Our AC system SUCKS

Yea, I think humidity plays a role also. Your humidity is under 15% . When the humidity is over 70% my AC takes longer to cool.

I think the heat index is what needs to be looked at


What is the heat index?


"It's not the heat, it's the humidity". That's a partly valid phrase you may have heard in the summer, but it's actually both. The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. This has important considerations for the human body's comfort. When the body gets too hot, it begins to perspire or sweat to cool itself off. If the perspiration is not able to evaporate, the body cannot regulate its temperature. Evaporation is a cooling process. When perspiration is evaporated off the body, it effectively reduces the body's temperature. When the atmospheric moisture content (i.e. relative humidity) is high, the rate of perspiration from the body decreases. In other words, the human body feels warmer in humid conditions. The opposite is true when the relative humidity decreases because the rate of perspiration increases. The body actually feels cooler in arid conditions. There is direct relationship between the air temperature and relative humidity and the heat index, meaning as the air temperature and relative humidity increase (decrease), the heat index increases (decreases).

 

The front bumper honestly has plenty of openings that I would bet it flows just as much if not more air than stock. As far as moving the intercooler. I would have to be extremely creative with it. It’s actually pretty big and there isn’t many good places to put it. I would like to do a pusher fan. Maybe I can some how space out the intercooler from the condenser to fit a fan in there. I doubt it though.

I just want to say I find it interesting my 05 tundra appears to have a smaller condenser and the ac works better than my taco. It does suffer slightly when stopped, but I’ve always attributed it to the 353k miles on it.

 

Not sure how to calculate it, but it’s currently 114 F @ 8% humidity

 

Im just saying move it so you can peak down at the condensor to see its health.

 

Time to head down to Zuma!

 

I dont think it’s the front that is the problem. My stock rad was all bent up on the side close to the motor (no clue how).

Or I guess I could try using some NuBrite to clean the condenser maybe that will help. I think the issue is an air flow and efficiency problem.

 

Lol over here in DC area they would’ve put us in a “heat wave warning” from the national weather service. They did this this past week and I was like wtf is this? I had never seen such a thing living in Georgia with 100+ degree humid summers.

 

Oh we are definitely in a heatwave warning right now

 

115 one minute and rain the next..


Also I shut the far passenger vent. Holy crap I wish the fan blew that hard all the time, I could actually feel cold air.

 

For those of you who've installed condenser fans, which brands, models and sizes did you use? I seem to remember a 10" fitting in the front. I can't seem to find anything over 800cfm. I know static pressure plays an important role with fan selection too, the cfm will drop when static pressure increases

 

Yes it will be hot.

 

Yep, condenser temp should be 20-30f over ambient temp.

 

So, a follow up on my previous post. Yesterday, I spent 30 minutes sitting in my truck, idling in the heat. 113° 20% humidity.

Now, depending on how much I trust the scale on the AC machine that I used the other day to evac and then recharge (dye added too); My system had been running basically half full. After meddling with it, I can say that AC performance is definitely improved when driving. At idle though, I’m having a difficult time concluding that it’s much better than before.

My truck idles at about 750 rpm. Even an rpm increase of just 250 rpm to 1000 rpm made a huge difference in vent register temps. So, just throwing an idea out there, what about a mild pulley ratio change to spin the fan just a bit faster? Then, seal up the shroud as well as possible to maximize the amount of air it pulls through the radiator. Further sealing between the radiator and the condenser could also be of benefit. But, I’m hesitant to do that fearing that it could restrict airflow through the radiator during normal driving.

 

Now that is been hot in SoCal I’ve been testing my fan more. 95 degrees today and at idle I’m blowing 62 at idle and the fan did NOTHING. 62 at idle I’m sweating my balls off in this truck. I’m pissed at this ac system. Shit blows in the 40s on the freeway even when it’s 90-100 degrees out

 

Mine is only blowing at 60 F on the freeway.. I just got it recharged like 6-8 months ago. I think I have a problem and I agree this AC system is sht.

 

Some of the posts maybe due to a problem like a leak.
BUT, the most part of the posts here are complaining a problem that is just part of refrigeration in general!
Yes, most modern A/C's do not work as well as they did back in the 70/80's when we used R-12 for the systems.
The newer R-134a will not remove the humidity as well! Period. As I said earlier in this thread it's the nature of an a/c. When it is above 100 outside and the cab is well above 115° the system will only cool air 20~25 degrees at a time. So it takes time to cool a cab down. Also when a truck is at idle the compressor will not be turning at it's fullest capacity. That is science.
The changing of evaporators or condensers will not really fix the problem. In fact most of the time it makes more problems.
If your truck can't cool you down, get it looked at.
My 2009 has kept me cool in southern Arizona for almost 10 years and I have fixed nothing. Is it 40°, no, but 80° is great when the cab is 120°. And it will get cooler as I drive. Like it has been said, I have to turn it down after a while.

Yuma,

 

Mines blowing ice cold on the freeway. Like 48 today and it’s 101 degrees

 

20 pages and still waiting on someone to get out a thermometer and get some datapoints... Actually make some changes... and get some more datapoints

 

We should just keep on chatting about it from the arm chair.

Mine is cold enough for me most days unless stopped in traffic around noon on a 95+ day which I don't do often

 

Same here.

I have provided data before and after the e fan and no changes. I washed out my condenser today so we will see if that changes anything for me.