percentage of owners with a/c issues are on here. Which numbers maybe 50 (high) then I quadrupled that number for my percentage guesstimate. My dealership in the middle of Florida still isn't seeing owners showing up with a/c problems when I was in just before heading north. Then when I had my airbag recall completed at a dealership in Michigan, I asked the service writer up here if they are getting a lot of a/c complaints. Answer.....nope. The dealership in Florida I'm on a first name basis because I've used the same writer for a while now with my Ram and Jeep. The guy up here didn't know me from Adam. Why do I ask about it? Just because of the big thread on here and I want to see if I'm out in left field or not. I don't think I am.

 

[PorBoy]

Well add me as one of those who a/c definitely is not up to snuff !!!

 

[sticker500]

Forums are the first place owners with issues go. So I felt a significant percentage of owners with a/c issues are on here. Which numbers maybe 50 (high) then I quadrupled that number for my percentage guesstimate. My dealership in the middle of Florida still isn't seeing owners showing up with a/c problems when I was in just before heading north. Then when I had my airbag recall completed at a dealership in Michigan, I asked the service writer up here if they are getting a lot of a/c complaints. Answer.....nope. The dealership in Florida I'm on a first name basis because I've used the same writer for a while now with my Ram and Jeep. The guy up here didn't know me from Adam. Why do I ask about it? Just because of the big thread on here and I want to see if I'm out in left field or not. I don't think I am.

I think you are spot on and don't think many of the items we complain about on these forums are significant to others because most of the folks NOT on here aren't really car folks. The A/C issue is real to me because it's doesn't match the level of effort they put in the rest of the vehicle. I think the A/C is subpar and could be improved.

 

[BeauxXL1200]

Turkeyhunter22 isn't a lucky one. He's one of the vast majority of 2019 Ram 1500 owners. 300,000+ trucks now built and complainers about a couple hundred? That's about .06%

Then we complainers are the unlucky ones. I take it your AC works fine. If it didn’t, would you report it to Ram Cares/FCA and take it to a dealership to try to get it repaired? I.e. complain about it. And then voice your frustration on this or other forums when nothing is done? Again, complain about it. Or would you just suck it up and deal with it?

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Then we complainers are the unlucky ones. I take it your AC works fine. If it didn’t, would you report it to Ram Cares/FCA and take it to a dealership to try to get it repaired? I.e. complain about it. And then voice your frustration on this or other forums when nothing is done? Again, complain about it. Or would you just suck it up and deal with it?

I'm not on here trying to antagonize those with a/c issues. But, just because some have them doesn't mean it's widespread, either. Sure, if something isn't working, I'd drop the truck off with the dealership for diagnosis and hopefully repair. Now, if something breaks and is repaired. I'm not going to hop on here and create a new thread. Stuff breaks. That's the reason for a factory warranty. This a/c system is better than my Corvette's.
Any manufacturer sees and tracks the warranty claims and if there's a trend they make an engineering change to fix it and dealerships are made aware of the fix with TSB's or if it is significant enough a recall.
A lot of potential buyers hop on forums and think the worst about threads about complaints and I just try to add some overall perspective to some so that people might realize some issues aren't model-wide.
There are obviously some trucks out there with bad a/c. But, there are plenty that are just fine. I never use recirculate, my side is auto 74° and my wife's side is at 73°. My mother in law rides in the back a lot as we're caregivers and she never complains about it being hot in the rear. Mine sits outside all the time, black in and out, with a panoramic roof. I don't care what temperatures are at the vents. They could be 55° for all I know. That's still way colder than I want. It can be sitting out in direct sunlight and the inside can be a 130°+ and the truck will cool to a comfortable temperature within 4-5 minutes. I do crack the windows for a bit to help get the smoking hot air out.
At this point, I'm going to unwatch this and other a/c threads so I don't annoy those with a problem and leave it alone....

 

[BeauxXL1200]

I'm not on here trying to antagonize those with a/c issues. But, just because some have them doesn't mean it's widespread, either. Sure, if something isn't working, I'd drop the truck off with the dealership for diagnosis and hopefully repair. Now, if something breaks and is repaired. I'm not going to hop on here and create a new thread. Stuff breaks. That's the reason for a factory warranty. This a/c system is better than my Corvette's.
Any manufacturer sees and tracks the warranty claims and if there's a trend they make an engineering change to fix it and dealerships are made aware of the fix with TSB's or if it is significant enough a recall.
A lot of potential buyers hop on forums and think the worst about threads about complaints and I just try to add some overall perspective to some so that people might realize some issues aren't model-wide.
There are obviously some trucks out there with bad a/c. But, there are plenty that are just fine. I never use recirculate, my side is auto 74° and my wife's side is at 73°. My mother in law rides in the back a lot as we're caregivers and she never complains about it being hot in the rear. Mine sits outside all the time, black in and out, with a panoramic roof. I don't care what temperatures are at the vents. They could be 55° for all I know. That's still way colder than I want. It can be sitting out in direct sunlight and the inside can be a 130°+ and the truck will cool to a comfortable temperature within 4-5 minutes. I do crack the windows for a bit to help get the smoking hot air out.
At this point, I'm going to unwatch this and other a/c threads so I don't annoy those with a problem and leave it alone....

Since you’re in Central Florida and your AC is doing fine, yours must be one of the properly performing ones. Which, I agree, are the majority of the trucks. I love my truck, but for the AC. Although, it’s doing fine with the hose clamped. And I’m in Central Texas where we’re starting to get close to 100 degree days. Just wish I didn’t have to resort to jerry rigging my truck’s AC.

 

[ColoradoCub]

Forums are the first place owners with issues go. So I felt a significant percentage of owners with a/c issues are on here. Which numbers maybe 50 (high) then I quadrupled that number for my percentage guesstimate. My dealership in the middle of Florida still isn't seeing owners showing up with a/c problems when I was in just before heading north. Then when I had my airbag recall completed at a dealership in Michigan, I asked the service writer up here if they are getting a lot of a/c complaints. Answer.....nope. The dealership in Florida I'm on a first name basis because I've used the same writer for a while now with my Ram and Jeep. The guy up here didn't know me from Adam. Why do I ask about it? Just because of the big thread on here and I want to see if I'm out in left field or not. I don't think I am.

There are more people on here to learn more about their trucks, seek ideas for upgrades and accessories than just to complain. It just so happens that many share the experience of sub standard cooling from their AC. For example I could never drive around in 90+ deg temps with my AC set at 73 or 74 like you do, that’s not a comfortable temperature for me, nor is the 51-54 deg I am getting out of my AC vents acceptable. Right now with the AC on Max with recirc. I just expect the AC in this new truck to provide the inside cab temp that my last 2500, F-150 and Tundra did in same outside temps. I have found that my AC blows the exact same 51-54 deg at 70 degrees outside temp as it does at 90 deg outside temps. Thank god for this heater core valve jimmy rig or I’d be miserable.

 

[PorBoy]

It’s 90 degrees where I am and I have both setting 63 and I’m still feeling heat. For those that are able to set there’s to 70 when it’s over 90 outside, I would love to swap a/c systems with you. Yes mine has been back to the dealership only for me to be to gold it’s “ X “ degree out of the vents. Well I’m happy for that but what good is that if I’m sweating inside with the fan on blast !!!

 

[SD Rebel]

So far so good, it's about 90F today and I actually turned down my A/C slightly.

I thought the issue with the A/C was a loose bolt on the condenser allow refrigerant to escape?

 

[cjmst23]

Following

 

[SpeedyV]

It’s 90 degrees where I am and I have both setting 63 and I’m still feeling heat. For those that are able to set there’s to 70 when it’s over 90 outside, I would love to swap a/c systems with you. Yes mine has been back to the dealership only for me to be to gold it’s “ X “ degree out of the vents. Well I’m happy for that but what good is that if I’m sweating inside with the fan on blast !!!

Good to know, @PorBoy. It sounds like the differences are real, and not necessarily dependent on vent temps. My temps are the same as everyone else’s, I think (low to mid-50s on driver’s side, mid-40s on passenger side). But here’s my typical experience:

We’re a little cooler today in north Texas (we peaked at 92 with “feels like” 100), and I left our A/C set at 71 on Auto. The truck was parked in full sun for over an hour (using Covercraft shade) while we were at the gym, and it cooled to a comfortable temp while driving around the parking lot after our workout (when we were hot and sweaty). I used the seat ventilation on high, and my wife never turned hers on. The truck was never “freezing”, but it quickly became comfortable.

For reference, I keep my home A/C between 69-72. I like it cold. This subjective example suggests that maybe the problems you and others are experiencing are less about vent temps and more about air distribution.

 

[ColoradoCub]

It’s clearly a blend door issue no questions asked. If I can cut off 3/4 flow of hot water to the core and watch my drivers side vents drop 7 degrees pretty quick it’s something to do with the blend doors. The scariest thing to me is if FCA announces that they recognize the problem (which is in the A/C- Heater box) it will be a disaster for us if they start ripping dashes out of our vehicles. I hope some really smart engineer figures out a valve that reduces/diverts coolant flow into the core with the AC controls rather than new heater AC boxes.

I am so thankful for KcRay that he brought forward this hack/fix with the valve on the heater core hose or I think I’d be losing it.

 

[RBRK]

A nice electric operated heater control valve with a small harness that hooks up to the HVAC system somehow would be a nice thing they could engineer to make it work unless of course they find out the drivers blend door isn’t closing and can reprogram the HVAC module. I doubt it will be that simple though.

 

[go-ram]

I'm not on here trying to antagonize those with a/c issues. But, just because some have them doesn't mean it's widespread, either. Sure, if something isn't working, I'd drop the truck off with the dealership for diagnosis and hopefully repair. Now, if something breaks and is repaired. I'm not going to hop on here and create a new thread. Stuff breaks. That's the reason for a factory warranty. This a/c system is better than my Corvette's.
Any manufacturer sees and tracks the warranty claims and if there's a trend they make an engineering change to fix it and dealerships are made aware of the fix with TSB's or if it is significant enough a recall.
A lot of potential buyers hop on forums and think the worst about threads about complaints and I just try to add some overall perspective to some so that people might realize some issues aren't model-wide.
There are obviously some trucks out there with bad a/c. But, there are plenty that are just fine. I never use recirculate, my side is auto 74° and my wife's side is at 73°. My mother in law rides in the back a lot as we're caregivers and she never complains about it being hot in the rear. Mine sits outside all the time, black in and out, with a panoramic roof. I don't care what temperatures are at the vents. They could be 55° for all I know. That's still way colder than I want. It can be sitting out in direct sunlight and the inside can be a 130°+ and the truck will cool to a comfortable temperature within 4-5 minutes. I do crack the windows for a bit to help get the smoking hot air out.
At this point, I'm going to unwatch this and other a/c threads so I don't annoy those with a problem and leave it alone....

As I posted months ago, I did my own survey of 8 or more brand new Ram 1500s, on my preferred dealer's lot, all on the same day, within a space of maybe 90 minutes, and I can testify before the Supreme Court of the United States that 100% of the 2019 DT Ram 1500s had notably weak AC performance, and 100% of the 2018 DS "Classic" (Gen-4) ram 1500s had normal AC performance.

By weak AC performance I mean that holding my hand right in front of the center dash outlets, the time it took to begin to feel cool air on my hand after AC startup. Nothing to do with the size of the cabs and the total length of time it takes to cool a large cab - that's a totally different story. My testing had only to do with the time the truck takes to start producing normally cold air. Every single 2019 DT Gen-5 Ram 1500 took far longer than any of the brand new 2018 models, and waaaaaay longer than my wife's Mini, longer than our 15-year-old Prius. And in 100% of the cases, the 2019 DT Rams produced barely cool air, none of them produced air anywhere near as cold as our 15 YO Prius.

I can't tell you the percentage of 2019 DT Ram 1500s that have the problem of significantly poor AC cooling performance, but I absolutely CAN tell you that the vast majority of all 2019 DT Ram 1500s I either test drove on the road, or started afresh & ran on the dealer lot, had really poor AC cooling performance.

In this day and age, when all other vehicles, including $25,000 Kia, Toyota and Honda sedans have absolutely STELLAR cooling performance, producing genuinely COLD air within the first ten seconds of AC startup, and when Ram bragged that the 2019 DT 1500 had something like 25% better cooling capacity than the Gen-4 DS-based 1500s, the fact that one single person here has to complain about their 2019 1500's poor cooling performance, IS A PROBLEM.

 

[rrbhokies]

Here you go........ Plug this into one of your USB ports, hold it with one hand, and drive with the other. You'll get better airflow from this thing than you'll get with your A/C.

 

[Rob5589]

I find mine to be acceptable, was 103 here on Sat, but it is not icy like my 03 Silverado or our 17 Sorento. Driving around it works well enough, sitting at idle it isn't great. It is similar to every Ford I have been in; good while moving, poor at idle. This is on a May built Laramie.

On a similar issue; I work in EMS and there were always complaints about the AC at idle (Ford chassis). So what the mechanics started doing was installing a shut off to the heater (likely the same type of deal described in this thread) which improved performance. Not awesome but, much better.

 

[moosem]

Here you go........ Plug this into one of your USB ports, hold it with one hand, and drive with the other. You'll get better airflow from this thing than you'll get with your A/C.

View attachment 30868

I have one of these!! I love it!!! I don’t use/need in my truck though...

The AC in my truck, while certainly not the best I’ve ever had, cools my truck down effectively and immediately.

 

[ac1dd]

Good to know, @PorBoy. It sounds like the differences are real, and not necessarily dependent on vent temps. My temps are the same as everyone else’s, I think (low to mid-50s on driver’s side, mid-40s on passenger side). But here’s my typical experience:

But it DOES depend on vent temps. Your one side puts out close to spec, while many complaining state that
both vents in the center put out mid to upper 50s or 60s when temps are not even beyond 90 F.

Fact is that with the c0ckpit fan working correctly (pushing out enough CFMs to spec) mid 40s F vent temps result in quicker cooling and a more comfortable interior.

 

[RaysFanBoy]

Sorry I didn’t read through all the pages on this thread, so my apologies. But I too am experiencing similar issues with the A/C not blowing cold air. Would someone please advise on how to properly clamp the A/C to achieve the colder temps, or at the minimum direct me to the page or thread in which I am sure this is already covered in great length.
And are there any risks to damaging anything by doing this?

Thanks again and I do apologize for the redundancy.