Air conditioning performance

[Texas Woody]

Crap I was wrong, the top of the dash temp was every bit as hot as the hood paint!

Here are the pics of the vent temps while driving:

And here are the pics of the vent temps afterward while parked in my driveway:

Here’s the settings the climate control was set at the whole time:

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[Lucmac]

Narrowing the sticker change from 567g to 510g to be somewhere between May 18 and July 18.

Timeframe might allude to a Ram making a change in sticker/AC workings in response to people complaining of poor air conditioning performance at onset of summer 18?

This confuses me. My brand new Ram has a 510 sticker. Isn't a higher number likely to lead to a more efficient AC system? Was 567 'right' and Ram made a mistake and dropped it to 510?

 

[duke2001]

Crap I was wrong, the top of the dash temp was every bit as hot as the hood paint!

Here are the pics of the vent temps while driving:

And here are the pics of the vent temps afterward while parked in my driveway:

Here’s the settings the climate control was set at the whole time:

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Curious, your car thermometer shows outside temp at 101F, where as your digital thermometer shows 153.6F? Probably somewhere in between since you are taking it near the glass in direct sunlight. Anyway looks pretty reasonable to me. I am up the road from you only a few miles. I am comfortable keeping my setting in Auto, Recirc set at 70F.

 

[SpeedyV]

He posted the new sticker and it is clearly a different charge than my sticker. Ram possibly made a mistake in the spec and even some of the service manuals have the 1.125 number. According to this photo 1.25 lbs is correct, not 1.125. We just need to know what's going on.

And we still don't know, right?

My August '18 sticker with the (likely incorrect) 510 g:

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

Here is a pic of my sticker. Build date of Feb 2018

View attachment 30505

I have the almost identical truck, but with buckets instead of the bench also built in Feb 18. Same Sticker, took the truck in for the same AC issues as everyone else, slow to cool, 10 degree delta between driver and passenger side. Attached is the work order. They told me the system was 2 oz low, the work order says they set the charge at 560 grams. Whats more interesting is 57 grams is just a tad over 2 oz. The AC system does seem to cool down faster, but doesn't get any colder than before. 50 on the drivers side and about 42 on the passenger side @ 95 ambient and about 22% RH. At idle I see a temp rise of 10 degrees on both sides. I attribute this more to compressor speed than having insufficient air flow over the condenser. The compressor just doesn't have enough flow at +/- 600 rpm, this is why Rams specifications rate the system at 1000 RPM. I've mentioned this before but a lot of vehicles have a high idle circuit that engages when the AC is on to increase compressor speed and fan speed for clutched fan systems which the Ram uses an electric cooling fan. The increased temps at idle are the low compressor speed, they should have used a smaller pulley on the AC clutch.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

And we still don't know, right?

My August '18 sticker with the (likely incorrect) 510 g:
View attachment 30622

Ram definitely needs to address this issue. 2 oz or 10% is a pretty significant difference. Unless they made a design change somewhere along the line that changed the requirement on the charge.

 

[timtlu]

This confuses me. My brand new Ram has a 510 sticker. Isn't a higher number likely to lead to a more efficient AC system? Was 567 'right' and Ram made a mistake and dropped it to 510?

That's the question, in my eyes. Did they change something in response to a flaw they found and subsequent fix, or did they flaw changing something, creating worse cooling?

Seems there is not any clarity in what sticker and fill level is actually correct. Or could two different levels be correct based on build date and possibly different components?

 

[ac1dd]

That's the question, in my eyes. Did they change something in response to a flaw they found and subsequent fix, or did they flaw changing something, creating worse cooling?

Seems there is not any clarity in what sticker and fill level is actually correct. Or could two different levels be correct based on build date and possibly different components?

Sure would be nice if Chrysler engineers would be willing to communicate with customers, the silence makes things worse since it keeps customers guessing, frustrated, and disgusted.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

That's the question, in my eyes. Did they change something in response to a flaw they found and subsequent fix, or did they flaw changing something, creating worse cooling?

Seems there is not any clarity in what sticker and fill level is actually correct. Or could two different levels be correct based on build date and possibly different components?

If they made a change to the condenser or evap coil somewhere mid build this would account for the change in charge requirements. An overcharged system say 567g in a 510g system is way worse than an under charged system of 510g in a 567g system. Undercharged will result in poor performance possible icing on the coil but the pressure switch on the low side should remedy this and the biggest problem would be insufficient cooling until the charge level is correct. An overcharged system would still have the poor performance but runs the risk of sending liquid refrigerant through components that are only designed to handle the refrigerant as a gas like the compressor. Liquid refrigerant through a compressor or whats referred to as slugging will trash the internals with a quickness. Unfortunately the system isn't designed to be able to check the super heat on the system to see if you have a "wet" outlet at the evap coil.

 

[Differia]

I had my A/C system serviced twice. They found leaks twice. Still no change in performance.

Do you guys hear noise coming through your A/C lines when the fan speed in turned way down?

 

[timtlu]

Sure would be nice if Chrysler engineers would be willing to communicate with customers, the silence makes things worse since it keeps customers guessing, frustrated, and disgusted.

Agreed. Not sure why I would need a diagnosis at the dealer to determine if my charge sticker is right, but that's what I was advised by RamCares when inquiring this exact question. Shouldn't the question of "what is the correct AC fill capacity?" be as simple to answer as what is the correct horsepower or maximum payload with information deriven from the VIN?

 

[timtlu]

If they made a change to the condenser or evap coil somewhere mid build this would account for the change in charge requirements. An overcharged system say 567g in a 510g system is way worse than an under charged system of 510g in a 567g system. Undercharged will result in poor performance possible icing on the coil but the pressure switch on the low side should remedy this and the biggest problem would be insufficient cooling until the charge level is correct. An overcharged system would still have the poor performance but runs the risk of sending liquid refrigerant through components that are only designed to handle the refrigerant as a gas like the compressor. Liquid refrigerant through a compressor or whats referred to as slugging will trash the internals with a quickness. Unfortunately the system isn't designed to be able to check the super heat on the system to see if you have a "wet" outlet at the evap coil.

Sounds like exactly what happened on post #18 here.

HVAC Squeak after truck is shut down

Just wondering if anyone else has the squeak / letting air out of a balloon slowly sound after running the truck and shutting it off? probably 10-15 seconds of squeak anywhere from 0-30 seconds after shutdown of the vehicle. Gonna try and record it soon, don't drive too much lately but noticed...

5thgenrams.com

 

[Tom488]

Sounds like exactly what happened on post #18 here.

Except here's the problem with that. We know that the A/C sticker changed from the 567g (rev. AA) changed to 510g (rev. AB) sometime between 05/18 and 08/18. So why did Ram79Hemi's tech, on 06/19, state that his sticker (510g, rev. AB) was wrong, replace it with the earlier one (rev AA, 567g), and fill the system to 567g?

I suspect that tech misread the notes in the STAR case. Otherwise, we've got a complete clusterf*** going on here, with a whole host of people at FCA not paying attention, and making a bad problem worse.

I tend to believe in the lone confused dealer tech, rather than a clueless engineering department.

 

[BeauxXL1200]

I’m sorry but Ram Care is useless on this issue. They open a case for your complaint but nothing happens despite the case being open when you go to the dealer and they tell you it’s within specs, or it was low on refrigerant and we topped it off, or there was a small leak and we fixed it. And afterwards, there’s no improvement in the performance of your AC. Sorry. Nothing Ram Care can do for you.

And it seems they can’t even persuade FCA to inform owners about the correct amount of refrigerant for our trucks. It’ll be interesting to see how the 2020’s AC performs. Due to all the complaints, I suspect FCA has remedied the problem for the 2020s. I further suspect that FCA will never admit that there’s an AC under performance issue with many of our 2019 trucks.

 

[timtlu]

Except here's the problem with that. We know that the A/C sticker changed from the 567g (rev. AA) changed to 510g (rev. AB) sometime between 05/18 and 08/18. So why did Ram79Hemi's tech, on 06/19, state that his sticker (510g, rev. AB) was wrong, replace it with the earlier one (rev AA, 567g), and fill the system to 567g?

I suspect that tech misread the notes in the STAR case. Otherwise, we've got a complete clusterf*** going on here, with a whole host of people at FCA not paying attention, and making a bad problem worse.

I tend to believe in the lone confused dealer tech, rather than a clueless engineering department.

Agree with you. It sounds like the dealer misinterpreted and messed up. But why can't we just get a clear answer from anybody what the level is supposed to be (and on what trucks) as it is obvious that it was changed somewhere along the line?

 

[AlphaRebel]

I have a 2019 RAM Rebel it was the very first thing I noticed compared to my 2015 F-150. The AC is average at best. I just got my sunroof tinted with ceramic film as well as my 5 cab windows has helped huge with the heat when first getting in. Still doesn’t help the fact that this AC unit is poor. I sure hope FCA has a fix for this.


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[dmodem]

So, I've been relatively overall displeased with A/C performance in my limited; however, with recent temperatures of 85+, the A/C feels no different than having the outside vents turned on. If the A/C is blowing 60 degrees at 85 -90 outside temperatures, I wouldn't be surprised. Sad thing is, I've honestly owned 70+ vehicles over the years, and I've recharged poor A/C systems to get good results. My $65k new Ram has the worst A/C performance of any vehicle I've ever owned - including 5 previous Rams. Although I have a recall appointment and A/C TSB scheduled for 7/25, I'm concerned no changes will occur with A/C performance.

 

[Differia]

Good luck with dealer. I had my A/C serviced twice. Each time they said they found a leak. Replaced parts and recharged system. A/C performance is still horrible no change at all.

When my fan is on low I notice some noise running through the lines. I contacted the service department and they said this is normal with these new systems but bring it back in if I notice the A/C not working correctly. hahaha

Have any of you guys noticed noise running through the lines with the fan speed on low?

Yesterday was 115 degrees outside with a real feel of 118. I was getting 70 degrees out of the driver side. This A/C is an absolute joke.
I honestly do not know how Ram is even selling these during the summer months in my state.

 

[ColoradoCub]

If you have one of the crap AC afflicted Rams the only way to fix it is by blocking off flow from the heater core. I went from a coldest of 54 on the drivers center vent to 44 with the heater valve in place. It’s an absolute god sent.

 

[dmodem]

If you have one of the crap AC afflicted Rams the only way to fix it is by blocking off flow from the heater core. I went from a coldest of 54 on the drivers center vent to 44 with the heater valve in place. It’s an absolute god sent.

That's nice, but on a new truck, a hack shouldn't need to be the answer.