Air conditioning performance

[duke2001]

Last temperature reading was 105 outside temperature
60 driver side
48 passenger.

I get that is within specs also but seems very uncomfortable to me not to mention how long to takes to cool down.

I didn't really notice an issue with the A/C till we had temps close to 100 degrees outside.

I run mine on Auto with Recirc on all the time. When I first get in if it has sat in the heat for several hours I may set temperature for 69 to get it to cool off a little faster. I generally keep temperatures at 72-70. I am usually comfortable with that. I know.... it is a matter of preference.

 

[Differia]

I run mine on Auto with Recirc on all the time. When I first get in if it has sat in the heat for several hours I may set temperature for 69 to get it to cool off a little faster. I generally keep temperatures at 72-70. I am usually comfortable with that. I know.... it is a matter of preference.

Are you in an area where temps are reaching 105 daily or close? I didn't really notice an issue in 90 degree weather.
I am going to try the clamp or the valve I think.

 

[KcRay]

Correct me if I am wrong but it doesn't look like a fix.
50 degrees driver side
41 degrees passenger side
in 86 degrees outside weather

Looks like he had his AC fixed, so that now he only has the AC design flaw to deal with. The problem we are discussing here is not fixed.
Just saying!

 

[Lucmac]

I didn't buy a Ram yet but when I wen to the dealership to test drive a 1500 Limited this past week I had to do a subjective AC test and I was not impressed by the results. Compared to the 2012 Toyota Sienna I drove there in, it was not very cold coming out of the vent at any point. I even told the salesperson it was 'weak' and like it needed Freon. He just kind of grunted. I think the sales people know all too well.

 

[The-Greatest]

First post on here. I saw a killer deal on a 2019 Ram Limited with all the bells and whistles and decided to give it a shot. I’m coming from a 2018 Lariat and started reading this thread while finalizing my paperwork. I’ll be honest, does it cool as well as my F-150, no. Is it is as hot inside as everyone is making it seem, not mine at least. I’m in Central Florida and it was mid 90’s today.

 

[ac1dd]

Hot weekend this past long weeeknd drove the truck all 3 days.I fix alot of AC units on heavy equipment as well as highway trucks, done it for so long i put the back of my hand at the vents and i can tell within a few degrees ifthe system is low 40's, my truck is not. Grab the thermometer and passenger side is 43, drivers side is 52 as many others have stated. This is 100% a blend door issue. If the ac system can bring one side down to 43 its oprerating to its capabilities. When I see a proper operating system but vent temps arent cold I immediately go to the heater taps and close them in heavy equipment. In doing so it eliminates any faults inside the plenum box. When doing this and vent temps drop you know the problem is in the dash....such as broken blend door, bad actuator or in the modern day age computer not telling actuator to close. GM and Chev had a whole bunch of trucks in early 2000's that would do thesame thing but put out heat on one side and ac air on the other. A reset of the sytem would fix it sometimes for a long time and sometimes ony for a week or two. I will give the dealer one time to fix it if they cant I'm installing the heater hose shutoff the problem will be solved.

What's very beneficial is when qualified techs like this can actually back up our suspicions as to where the problem lies. I'm pretty certain that Chrysler knows they have either a design problem, a quality control issue, or both....I tend to believe it's more of a QC issue than the design. But perhaps it is taking the vendor that supplies the ducting and blend door parts to get revised parts into the system. It would be nice if Chrysler would "fess up" and admit there is a problem and that due to production aspects it might take months to get it sorted out. People get much more angry when they are lied to than when the truth is spoken when it comes to things like this.

@RAM Cares
How about some "transparency" on this issue? Customers might be upset but most all will be understanding if you can admit to a problem and give some indication of when the parts to solve the issues will be available. Thanks.

 

[SpeedyV]

I run mine on Auto with Recirc on all the time. When I first get in if it has sat in the heat for several hours I may set temperature for 69 to get it to cool off a little faster. I generally keep temperatures at 72-70. I am usually comfortable with that. I know.... it is a matter of preference.

I do pretty much exactly this, except I don't turn on recirculate manually (Auto will do it whenever it sees a benefit). I also run the seat ventilation on high if the truck is hot when I jump in, or I just let it stay on the default low speed if the cabin isn't too warm. I'm usually comfortable within a couple of minutes, and I typically leave the temperature set at 71.

I'm in Fort Worth, Texas. We've been averaging low 90s with higher-than-average humidity (due to much higher-than-average precipitation). Our 14-day forecast shows 12 days at 98 degrees or above (3 at 100+). Maybe we're starting to dry out...

 

[duke2001]

I do pretty much exactly this, except I don't turn on recirculate manually (Auto will do it whenever it sees a benefit). I also run the seat ventilation on high if the truck is hot when I jump in, or I just let it stay on the default low speed if the cabin isn't too warm. I'm usually comfortable within a couple of minutes, and I typically leave the temperature set at 71.

I'm in Fort Worth, Texas. We've been averaging low 90s with higher-than-average humidity (due to much higher-than-average precipitation). Our 14-day forecast shows 12 days at 98 degrees or above (3 at 100+). Maybe we're starting to dry out...

I will have to try leaving Recirc off to see how I like it. Thanks

 

[Brisoup1]

Okay 86 was the out side temp? Sorry should have wrote - feels like temp 93 degrees.

But it looks like
Post # 626 shows 50.6 degrees from the driver side
Post # 627 shows 41.7 from the passenger

Even if its in spec, Its the same complaint the rest of us have. Big difference in temperature from the driver to passenger side vent.
Thats almost a 9 degree difference from the 2 vents. Doesn't look like a fix to me
[/

 

[Brisoup1]

Assuming everyone that's having issues with unequal temperatures coming out of the Driver & Passenger vents, could it be possible that's it's a electronic issue with one or both of the Temperature controllers? Maybe, even though it says the Driver/Passenger temperatures are synced, they're not.

 

[riccnick]

I'm thinking it's heat from the screen assembly cooking the vent duct for the drivers side. Turn off the screen when you run the A/C performance test as specified by Ram, the vent temps equalize

 

[Ram1]

Assuming everyone that's having issues with unequal temperatures coming out of the Driver & Passenger vents, could it be possible that's it's a electronic issue with one or both of the Temperature controllers? Maybe, even though it says the Driver/Passenger temperatures are synced, they're not.

Yes, in my opinion it could be electronic but notlikely the sync button, if it was then both sides would blow in the 50's as it syncs the passenger side to driver side. When you have both on cold as it will go its the drivers side that is warm. I have no knowlege of the schematics of the HVAC breakdown but do know its not right the way it is working.

 

[Ram1]

I will have to try leaving Recirc off to see how I like it. Thanks

Usually not running recirc in a AC system when its hot outside raises the vent temp anywhere from 7 - 10 degrees. The fresh air mode brings in outside air to the system which is hot and humid this time of year. You will see a slight increase in air flow but the air wont be colder. Stress on the word "usually".

 

[SpeedyV]

Usually not running recirc in a AC system when its hot outside raises the vent temp anywhere from 7 - 10 degrees. The fresh air mode brings in outside air to the system which is hot and humid this time of year. You will see a slight increase in air flow but the air wont be colder. Stress on the word "usually".

Not at startup, when the vehicle interior may be 50 degrees above ambient. The A/C system should (emphasis on should) be intelligent enough to use outside air at startup, if ambient temperature and humidity provide a cooling advantage to the interior...then enable recirculation for faster cool-down once the cabin air is more suitable than ambient...and then re-enable fresh air once the system has stabilized, presuming the system can continue to meet the demand, in order to maintain air quality.

That said, these systems don’t seem to be especially well-calibrated or quick to respond, as we’ve all observed. My wife can crank the temperature up ten degrees on her side (above mine), and there’s no noticeable change in fan speed or vent temperature...for several minutes.

My Ram’s cabin cools off more quickly than my wife’s Audi in the Texas summer heat, but it’s clear from the A/C “hacks” on this forum that there are system inefficiencies. I suppose if the driver’s side were the cold side, we’d see far fewer complaints

 

[Edwards]

I played with mine yesterday and came up with some odd numbers. I clamped off the heater core hose and drove several hours. After getting home with it idling in the garage, I popped the thermometer in each center vent and only was getting 60* out of each one. It sure felt cooler and we were comfortable on the drive in the TX heat though.

Today, after getting back from church I got those same temps so then I decided to remove the clamp. Running in the garage on Max with recirc turned on, 86* air temp, I got 60* on the passenger center vent and 65* on the driver's side center vent. I was a bit surprised that I'm getting the same passenger temp clamped shut or not but it did impact the driver's side only.

Headed back into the dealer next week for the rear brake TSB so I'm having them look at the charge level.

 

[ac1dd]

@RAMCares
I was just over on the VWVortex forums and I found an interesting aspect that is included in modern VW products. HVAC software which allows for different AC performance via the blend system and compressor! In the Arteon forum
some customers complain that the AC was not cold enough and they live in hotter climes. In the software coding their is
a selection for "cold country" or "hot country" customers reported that when they had concerns the vent temps were registering in the 50s and 60s...in "cold country" setting, when the setting in software was changed to "hot country" the vent temps were consistently around 40 F, and remedied the customer concerns. This option is deeply embedded in the climate control module I'm pretty sure and you need a VW/Audi dedicated scan tool to access and change it.

Considering that many manufacturers have contracted out such software work could it be that Chrysler has as well, and this feature is actually on Chrysler products? It would certainly explain the odd situation were some vehicles are putting out consistent 40 F air without modifications while others do not.

Please contact engineering and ask them if it is possible that in error this feature is being placed or coded in the WRONG
setting. Thanks.

Here is the forum regarding the VW Arteon issue. Link, click below.

VW HVAC software coding for "hot country" or "cold country" affects vent temps. Resulting in vent temps too warm

 

[RBRK]

Doubt it.

 

[ac1dd]

Doubt it.

Why? It's one heck of a coincidence that the concerns many VW customers had mimic the RAM issue almost exactly.

Again the software coding for Body Control Modules today is done by outside vendors and it is possible that some options that are used by other car mfrs might not be by others, the point being that this coding might be used in multiple mfr vehicles.

 

[Bsteiner36]

So i took my Truck into the dealer last week to get the latest recall completed. My truck sat out in the 90+ sun for several hours at the dealer. When i got it back it was a hot swamp to sit in. I realized the AC was on full tilt and blowing what felt like warm air for about 5-10 minutes.

I noticed that when i turned the AC to auto and the fan went down to a normal speed ( i also opened all the vents. The dealer must have closed all but the driver side). The air felt significantly cooler and the truck cooled off much easier. Then after about 5+ minutes the truck started to feel nice and chilly. I haven't had any issues since but i don't leave my truck outside in the blazing sun. Also my truck never gets freezing cold but it's always been comfortable.

 

[Edwards]

Hot day in TX and I just noticed the "winter behavior" for the first time in the heat. Truck was hot and just would not even blow what it's capable of in terms of cold air for 10-12 minutes and then it woke up and noticeably dropped in temp output. I was driving 55-60 the whole time so it was not an airflow difference or just took a while to cool off. It just all of a sudden started blowing noticeably colder air like it does on longer trips.

Didn't have any thermometers to document actual temps but this is exactly the same behavior I and others have noticed in the winter where it would blow cold air for ~10 min and then start warming up when on the Auto setting. I've not previously noticed this since colder winter weather but it seems to be doing the same thing. It's almost like there is a programmed delay timer on the interior temp sense so that you have to be driving for 10 minutes before it takes the interior temp and gets to work.