Air conditioning Hack

[cipherbreak]

My uncle had an ‘87 Nissan Sentra hatchback that got so cold my siblings and I used to have fun as kids with the condensation when we spoke. Keep in mind, I grew up in the warm, tropical climate of Puerto Rico. That’s the benchmark for AC for me.

 

[dsn112]

I’m gonna talk to my buddy who is a class action lawyer. Ram doesn’t seem to want to listen to us alone.... shouldn’t need to hack my truck to make it work like any other vehicle on the road.


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[User_3336]

Good luck with that.

I’m gonna talk to my buddy who is a class action lawyer. Ram doesn’t seem to want to listen to us alone.... shouldn’t need to hack my truck to make it work like any other vehicle on the road.


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[Gman]

I’m gonna talk to my buddy who is a class action lawyer. Ram doesn’t seem to want to listen to us alone.... shouldn’t need to hack my truck to make it work like any other vehicle on the road.

That should make the lawyers a lot of money, but I'm not sure it would do much for the owners.

 

[392DCGC]

Not sure if it's related, but I was driving to work the other night (warm and humid after a rainy day). The windshield was gradually fogging up near the dash on the outside with the HVAC on AUTO, and changing the HVAC settings had no effect on the fog. Wipers would give a quick fix, but the fog always returned. Without some kind of heat, I'm thinking you may notice weird things like this. I opened my clamp slightly to give the system a little heat.

 

[User_3336]

Not sure if it's related, but I was driving to work the other night (warm and humid after a rainy day). The windshield was gradually fogging up near the dash on the outside with the HVAC on AUTO, and changing the HVAC settings had no effect on the fog. Wipers would give a quick fix, but the fog always returned. Without some kind of heat, I'm thinking you may notice weird things like this. I opened my clamp slightly to give the system a little heat.

View attachment 27726

You weren't supposed to fully close off the clamp for the EXACT reason you gave above . . . A little hot coolant needs to circulate thru the heater core, and for the fact to keep it circulating and not get statgant in the hoses/core.

 

[Gman]

Sometimes you need dry air, not just cold air.

 

[392DCGC]

You weren't supposed to fully close off the clamp for the EXACT reason you gave above . . . A little hot coolant needs to circulate thru the heater core, and for the fact to keep it circulating and not get statgant in the hoses/core.

Yep... and I mentioned what you said a few posts back. I thought I had allowed a bit of flow per my testing when I initially installed the clamp. But when I requested heat that night during the fog up, none came. Had to open the clamp a bit more. This may not be the cause though... some other threads coming up recently where people have had fogging of the windshield just the same.

 

[Jhill]

Yep... and I mentioned what you said a few posts back. I thought I had allowed a bit of flow per my testing when I initially installed the clamp. But when I requested heat that night during the fog up, none came. Had to open the clamp a bit more. This may not be the cause though... some other threads coming up recently where people have had fogging of the windshield just the same.

If some very cold air is coming out of defroster vents, the windshield glass gets chilled down and moisture condenses just like your "scotch on the rocks" glass does on outside, especially if its humid. The wipers will take it off temporarily but the defrost vent air temp is cause. I assume climate was set for other vents and this is "leakage" of air out defrost vents. I had a Mustang rental car back in 80's that did same thing in hot humid Virginia weather.

 

[Ram92131]

If some very cold air is coming out of defroster vents, the windshield glass gets chilled down and moisture condenses just like your "scotch on the rocks" glass does on outside, especially if its humid. The wipers will take it off temporarily but the defrost vent air temp is cause. I assume climate was set for other vents and this is "leakage" of air out defrost vents. I had a Mustang rental car back in 80's that did same thing in hot humid Virginia weather.

This. Which is partially why Ram designed the AC temp to blow at the temp folks complain about.

Car manufacturers these days are trying to squeeze any tiny fractional mpg improvement they can out of a new design. If shutting off the heater core improved cooling so much, they would do that and undersize the AC compressor. Doing so would reduce parasitic load on the engine and improve efficiency.

 

[Old member 1160]

Installed the Harbor Freight clamp today. I choked the line off completely, set the HVAC to hot, and waited for the temp to stabilize. Then I opened the clamp little by little until the temp started to rise a few degrees. Left it there so I have at least a little flow through the system. Stagnant water in the heater core and lines sounds like a terrible idea for a long period of time. Maybe the antifreeze would prevent any growth, but the heat certainly plays a roll in killing everything that would grow in there too.

At first my AC vent still showed mid 50s out the vents... wasn't happy and thought it didn't work for me, or maybe the little bit of flow was too much. Then I thought to try driving around the block. Sure enough, as soon as the truck started moving the temp dropped to 45 degrees. Much better.

Which clamp did you order from Harbor Freight and where did you apply it?

 

[User_3336]

Posted numerous times previously........

Fluid Line Clamp Set, 4 Piece

Amazing deals on this 4Pc Fluid Line Clamp Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Which clamp did you order from Harbor Freight and where did you apply it?

 

[Jhill]

Posted numerous times previously........

Fluid Line Clamp Set, 4 Piece

Amazing deals on this 4Pc Fluid Line Clamp Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

The heater hose hooked to black metal tube from water pump and it is marked "out" on hose. (5.7 Hemi)

 

[Gsmith223]

Heater treater makes a kit for older Rams that uses a remote control valve. But we should not have to do this on a new truck. I believe this is a software issue not a blend door

 

[riccnick]

I did a blend door check and an A/C performance test on my truck today. I have a August 2018 build Laramie.

AC - does anyone have a truck that blows ice cold?

This is a means to an end, not messing with non related equipment. I was the first here to cut the coolant flow, I did not do this to show FCA the error of their ways. I wanted colder air, and I got it. It's just that simple. If this is not a design flaw, so be it. Do you go over to the threads...

5thgenrams.com

 

[Viper67]

Well looking at the link in the above post, the air is supposed to be about 55 degrees when it’s 90 outside. Slightly warmer or cooler than 55 depending on if it’s hotter or colder than 90. So ram won’t fix this.


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[User_3336]

92 degrees outside.

 

[duke2001]

View attachment 27982

92 degrees outside.

Yes, obviously another "blend door problem", you need to get that fixed.

 

[User_3336]

why is 40 degree vent temps at 92 outside a problem?

Yes, obviously another "blend door problem", you need to get that fixed.

 

[Gman]

why is 40 degree vent temps at 92 outside a problem?

When I read that, I was picking up on a touch of sarcasm.

...but I could be wrong.