supersonictoys

well my wifes 04.5 was blowing colder on the left side of the dash as I'm reading alot of these trucks do , almost warm on the right side. I did some reading here on the forum and now understand that the air to the dash is fed through the air conditioning's evaporator and into 2 side by side ducts. one feeds the left side of the dash and the other feeds the right side. what I couldn't originally understand is why both ducts wouldn't be getting the same temp air to both of these ducts until I read somewhere that the evaporator isn't just a strait cross flow unit like a cars radiator but rather the coolant enters one side of the evaporator and zigzags up and down till it exits on the far side . it made since to me that the entry side of the evap unit would be colder than the exit side especially if the coolant level was a bit low. since my air was so much warmer on the right side of the dash, (65 on the drivers side and 81) on the passenger side after idling for 10 minutes with the air on recirc with windows down on a 95 degree day, I figured that the coolant level must be low so I bought one of those reuseable r134 fill kits that has the gauge on the back and crewed on a new can of 134 and proceeded to check the coolant level . it showed that it was within the safely "filled" level but was way down on the low side of the "filled" area on the gauge. almost to the "add coolant level". I started filling the system and added a whole can. the passenger side air dropped from 80 degrees to 68 but the gauge on the fill kit still wasn't even in the middle of the "filled" area on the gauge. I let the truck run for another 5 minutes or so and hooked up another full can and added the whole thing. now the gauge read just slightly below the middle of the "filled" area on the gauge and the air on the passenger side dropped again to around 61 degrees and the drivers side was blowing 58. I hooked up the 3rd and last can I had and started filling when all of the sudden "BANG!" ....... LOL just kidding. it gladly swallowed the whole can and now the air on both sides blows about 56 degrees while idling and stays cool even under hard acceleration. while driving around the air gets so cold you want to turn it down after just a few minutes. I have no temp difference between the left and right sides of the dash. whats the deal here?? I know this is just a cheapy fill kit I am using but when finished filling the gauge read dead in the middle of the safely filled area and the air works great even though , according to dodges specs I should be way over filled since I just added 3 12oz cans to a system that wasn't empty top begin with. doesn't dodge say this system is supposed to take something like 22oz?? it took 36 oz to get mine to blow frosty. anyone have any thoughts on this?? is my system now in some danger even though it still reads well in the safe level on the fill kit I used?? could dodge be wrong on the amount of coolant required? it blows as real nice now~~

Spooler

Not to wise to only look at the low side. You also want to look at the high side. The high and low pressure will tell you what is going on. If you get it wrong you can create issues, such as a big leak due to overcharging the system. I only had to add one can to mine. That's all it needed.

supersonictoys

so many people claim they are still having problems after recharging to the factory recommended amount, one guy said he added "5 cans!" before his showed the proper levels. you added 1 can to an empty system or ?? I know you have had your system apart like 10 times. how much coolant is in your system now?? more than the factory recommended amount I'm guessing?

Spooler

I doubt it. Last time it was done we added 2.00lbs (due to new orifice tube line) of R134a. This time it was low I didn't have access to a RobinAir R134a machine and didn't feel like taking it in, so I just used my A/C guage set. I am still going to take one day but it will require more due to the new condensor fan. The fan really keeps the highside pressures in check with very little fluctuation.

cawt0123

Super mine is doing the same thing that yours was doing and I was curious how much was the kit and where did you get it from.

supersonictoys

it was just one of these refill kits similar to the one in the photo and it has a reuseable thread on to the can filler with a gauge on it which shows you when your system is full. think I got it at kragen auto parts. might have been $25 or so. I bought 3 new refill cans of 134 for 6.99 each because I had used up the ones that came in the kit on my kids car. took like 15 minutes to fill and was super easy. the fill port you want is on an aluminum line maybe 6 inches from the passenger side firewall. unscrew the dust cap on the aluminum line. screw a bottle of 134 onto the filler. snap the filler kit hose onto the fitting on the aluminum line and read the level. shake the can while squeezing the trigger to fill. when the can no longer is cold, its empty. I used a $3 temperature probe that I also bought at kragen and shoved it in the passenger side vent to measure the temps. too easy to do. now it will run you out again!

cawt0123

I went and got a kit similar to that one but on my 06 you fill it in the black canister looking thing on the passanger side firewall, and now it will blow 45 deg on both sides. Thanks for the help.

aborgardt

How do you check the high side and what kind of psi should you see?

Spooler

You have to use an A/C gauge set the reads pressure. You can buy a set from any home heating and air store or from Snap-on. The Snap-on one comes with the fittings for the R134a setup and this is the set I have. I also have the highside adaptor for R12 systems. It will do both. High side pressures, it depends on the vehicle and how hot it is outside. In the winter time the highside will only get to around 200-225psi. In the hot summer, as it is now, the high side will be between 225-300 psi. with the condesor fan. Without the fan you will be between 250-450 psi. If you hit 450psi the highside switch will cut off the compressor. This is what most folks will see on the first crank of the day. The compressor will cycle on and off very quickly. This is also what happens to most everyone's R134a, the system boils it out in the summer months and by the end of the summer your system starts to act stupid and not cool noticed as the passenger side vent temp difference. The condensor fan fixes this. Once your truck warms up a bit you will notice the electric fan clutch start to come on and go off. It will keep the pressures, with the correct charge, to around 350psi on the high side max and will drop it down to 250psi with the fan on. The corrective action for Dodge is to reprogram the ECM with new values on when to activate the fan, but his will decrease fuel mileage, most folks won't like that. Wish I had a video camera, highspeed internet, and an R134a machine. I could do a better job and document everything. Stinks not having the right tools to do a jamup writeup.

hyperrcng

spooler, what are your low side pressures when you are looking at those high side numbers???

Spooler

Low sides varry from 28-38 psi in hot summer heat and 28-32 in the cooler months.

The low side depends on what the high side is doing. With no condensor fan in the summer heat on the first crank of the day with the high side spiking to 450psi, the low side is around 55-60psi.

MikeyB

AC pressure specs from the manual.



MikeyB

Spooler

All vehicle pressure specs are about the same due to R134a characteristics and thermodynamics. The only thing that throws a whammy to it is if it is an orifice tube system or expansion valve system. The pressures are a little different.

05Quad

Where is the low side service port on my '05? I see 2: one on the top of the black canister & another in the front, but the recharge hose will not fit on either. What am I doing wrong?

Spooler

The one right by(in front) of the Reciever/Dryer is the low side port which is where you charge the system. The one up front of the air filter is the highside port. Don't plug the can in here or it will blow it up due to the high pressures.