How is your AC performing?

[aldive]

With this nationwide heat wave, how is your AC performing?

What temperature is the air from the vents with AC on max and 95 F plus ambient temperature?

 

[gensic11]

Well, I just got my A/C fixed finally (was 2 lbs low on pressure, after 3 years of having no A/C thinking it was something else since i tried filling the freon myself not knowing the Autozone pressure guage was a POS).. anyways i haven't tested the actual temperature but it's been hot as hell here.. finally has cooled down to low 90s but i would say it's blowing pretty cold. I wish I could give an estimate but i'm afraid it would be way off.. i'm guessing it's blowing low 50's to 40's?? nice and cold.. although it takes a while for it to cut through the hot air in the truck.. but once it does it gets pretty cool

 

[Texan01]

Mine on max even on 106 degree days, could get the cabin down to low 40s as measured from the air vents, normal setting it could only get 70 degree air.

 

[Maniak]

Last Saturday it was 110F out.. I was in town, not quite stop/go, but never got over 35mph...

A/C on "max a/c" with the fan set on 3 (2nd highest) I had vent temps of upper 50's..

Of course, I'm sure once I get a cover for the sunroof it will cool off the truck better.. Right now I have a big window over my head which makes the a/c have to work much harder.

We are running r-134 with a variable oriface tube. Actualy, there are 2 of them in there.. The first one blew into the Evaporator (and is now a blockage) and I didn't bother replacing the evaporator, I just put in another oriface tube, evacuated the system, and charged it..

I seem to be able to get the a/c to run about 50-55 degrees below ambient temp which is problably pretty good since I have two tranny coolers in front of the condensor which I know block some air.

~Mark

 

[aldive]

Just tested mine .... with ambient temperature at 96 F, the center vent with max AC set and the blower on the next to fastest setting, temperature is 54 F. This is a difference of 42 F.

It seems to me that cooling the interior of my truck "seems" to take longer than it has in the past.

Its not just hot, its damn hot.

 

[snocross1985]

How are you guys measuring vent temps?

 

[Maniak]

I have 2 instant read thermometers.. One is from my neighbors shop (he closed the shop) and the other is from Harbor freight.. They read within a few degrees of each other.

BTW.. The vent temp before I started the truck when it was 110F outside was 140F (and I keep the windows, including sunroof cracked open a bit during the day) and the transmission pan temp was 135F (and the truck was sitting for over 8 hours since about 7:30 a.m).

~Mark

 

[aldive]

How are you guys measuring vent temps?

I use a refrigeration thermometer that I incert in the center vent.

 

[snocross1985]

OK. Thanks Mark and Al. I think I may have one of those refrigeration thermometers around here like the one you showed Al. I will have to give this a try and see what kind of temps I am getting.

 

[Diddy74]

penny wise and dollar foolish

When it got unbearable I knew I had to do something and of course durning a heat wave cheapest any shop would quote me was $125 for complete flush and recharge..My compressor was cycling every few seconds so I knew it was low. I took the frugal route and bought the R134 can(bout $20) from autozone and gave it a boost..The immediate results were fantastic, the compressor stayed on pressure was with in range and no more sauna while waiting for the AC to struggle to get the temp to a comfortable level. Now i'm a bit concerned because when I went to add wiper fluid there was an immense amount of condensation on the evaporator and orifce tube. I read other threads that this was problematic in X's that had insulation around the evaprator causing it to rust. Mine doesnt have the insulation but could there be a leak that I need to address before a really expensive problem comes along?

 

[ions]

Hottest its been in my truck has been 106 and I haven't used the A/C at all this yr. I just roll all the windows down and drive.

 

[Lt.Jim]

With ambient temps of 90+ I have been getting vent temps around mid 50s. The other night the ambient temp was 78 and I got a vent temp of 43.5. With today's 100+ temps I'll be happy with 65 to 70.

 

[gijoecam]

I read other threads that this was problematic in X's that had insulation around the evaprator causing it to rust. Mine doesnt have the insulation but could there be a leak that I need to address before a really expensive problem comes along?

It's normal and nothing to worry about. If the pipe is colder than ambient, it'll condense water vapor out of the air, just like a cold glass of water at a picnic will. I wouldn't worry.

Now if it's actually turning frosty and icing up, then I might start to worry.

Not sure what the air temp was yesterday from the vents, but I know that on my 40-minute ride home, closed sunroof, closed windows, on MAX AC, both front and rear fan on high, it was still warm in the car when I got home from my 40-minute commute, although it was significantly less humid in there. The vent temp never seemed to get down to the normal level of chilliness it normally gets, but it was about as good as could be expected.

98 degrees officially here yesterday, with tropical humidity.

Also, I noticed that dropping it out of OD on the freeway seemed to help the temps drop a few extra degrees at the vent. I'm wondering if it was the extra airflow across the condenser generated by the higher RPMS, increased rotation of the compressor, or just my imagination? I'm going to steal a refrigeration thermometer for the ride home and see what it says.

-Joe

 

[msmith65]

50 F center vent at 100 F ambient, while moving.

Sitting still, the vent temp rises to 60.


'93 Ex converted to 134, new (heavy duty) fan clutch (aargh!)
checked with a digital temp probe

 

[gijoecam]

Played with mine the other day, and will do it some more this weekend (slightly cooler) ambient forecasted this weekend)

To start with, 96 degree ambient temps, hot interior. I set it to MAX AC, closed the windows and the sunroof, turned both the front and rear AC on high, and went for a drive.

-After 10 minutes of driving on the freeway, it stabilized at 66.4 degrees.
-Stopped at the end of the off-ramp, the vent temp actually dropped to 63.1 and stabilized.
-In traffic, I turned down the fan speed to the #3 setting, and the temp dropped to 59.0 and stayed there, regardless of the driving speed, stopped or running.
-Dropped the fan speed to #2, and the temp dropped to 58, and again, never moved.

The lower temps with the fan running slower makes sense as the evaporator is able to draw more heat out of the air at lower fan speeds. It won't cool the car any faster, but it feels like it is a bit cooler.

I need to hook up a set of gauges to it to see what's happenin'.

-Joe

 

[elibutton]

A/C not as cold...

Well my gf owns a 1998 Explorer Sport, and just recently we noticed the A/C doesn't work as well as it used to. It is still cold, but not as cold. I had a mechanic take a look at it, he said it could use a little more freon (about 1/2 can) and he said the drier was leaking - he saw some corrosion and signs of oil leakage. The other noticeable issue is when you turn on the car (usually the A/C is on already) the smell from the vents is a bit more musty or moldy than it used to be, a noticeable change in smell.

I'm going to add a 1/2 can of freon and see how it goes, hopefully I don't ruin anything else. I heard if you add too much freon it can screw the system up bad. As for the drier, I assume this can be easily replaced? I saw some instructions on the forum somewhere.

 

[ma96782]

elibutton,


Replacement of the accumulator:

AC Accumulator Removal (Pics)

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138710&highlight=accumulator



Accumulator removal and replacement is straight forward.
1. Loosen the nut holding the evaporator line and connector to pressure switch
2. Remove the compressor line with special A/C connection tool
3. Loosen screw holding bracket.
4. Remove accumulator, pulling straight up.
5. Transfer switch.
6. Pour 2 oz of PAG 100 oil into accumulator
7. Installation is reverse of removal, use new oil rings

Some advice:
Keep caps on replacement accumulator until necessary to remove for installation. Change the orifice.

BTW if the accumulator is the factory one (1998)......perhaps it time to replace it anyway......just an opinion.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Jason94sport]

I have no idea what the vent temp is. But mine works fine if I'm moving. However if i'm not moving the ac gets warmer, & if the temps are above 90 & it's humid(like SFLA is) it doesn't work that good. I have 15% tint all around also. If the temp is like 75-80 it will freeze you out though.

 

[HardTech]

Not sure how cold it gets, but it will freeze me out even if its 107 degrees outside. Then again I replaced the whole A/C system a few months ago. Not as costly as I thought it would be. Its always nice having to turn it off max a/c because your freezing.

Frozen on the inside of the car, and in flames on the outside. Im ready for the heatwave in Dallas to end. Ill take temps tomorrow