Air conditioning Hack

[cj7]

Can you guys with 5.7s post pics of your installs?

Also, is there any downside to zero flow? Would a three way ball valve on the pressure side, and a tee on return line be safer?

 

[User_3336]

there are many many many pics of installs towards the front of the thread . . . .

Can you guys with 5.7s post pics of your installs?

Also, is there any downside to zero flow? Would a three way ball valve on the pressure side, and a tee on return line be safer?

 

[busa2009]

UPDATE: Just picked up truck from dealer and they said in fact it's the heater blend door which is operated by a servo motor, they reflashed the head unit which recalibrated the climate controls and resets end points which would eliminate tearing into dash and AC seems great !!! FYI the 1500 series trucks do in fact use 1234yf Freon and 2500 series up still maintains 134a

so what are your temps since the re flash

 

[User_3336]

That was on Sep 9, 2019

so what are your temps since the re flash

Badelky said:
UPDATE: Just picked up truck from dealer and they said in fact it's the heater blend door which is operated by a servo motor, they reflashed the head unit which recalibrated the climate controls and resets end points which would eliminate tearing into dash and AC seems great !!! FYI the 1500 series trucks do in fact use 1234yf Freon and 2500 series up still maintains 134a

 

[Jack]

I have spread the word in private message to RamCares to please share this info to the engineers that it is an obvious blend door issue. They agreed that they would. I have also emailed TFLtruck and got a reply from Andre Smirnov that they will look into AC temps as they haven't experienced warm weather yet. I also told him results of shutting down coolant flow. I am sure informing these 2 sources should "turn up the heat" on the engineers for a resolution.

Literally waiting for FCA to fix this to pull the trigger around Christmas. If this is still and issue for 2021 models then I'll either wait for 2022 or get a Ford. I would have pulled the trigger sooner had this issue never existed.

 

[User_3336]

That was on May 19, 2019......UMMMMMM

Literally waiting for FCA to fix this to pull the trigger around Christmas. If this is still and issue for 2021 models then I'll either wait for 2022 or get a Ford. I would have pulled the trigger sooner had this issue never existed.

Jhill said:
I have spread the word in private message to RamCares to please share this info to the engineers that it is an obvious blend door issue. They agreed that they would. I have also emailed TFLtruck and got a reply from Andre Smirnov that they will look into AC temps as they haven't experienced warm weather yet. I also told him results of shutting down coolant flow. I am sure informing these 2 sources should "turn up the heat" on the engineers for a resolution.

 

[Desertrunner]

Been thru all 43 pages to see where this has finally headed, before my first service on a 2019 1500 Limited. Just for fun I tried the hose clamp (got mine from Amazon) and drove for a while in 92F ambient dry weather. Driver side, right vent went from 53F to 43F, with AC set to Lo, no recirc, fan on 3. No I’ll effects other than a MUCH quicker cabin cool down and comfortable temps while driving. It’s not the 36F of my Mazda CX-5... but HOW IN THE HELL could FCA get this so very wrong? To make matters even worse - this is not a new problem. I had a Dodge Durango in the Middle East in 2003, and we had to do this exact same thing to the heater box inlet line. WTF. It would be great if we could get some real feedback from FCA on what they are going to do to fix the problem. Sorry, I’m just not buying into the corporate bs line of “its within specs”. If all of your customers are complaining - then you built it to the wrong specs!! I would appreciate any real world vent temps from folks that have had the head unit reflash etc from the dealer. Maybe I should have kept my Range Rover Sport...

 

[ramhead]

Just installed my automatic solenoid, just flip a switch under the steering wheel and the heater core is shutoff. View attachment 58471

While I admire your ingenuity I think this is overkill. I guess it's nice to have a switch to flip but, how often would someone really need this ability on what really is a twice a year or so switch. IMO a manual valve to shut off flow in late spring/early summer and back on in early fall is foolproof & the easiest, most reliable option.Especially with those (like you & me) being in the northeast as I'd also be worried about the long term exposure to road salt, water, etc of the unit & wiring over time leading to failure.

 

[ColoradoCub]

While I admire your ingenuity I think this is overkill. I guess it's nice to have a switch to flip but, how often would someone really need this ability on what really is a twice a year or so switch. IMO a manual valve to shut off flow in late spring/early summer and back on in early fall is foolproof & the easiest, most reliable option.Especially with those (like you & me) being in the northeast as I'd also be worried about the long term exposure to road salt, water, etc of the unit & wiring over time leading to failure.

you’ll be surprised how many times throughout they year you open and close it. A quick t-storm that drops the temps a little will fog the crap out of the windshield without heat to defrost it.

 

[dts828]

While I admire your ingenuity I think this is overkill. I guess it's nice to have a switch to flip but, how often would someone really need this ability on what really is a twice a year or so switch. IMO a manual valve to shut off flow in late spring/early summer and back on in early fall is foolproof & the easiest, most reliable option.Especially with those (like you & me) being in the northeast as I'd also be worried about the long term exposure to road salt, water, etc of the unit & wiring over time leading to failure.

I've been thinking of going this route down here in Georgia in the beginning and end of air conditioning season it is hot during the day and and at 2am in the morning when I get off work there can be chill outside.

Sent from my GM1917 using Tapatalk

 

[FYRSTIX]

I agree with dts828, not going to be a twice a year adjustment for some of us. Out in CA, in the SF bay area our hot and not days can very quickly come and go spring through fall. Last week we had three days of upper 90s then it dropped down to barely 70. And in the same day you can have 90s here in the valley, drive over to the beach (or SF) and it's a foggy 55.

That said I'm loath to start cutting on my truck which I've only had a month. I would much prefer for FCA to figure this out and provide us a fix.

 

[Jtr]

I agree with dts828, not going to be a twice a year adjustment for some of us. Out in CA, in the SF bay area our hot and not days can very quickly come and go spring through fall. Last week we had three days of upper 90s then it dropped down to barely 70. And in the same day you can have 90s here in the valley, drive over to the beach (or SF) and it's a foggy 55.

That said I'm loath to start cutting on my truck which I've only had a month. I would much prefer for FCA to figure this out and provide us a fix.

If I lived in that type of climate range and saw a new gen Ram with the hood open and on the side of the road, I'd know exactly what was going on, lol

 

[Jordan2929]

While I admire your ingenuity I think this is overkill. I guess it's nice to have a switch to flip but, how often would someone really need this ability on what really is a twice a year or so switch. IMO a manual valve to shut off flow in late spring/early summer and back on in early fall is foolproof & the easiest, most reliable option.Especially with those (like you & me) being in the northeast as I'd also be worried about the long term exposure to road salt, water, etc of the unit & wiring over time leading to failure.

If wired correctly it should never give you a problem, I’m pretty experienced with these types of things so I am confident it won’t give me any problems. If something were to happen the valve is normally open so everything would flow as intended by ram. As for only needing to change the valve twice a year, I’ve turned it on and off probably a dozen times since I’ve installed it, for example today it’s 50 degrees so I have the switch off but just a week ago it was in the 90’s for three consecutive days. And as for the manual valves, I’ve seen several people on here say theirs is starting to leak. I don’t know about you but I know that a coolant leak is no joke especially on a long road trip. So I appreciate the concern but I will take my setup over a manual valve any day of the week.

 

[FYRSTIX]

The link posted here points to a solenoid valve that is the normally closed type, which surprised me. I think most of us were expecting the NO type would be specified, which seems a bit safer. Were it to fail it would fail to the default state.

There is a NO equivalent valve, though it's $20 more expensive:

1/2" 12V DC Stainless Steel Solenoid Valve N/O

This 12 Volt DC Stainless solenoid valve is in the normally open position until it is powered. The valve can be connected with standard 1/2" NPT pipe fittings.

www.electricsolenoidvalves.com

 

[ramhead]

If wired correctly it should never give you a problem, I’m pretty experienced with these types of things so I am confident it won’t give me any problems. If something were to happen the valve is normally open so everything would flow as intended by ram. As for only needing to change the valve twice a year, I’ve turned it on and off probably a dozen times since I’ve installed it, for example today it’s 50 degrees so I have the switch off but just a week ago it was in the 90’s for three consecutive days. And as for the manual valves, I’ve seen several people on here say theirs is starting to leak. I don’t know about you but I know that a coolant leak is no joke especially on a long road trip. So I appreciate the concern but I will take my setup over a manual valve any day of the week.

I agree about the manual valves and the possibility of leaks/failures - not only that but the possibility of warranty issues if they see it when in for repairs ( one worst case scenario would be if you broke down and had to have it towed to dealer with no time to remove the valve and put it back to stock)....which is why I went the Harbor Freight clamp route.

I'm surprised you need to use it so much in the northeast climate....I install the clamp in mid June in NJ and then remove in early fall (Sept). Plus, I can always physically reduce pressure on the clamp while it's installed if I needed to on an unexpected cold day but that has not been necessary at all. Also, no real issue with window fogging/needing heat to clear it up. From reading here, everyone has different needs depending on their climate but one thing that is clear is the clamp is the simplest "do no harm" option for the issue and the easiest to "delete" if required.

 

[gmab]

I need to get this mod done.
Just got back from driving across country and hit some 90+ degree temps. We had the AC on LO, fan to 7, recirc, seat blowers set to high, closed the pano roof shade, AND we were on the edge of being a bit too warm. Crazy.

What was even crazier is when we hit Wyoming out of Cheyenne, Hwy 80 was shut down due to a snow storm. This was June 9th.

 

[ColoradoCub]

I would much prefer for FCA to figure this out and provide us a fix.

Good luck with that!

 

[PMantle]

Just finished my install. A few observations. If your Advance Auto doesn't have the parts, O'Reilly can find them using the same numbers. I had to go to two O'Reilly stores.

Pretty sure you could not pay me to do it again. Reason? That tension hose clamp. If I were doing it again, I would destroy it and use a third clamp of the other type. I did so poorly working with it I fear I will have a leak when I open the valve in Winter.

Finally, I am not certain I am actually getting any benefit. If so, it's no more than 3/4 degrees. That's on a limited drive though. I have to take a longer drive this afternoon, so I will test again.

 

[KcRay]

I agree about the manual valves and the possibility of leaks/failures - not only that but the possibility of warranty issues if they see it when in for repairs ( one worst case scenario would be if you broke down and had to have it towed to dealer with no time to remove the valve and put it back to stock)....which is why I went the Harbor Freight clamp route.

I'm surprised you need to use it so much in the northeast climate....I install the clamp in mid/late May in NJ and then remove in late Sept or early October. Plus, I can always physically reduce pressure on the clamp while it's installed if I needed to on an unexpected cold day but that has not been necessary at all. Also, no real issue with window fogging/needing heat to clear it up. From reading here, everyone has different needs depending on their climate but one thing that is clear is the clamp is the simplest "do no harm" option for the issue and the easiest to "delete" if required.

You do understand the clamp is designed as a temporary solution to stop coolant leakage when the system is being worked on? Using them long term could crush and degrade your hose. The valves are designed to be permanent. Every one makes their own risk assessment, and you are making yours. Personally I carry a spare, (but even better brass valve) as a backup. I've had my Ram in for service three times so far with the valve in place, and no one even noticed. I'm an old car/truck guy, I still check the oil when I fuel up, and look over the engine to see if anything is out of place. If the valve fails, it will likely be a small leak or seap. If your hose fails, it will likely be a "burst".
Stay cool,

 

[ramhead]

You do understand the clamp is designed as a temporary solution to stop coolant leakage when the system is being worked on? Using them long term could crush and degrade your hose. The valves are designed to be permanent. Every one makes their own risk assessment, and you are making yours. Personally I carry a spare, (but even better brass valve) as a backup. I've had my Ram in for service three times so far with the valve in place, and no one even noticed. I'm an old car/truck guy, I still check the oil when I fuel up, and look over the engine to see if anything is out of place. If the valve fails, it will likely be a small leak or seap. If your hose fails, it will likely be a "burst".
Stay cool,

I get that the supposed reason is what it's for but many here are using it as a full time workaround fix and I have not heard of any hose burst failures as of yet because of the clamp. My way of doing it is to periodically loosen the clamp maybe once a month and move it an inch or so along the hose either way in order to not have it tightened down in one spot for too long or for the hose to take a set. Again, last year I only used the clamp in NJ for the hottest 2 - 2.5 months (mid June - end of August) and then fully removed the clamp until now when I reinstalled it. Do you know of anyone who has used the clamp method who had a hose burst or other issue because of the clamp?