A/C Performance

[Lakewake]

Mine just came in last week. Just have over 100 mile on her, but AC is cold. We were in the low 90's with a lot of humidity.

 

[go-ram]

Mine just came in last week. Just have over 100 mile on her, but AC is cold. We were in the low 90's with a lot of humidity.

But what is the BUILD DATE? Delivery date doesn't always mean anything, as there have been cases where Ram has had to hold built trucks for as much as 10 months before shipping them (in the case of the 2017 Ecodiesel issue), or holding them in yards for 5-6 months in the case of 2019 Ram Box. So please, include your build date in your signature. Thanks.

 

[go-ram]

Has there been any word from Ram, anything anyone has heard, that they are working on this problem from an engineering standpoint?

I haven't been able to pull up any info at all from Ram corporate...I've asked 5thgenram members in a posting here if "Jasmine of Ram Care" has ever made good on her promises to help, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get the people over at TFLtruck.com to ask Jim Morrison (FCA VP in charge of Ram) that very question in their live interview with Morrison last week, all to no avail.

Given the spotty nature of the "AC performance problem", I suspect it is either a supplier quality issue, or an assembly-line quality or training issue. If it was a system design (i.e. engineering) issue, one would think that all of these trucks would be having the problem, but it's only some trucks that are sub-par on AC performance. That seemingly points to a production quality issue, not a design flaw.

So in the absence of anything concrete from Ram corporate, and nothing from "Jasmine of Ram Care" here on the forums, here's what I'm going to do myself: As soon as I can swing it, I'm going to stop by a couple of Ram dealers, take a couple of test-drives, carefully noting the build date of each individual truck I test, and see how the AC performance goes. It may well be it was an assembly-line issue that affected only the earlier builds, and for us the only way to know for sure is to fastidiously note build date and AC performance together.

 

[Lakewake]

But what is the BUILD DATE? Delivery date doesn't always mean anything, as there have been cases where Ram has had to hold built trucks for as much as 10 months before shipping them (in the case of the 2017 Ecodiesel issue), or holding them in yards for 5-6 months in the case of 2019 Ram Box. So please, include your build date in your signature. Thanks.

Build date 8/21, I forgot to update signature.
My 1st build never passed inspection.

 

[Golferboy]

I haven't been able to pull up any info at all from Ram corporate...I've asked 5thgenram members in a posting here if "Jasmine of Ram Care" has ever made good on her promises to help, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get the people over at TFLtruck.com to ask Jim Morrison (FCA VP in charge of Ram) that very question in their live interview with Morrison last week, all to no avail.

Given the spotty nature of the "AC performance problem", I suspect it is either a supplier quality issue, or an assembly-line quality or training issue. If it was a system design (i.e. engineering) issue, one would think that all of these trucks would be having the problem, but it's only some trucks that are sub-par on AC performance. That seemingly points to a production quality issue, not a design flaw.

So in the absence of anything concrete from Ram corporate, and nothing from "Jasmine of Ram Care" here on the forums, here's what I'm going to do myself: As soon as I can swing it, I'm going to stop by a couple of Ram dealers, take a couple of test-drives, carefully noting the build date of each individual truck I test, and see how the AC performance goes. It may well be it was an assembly-line issue that affected only the earlier builds, and for us the only way to know for sure is to fastidiously note build date and AC performance together.

Awesome! I think you need to note the ambient temperature too. My fear is that we may be too late for this year, it is already cooling down outside. For example, I have a 2006 Lincoln Mark LT with poor AC. I took it to a shop in July that did the standard evacuate and refill the system. It still sucked. Then the compressor went out. That was replaced. Still sucked. But now that the temps have been below 90 here in Texas for a few weeks it is performing ok.

 

[DeanKing]

Awesome! I think you need to note the ambient temperature too. My fear is that we may be too late for this year, it is already cooling down outside. For example, I have a 2006 Lincoln Mark LT with poor AC. I took it to a shop in July that did the standard evacuate and refill the system. It still sucked. Then the compressor went out. That was replaced. Still sucked. But now that the temps have been below 90 here in Texas for a few weeks it is performing ok.

I promise that no matter what I find out when I get mine, I will put in the build date and the temps (in and out). I will showing up to take delivery with a thermometer because this issue concerns me more than anything else on this forum. However; it will be late October in PA so I expect it won't be hot enough outside to see any kind of a problem.

 

[DIRTRIDER]

I have a '19 Rebel with a 5/18 build date and poor A/C performance. What concerns me in this thread is that people perceive hot and cold differently. Someone's cold A/C may not be cold enough for someone else if you are going by what you feel coming out of the vents. Mine feels barely OK coming out of the vents but when I put a temp gauge in the center vent I have never gotten below 54 degrees. On a 90 degree day with high humidity it takes forever with the fan on high the whole time to even slightly cool the interior, center vent temp between 58-60 degrees. I have used A/C in manual mode, auto and MAX settings and it makes no difference what temp comes out of the center vents on my truck, never colder then 54 degrees, even on a 70 degree day with no humidity. I have the factory chart that shows what temp should come out at the center vent per outside temp. My temps are around 7- 10 degrees off from what they should be. Disappointing when you upgrade from an Express to a Rebel and the Express had way better A/C performance. If you can get your hands on a temp gauge, cheap one is $10-$15, tell us what your center vent temp is vs outside temp. Did have the truck at the dealer and was a touch low on freon, evac and recharged system but made no difference in performance.

 

[RBRK]

The left of center vent will not go below 52-54 on mine no matter what, its got to be a software/blend door issue I believe. The passenger side will hit mid to low 40's.
No response from RAM anywere I've seen the people saying theirs is cold as ice....... well.. I doubt that.

 

[Lakewake]

I have a '19 Rebel with a 5/18 build date and poor A/C performance. What concerns me in this thread is that people perceive hot and cold differently. Someone's cold A/C may not be cold enough for someone else if you are going by what you feel coming out of the vents. Mine feels barely OK coming out of the vents but when I put a temp gauge in the center vent I have never gotten below 54 degrees. On a 90 degree day with high humidity it takes forever with the fan on high the whole time to even slightly cool the interior, center vent temp between 58-60 degrees. I have used A/C in manual mode, auto and MAX settings and it makes no difference what temp comes out of the center vents on my truck, never colder then 54 degrees, even on a 70 degree day with no humidity. I have the factory chart that shows what temp should come out at the center vent per outside temp. My temps are around 7- 10 degrees off from what they should be. Disappointing when you upgrade from an Express to a Rebel and the Express had way better A/C performance. If you can get your hands on a temp gauge, cheap one is $10-$15, tell us what your center vent temp is vs outside temp. Did have the truck at the dealer and was a touch low on freon, evac and recharged system but made no difference in performance.

When I get a chance I will grab a temp gauge and check mine out., since it was a late August build. The AC is plenty cold on mine, have not gone to Max one time and its still summer in the Southeast.

 

[Wheeljack169]

My vent temps are different 7 degrees also. My windshield has condensation on it even when i have only the vents on. Its obviously leaking through.

My new truck also puts condensation on the windshield when not on defrost has anyone had this issue resolved it’s annoying to see that I had a 16 ram that never did that and A 16 gmc thst ac blows colder and doesn’t frost the windshield

 

[Dkwatts1522]

My new truck also puts condensation on the windshield when not on defrost has anyone had this issue resolved it’s annoying to see that I had a 16 ram that never did that and A 16 gmc thst ac blows colder and doesn’t frost the windshield

My build date is 5-17-18 and overall I have been happy with the a/c except when it was extra hot and humid over 90 at idle when the truck at been sitting a while. It seemed to not blow cold until the truck is up to speed. But once up and going it works great. At just idle it takes a while. Mine gets gets the condensation on the windshield too. My 09 Gmc Seirra never did it which was nice since my previous car an 04 VW Jetta was aweful at condensation.

 

[DeanKing]

My build date is 5-17-18 and overall I have been happy with the a/c except when it was extra hot and humid over 90 at idle when the truck at been sitting a while. It seemed to not blow cold until the truck is up to speed. But once up and going it works great. At just idle it takes a while. Mine gets gets the condensation on the windshield too. My 09 Gmc Seirra never did it which was nice since my previous car an 04 VW Jetta was aweful at condensation.

Most of the vehicles I have owned operated much the same way. If it is already hot and humid, it takes actually driving around a while for them to cool off. If this is the problem being discussed then I am a lot less worried. It doesn't sound like it. I started rereading the posts and while many people with a problem did not indicate if it was driving or idling, a few people did specifically say it did not cool off after driving.

 

[RamCares]

The left of center vent will not go below 52-54 on mine no matter what, its got to be a software/blend door issue I believe. The passenger side will hit mid to low 40's.
No response from RAM anywere I've seen the people saying theirs is cold as ice....... well.. I doubt that.

Hey RBRK,

We don't want you to think we haven't made the appropriate teams aware of this. We've seen conversation and have asked customers to send us their VIN to get this formally documented. You can definitely send us a direct message as well. Very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and hope to hear from you soon

Jasmine
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Ramman]

My 15000 had a build date of July 3rd. It sat around waiting on the ramboxes until after Labor Day. Outside of glitches with the Uconnect 12" screen, the only complaint I have is the AC. The outside temp was in the middle 70s and the AC still did not blow very cold. I tried auto, MAX AC, etc. I also exprience the condensation on the windshield even when the vents are set to main cabin. Will be taking in to dealer to have looked at.

 

[chemist2000]

My 15000 had a build date of July 3rd. It sat around waiting on the ramboxes until after Labor Day. Outside of glitches with the Uconnect 12" screen, the only complaint I have is the AC. The outside temp was in the middle 70s and the AC still did not blow very cold. I tried auto, MAX AC, etc. I also exprience the condensation on the windshield even when the vents are set to main cabin. Will be taking in to dealer to have looked at.

Please update us on what they do, if anything! Good luck!

 

[habu987]

Maybe Ram should hire Toyota's AC engineers.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2019-toyota-avalon-review/

 

[Douglas31]

The left of center vent will not go below 52-54 on mine no matter what, its got to be a software/blend door issue I believe. The passenger side will hit mid to low 40's.
No response from RAM anywere I've seen the people saying theirs is cold as ice....... well.. I doubt that.

I have seen the difference in them. The first one I test drove my wife and I commented on how cold the a/c was and even turned off the ventilated seats. I was impressed. The one I ended up buying has been nothing but subpar and also puts the condensation on the windshield when not on defrost as others have mentioned.

 

[813Hemi]

I have seen the difference in them. The first one I test drove my wife and I commented on how cold the a/c was and even turned off the ventilated seats. I was impressed. The one I ended up buying has been nothing but subpar and also puts the condensation on the windshield when not on defrost as others have mentioned.

I get the windshield condensation as well. Something is not right as it takes way to long to cool down. I am in Tampa where the 90's temps and high humidity make us experts in A.C... NEVER had a car with such a tepid AC. Weakest at idle but improves when the RPMs increase and sustain then it seems to be good from then on. A week ago I got the windows tinted and put a 70% on the windshield. This helped immensely from a comfort standpoint but of course the AC still sucks, blows, chokes, you get it...

 

[NeedMo$]

There is more wrong than just the A/C. Since its cool here in the mornings and nights (60 degrees +) I just use the fan, A/C off, set between 65 - 68 degrees for air flow. With recirculate on or recirculate off, the air goes from cool to warm humid back to cool back to warm humid. This to me is definitely the blend doors as other have mentioned and not an issue with low freon, compressor, or other components related to the A/C.

With winter coming, I am hoping that the heat doesn't also go from warm / hot to cool because of the blend door actuators opening and closing on their own.

 

[chemist2000]

There is more wrong than just the A/C. Since its cool here in the mornings and nights (60 degrees +) I just use the fan, A/C off, set between 65 - 68 degrees for air flow. With recirculate on or recirculate off, the air goes from cool to warm humid back to cool back to warm humid. This to me is definitely the blend doors as other have mentioned and not an issue with low freon, compressor, or other components related to the A/C.

With winter coming, I am hoping that the heat doesn't also go from warm / hot to cool because of the blend door actuators opening and closing on their own.

We are gonna have the answer for the Ram HVAC engineers soon! If you are correct with the blend doors, which i believe you are, how does it get cold on the highway if the blend door is staying opened?