TSB #24-001-20 A/C Fix. Has anyone had it done yet? Plus are you happy with the results?

[Neurobit]

i find that people who have those thermometer in their vents are anal...they think set it at 72 and it should be like your home,,,not going to happen

Well, the techs use them. Only way to have an objective measurement and see if it’s performing to spec is to use a thermometer, otherwise all this is academic.

 

[PostPremium]

i find that people who have those thermometer in their vents are anal...they think set it at 72 and it should be like your home,,,not going to happen

How is it not going to happen when every other modern car on the road gets it done? Is Ram just incapable?

 

[c3k]

i find that people who have those thermometer in their vents are anal...they think set it at 72 and it should be like your home,,,not going to happen

LOL...

1. I am NOT going to assume that you're calling me "anal".

2. I refuse to make a joke about your use of "thermometer" and "anal". I...just...refuse...

Just to be clear, I also own some tire air pressure gauges. No, I do not keep them screwed onto the valve stems and drive around that way.

Using a thermometer (a diagnostic tool) is what will verify the "it didn't feel cool enough" comment by the customer. "Here it is on Max Cool, Recirc, with outside air temp at 76 and the output at the vent is 57," is far more actionable.

Honestly, I've never seen, or heard of, anyone just driving around with a thermometer stuck in the vents. LOL...

 

[brian42]

A simple video of a thermometer in the various vents with the outside air temp display in view should be sufficient. Show them how the supplied air is only 50-60 instead of 35-40. (Or whatever it is....)

Those thermometers are only a couple of bucks.

The old "low on freon" thing is easy to say. (<- Hey, they may be right...hence the thermometer. Facts are better than feelings.)

They will take most anything you tell them with a grain of salt, enter the concern, and pass it to the techs to look in the books to make the determination.

While it can be frustrating I understand their process. I'm sure going to a doctor's appointment then telling the doctor what's wrong because you've been Google-ing your symptoms and doing research on WebMD would illicit the same response - "thank you for the input now let me make my own professional diagnosis please".

The only time they took me input into account (besides the complaint) were the pictures of my cracked rear window frame leaking when it was raining. They definitely did study the pictures and the back of my cab to verify that those were pictures from my truck though. I'm sure plenty of people try to slide things by them so they have to do their due diligence to validate the concern. The dealership is the one paying their salary, not me.

This TSB is pretty specific and I'm not sure why my dealership doesn't take it at face value. Other than this one issue (albeit a major one) my dealership has done right by me. As much as I'd like to push the issue they will be the ones taking care of me through 2026 with my Max Care ESP so I'm not looking to hang my hat on this and potentially sour the good relationship I have with the service team for the next 5 years.

How is it not going to happen when every other modern car on the road gets it done? Is Ram just incapable?

I'm not sure of the entire path from inception to production but I'm sure things get changed along the way without going back to the beginning. As things get changed (however minute) will add up over the process to a deviation that has not been evaluated and ends up in production.

The last year of a vehicle generation is much more operational (I would say reliable but that's not completely right) than the first year of it. There are planned changes (upgrades, additional features, more options, etc.) throughout the generation but there are also engineering and production improvements that are incorporated each year to enhance what's already there. The A/C blend door is one of them (production change starting for MY 2021).

Engineeering comes up with the perfect way to accomplish something, then integration figures out how to make it fit/work on the vehicle platform, then corporate figures out how much it's going to cost to build it that way, then tells integration to make it cost less by $XXX by using YYY instead of ZZZ. Then the truck gets made but because they modified a sensor location, used a smaller actuation motor, or whatever, which results in the feature not working as the engineering team originally envisioned it.

People start bringing their truck in for X, Y, and/or Z. When enough people have a specific issue then Stellantis takes notice and then decides whether there's an issue and if it's cheaper to just keep fixing it for whoever brings it in or to re-design it (new/updated part). After they decide that then they crunch the numbers and decide if it's worth the re-tooling cost to incorporate that into future production. The A/C issue is one of those that Stellantis decided it was a problem, to build new parts, and update the production line.

That process is not a short one and to make that determination and put it on the production line in 2 years is pretty impressive. It just sucks for those of us that have a '19 or '20 with mediocre A/C. As time goes on, though, we will be an afterthought as 6, 7, 8 years into this generation we will be the minority instead the majority as we are now.

There's plenty of A/C complaints on threads around here but, in reality, we are but a handful of the hundreds of thousands of DT owner's that aren't complaining. 8 years from now we'll be a small spec of disappointment in the millions of DT owners. While we are complaining about a couple thousands dollars of work (give or take) Stellantis is looking at this in millions of dollars and how to save the most on a resolution (just like everyone trying to figure out where to go to get the best price on a new RAM).

Just my .03

 

[The Critic]

They will take most anything you tell them with a grain of salt, enter the concern, and pass it to the techs to look in the books to make the determination.

The currently open work order on my truck has the following statement for the A/C issue:

"Customer states A/C has poor performance. States on warm days takes too long for A/C to blow cold. Please check and advise. (TSB 24-001-20 may pertain to concern per customer)"

 

[brian42]

The currently open work order on my truck has the following statement for the A/C issue:

"Customer states A/C has poor performance. States on warm days takes too long for A/C to blow cold. Please check and advise. (TSB 24-001-20 may pertain to concern per customer)"

That looks like my work order for both times I've taken my truck in since the TSB came out. The second time I even gave them a copy of the TSB and highlighted the symptoms and how to bill Stellantis for it.

Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

 

[The Critic]

That looks like my work order for both times I've taken my truck in since the TSB came out. The second time I even gave them a copy of the TSB and highlighted the symptoms and how to bill Stellantis for it.

Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

I think you might need to try a different dealer. Your dealer may have techs who dislike interior work and/or they do not have someone who is competent enough to do the job, so they are trying to avoid the matter if at all possible. Plus the job does not pay particularly well so that is even less incentive to do it.

 

[brian42]

That's going to be a pet project to try and get done. I already travel 25 miles to get to this dealership and the only other one in the area that I would trust with my truck is double that distance from me (almost 2 hour round trip).

The only way I'd get it done at this point is if I dropped by and they'd approve the work just by talking with them and showing them the TSB. I'm into ESP territory so dropping my truck off for $100 and hoping the repair gets approved is not a hobby I'm looking to start.

 

[2wd]

I'm a bit alarmed that 2 folks who've had the TSB done are reporting temps in the high 40's low 50's still.

I haven't had the TSB. My AC blows ~52. If I pinch shut the heater hose I can get it down to 42. Much better temperature and a ten degree swing.

I would expect folks that have the TSB done should have their AC in the low 40's. Are the new 2021's with the updated HVAC blowing this low?

 

[NGEN]

Update:

Dropped it off last Saturday for a Monday 8am appointment. I was told 3-4 days to look at it once it was dropped off. It's Friday at 4:30pm and I believe they are finally looking at it today... On a positive note, I had a spray-in bedliner put in while it was sitting there collecting dust. Dealer actually gave a better price then most of the places around me so there is that...

 

[ac1dd]

I'm a bit alarmed that 2 folks who've had the TSB done are reporting temps in the high 40's low 50's still.

I haven't had the TSB. My AC blows ~52. If I pinch shut the heater hose I can get it down to 42. Much better temperature and a ten degree swing.

I would expect folks that have the TSB done should have their AC in the low 40's. Are the new 2021's with the updated HVAC blowing this low?

That is why I question whether or not these customers are not actually getting the repair specified in the tsb... My guess is that some dealers are flat out lying to those customers...it happens more tjan you might think

 

[NGEN]

Update:

Dropped it off last Saturday for a Monday 8am appointment. I was told 3-4 days to look at it once it was dropped off. It's Friday at 4:30pm and I believe they are finally looking at it today... On a positive note, I had a spray-in bedliner put in while it was sitting there collecting dust. Dealer actually gave a better price then most of the places around me so there is that...

Well scratch that.... 6 cars were still ahead of mine so now we are looking at Monday likely when I’m up. It’s getting a little ridiculous regarding the waiting game....

 

[brian42]

Well scratch that.... 6 cars were still ahead of mine so now we are looking at Monday likely when I’m up. It’s getting a little ridiculous regarding the waiting game....

There's an appointment time every 10 minutes for the entire business day to check in vehicles...even on Saturday at my dealership. From 0730 to 1700 that's a potential 57 vehicles a day taken in by my dealership, and that's just scheduled. Add on the vehicles that people just drop by with or shop up on a flatbed and I'm sure it's closer to 70.

My dealership has a pretty decent sized service bay but, even then, I don't think they're cranking out 70 vehicles a day to return to customers.

My dealership is pretty good about at least getting to look at the truck in a day or two but it's no skin off their nose except storage space. My dealership gave me a loaner (and charged Stellantis $40/day) during my basic warranty.

The longest my truck was at the dealership was 6 days and that included a weekend (light staff of Saturday and closed on Sunday).

 

[ldoh]

The currently open work order on my truck has the following statement for the A/C issue:

"Customer states A/C has poor performance. States on warm days takes too long for A/C to blow cold. Please check and advise. (TSB 24-001-20 may pertain to concern per customer)"

I did the same thing and the tech did what he wanted - diagnosed a leaking condenser and recommended its replacement. I was pretty certain it was a BS call since the a/c worked perfectly well with the a/c hack. I assume they had condensers on the shelf they needed to move. Needless to say I let the service manager know I wasn't happy. The next day they did the TSB and all was well.

I called around to different dealerships before selecting the above service dept and still got inadequate service. Finding a good FCA service department might be like finding a unicorn.

 

[Dave L]

I was wondering if anyone knows of the heater hose works on the V6 engine. If so what hose do I need to do it too. Thanks for the help in advance

 

[moosem]

I just got my truck back. Dropped it off first thing Monday morning... so they had it three full days.

it’s way too cold out to test the AC right now..approximately 40deg here in RI today, but I did cycle through all the different vents, etc., and everything appears to be functioning properly.. the heat is working great!

They did scratch the panel that goes between the upper and lower glove boxes, but they ordered me a new one.

Other than that, everything seems ok.. no weird noises, creeks, rattles, etc.

I will provide an update once I get a chance to test the AC performance.

Finally got around to testing my vent temps. We have not had any warm weather since having the TSB done.. yesterday was only around 70 or so, but anyway..

49 drivers side, 44 passenger

Not very impressive.

 

[brian42]

I was wondering if anyone knows of the heater hose works on the V6 engine. If so what hose do I need to do it too. Thanks for the help in advance

It does but I don't know if it's the same hose. I want to say the V6 is plumbed differently. I know that the DT has coolant going to the rear axle too so it's important to install it in the right place.

I think I remember reading it in the hack thread:

Air conditioning Hack

Today I was able to get 36-38 degrees blowing out of both the drivers side and the passenger side ac vents. Previously I was getting 44 out of the passenger side and 50-52 out of the driver side. I installed a water shut off valve in the heater hose going from water pump to the heater core. It's...

5thgenrams.com

It's a l-o-n-g thread but there's some good info in there between all the 'thanks' and 'it worked for me' posts.

 

[dbrown300]

Finally got around to testing my vent temps. We have not had any warm weather since having the TSB done.. yesterday was only around 70 or so, but anyway..

49 drivers side, 44 passenger

Not very impressive.

49 is a lot better than my 57. Dropped off my truck this morning for the TSB repair. I'll report my temps (with a thermometer in the vent ) hopefully tomorrow.

 

[bass3859]

Finally got around to testing my vent temps. We have not had any warm weather since having the TSB done.. yesterday was only around 70 or so, but anyway..

49 drivers side, 44 passenger

Not very impressive.

Pretty much the same here, after the repair, with an outside temp of about 71 degrees. I clamped the hose for about a 30 mile drive

 

[bass3859]

I had about a 60 mile drive over the weekend, following my repair. Was getting right about 51 degrees out of the vent to the right of the steering wheel, and about 53 degrees out of the vent to the left of the steering wheel. About 44-45 degrees out of both passenger vents. I pulled over about halfway and put the hose clamp on, and got a 9 degree drop from the vent to the right of the steering wheel, and a 3-4 degree drop from the remaining vents.

It seems there is a slight drop in the temp overall following the repair, but for me, the far left vent is now the warmest, and with the heater hose clamped off, it still reduces the vent temps considerably. I will wait for some warmer temps to test again, but it is likely going back to the dealer. I was really expecting much cooler temps.