zulusafari

My truck has a similar problem -- intermittent A/C. It blows cold for awhile, then gets warm. I always have airflow, though, but it gets too warm. If I turn to straight vent for a minute or two, then back to an A?C setting, the cold air returns for awhile. One day it did this for an entire 300 mile trip, while another day with similar temps it didn't do it at all. I checked the coolant pressures on the low side, and it was low so I added some refrigerant to the 30 psi mark. Everything ran fine for awhile. Then it went warm again, so I checked the low side pressure again and it was over 60 psi! What causes that?? When I shut off the A/C for a few minutes, everything gets back to normal for awhile and then pressure goes high/air goes warm. Any suggestions? Is there a compressor problem? "Momma" definitely doesn't like riding in a black truck with no A/C in the Iowa summertime.

Sittingbull2

Mine did the same thing blew warmer on the passenger side and cooler on the drivers side. Would stop blowing out the vents almost to nothing, turn it off drive awhile then it would work again. Problem solved by adding Freon been a year now blows ice cold.

Sittingbull

HarleyHauler

Sounds like a more standard issue than I expected. I will definitely check the freon levels first before heading off to the dealer (I can't stand having them fix problems that I could fix myself!).

Texas summers can be nasty, especially without the cool stuff in the cab. I gotta get this fixed before the constant hi temps start up...

Ramirezh

Wow, you beat me to it. I was about to add my additional symptoms (the blowing less at higher speeds and the passenger/driver side difference).

It would be nice if its something as simple as adding some freon!

megajoltman

Well any vehicle I have had with air over time will leak down, filled up problem solved.

"On average most vehicles lose up to 15% per annum. This leakage can be caused when then system is not used during the winter months. Thus allowing the small “O” ring seals to dry out resulting in a gradual deterioration in system performance. If this continues, eventually the system will not be able to operate at all.'

http://www.motorpoint.com.au/car-air...ing-system.asp

cameroneod

The ac is out in mine now and I had identical issues. The system maintains pressure, no leaks whatsoever and Im really not sure where to go from here. Some spendy parts in that ac system.

HarleyHauler

Unfortunately due to work related travel, I won't have a chance to get mine addressed for another week or so. Wish me luck...

HarleyHauler

Well folks, here is an update on my situation.

Had a trustworthy mechanic friend (fellow rider) look into my system. Pressures were AOK for the refrigerant, verified the flow issues from the various vents, and called around to inquire from Dodge and other mechanics. He found out that this is a fairly COMMON problem and that it is most likely the blend door mechanism.

I took the vehicle to Dodge and, due to schedules (mine and theirs), I won't e able to get it in for analysis until the 25th. I purchased the extended warranty (thankfully) which apparently covers the entire AC system, but the dealer said "maybe - depends on what they find to be the problem". We'll see about that!

My mechanic friend offered this advice: if you are out of warranty, get a hold of the District Representative for your area and contact them directly. They do not work for any dealership, they work for Dodge, and can assist in different ways. The dealer will try to have you talk to the Service Manager, but don't fall for that - contact the District Representative. You may get the best response by calling the Customer Service # for Dodge and asking them for the name and number of your rep.

Once I get some more info on my case, I will post an update....

Haulin_in_Dixie

On mine, since it was new, it will drop out sometimes at a red light, go warm. As soon as the rpm's come up it starts putting out cold again. This problem has been through two dryers and three or four pump downs and recharges due to engine changes.

Are not all Dodge pickups capallary tube system? Mine sure is. Most of the frozen cores come from the valve system like the older systems.

EDWRDS

my ac is doing the same thing hot and cold when idle hot higher rpms cold! Delear said it was low on 134 found leak at val's still doing the same thing!

Machinos

My '03 (not a diesel but it's still a Dodge...) just developed an A/C problem today. I just got done driving through the 120 degree weather in the southwest (literally...120 degrees) so if it had broken there I wouldn't have been surprised, but this happened when I was almost back home in MN. Went in to get gas, then came back out and idled the truck, but the A/C was blowing hot, HUMID air. Revving up the engine cooled it slightly but only very slightly. Seems to work good when I'm actually driving, but as soon as I get to a stop light it'll crap right out again. Plus I don't think it's actually working as well as it should when I'm driving, it takes longer to freeze me at full blast than I think it did before.

For the last 6 months it's always been the case where me revving it up a little while idling will make the heat hotter or the cold cooler, but it's always been fine keeping the cab cool while idling on its own, until now. What really concerns me is HOW hot and humid the "bad" air is...way hotter and more humid than it was outside. I left my truck for 5 minutes while it was running and when I got back in, there was condensation dripping off the vent-facing side of the shift lever.

I'm gonna take it in to the local mechanic, but is there something I can check for to narrow down the problem first?

HarleyHauler

Sounds like it may be along the same lines as mine with the blend door (as the dealer put it). Supposedly the system is supposed to blend the hot and cold air, accordingly, and direct the air to the different sides of the cab at the same time. It may be that yours has gotten stuck in a 'heat' position and is causing the issue.

From what my mechanic buddy told me (hold on for the bad news) is that to correct a blend door issue, the cost is usually around $1100! Thank God I bought the extended warranty!

Ramirezh

Ok, here is my contribution of symptoms. I had a 19 hour ride back to troubleshoot things (from the end user side).

Steps Performed

1. Putting the AC at full blast cools very cold. It will blow longer when on full blast than when on lower fan speeds.
2. At the point where vents are barely blowing air (if any at all), I turned the off the circ. **** (let the outside air in), turned off the AC (snowflake button)
3. Waited a few minutes, then turned back to circ. (inside air), turned AC on (snowflake button)
4. Cold air once again
5. repeat above as needed

Findings

Conclusion
Based on the ice part, I think something is freezing up in there and blocking a passage, hence you can hear the fan working hard, but nothing coming out.

of course...I have NO idea what this means or what needs to be done to fix it

HarleyHauler

Sounds to me like your evaporator is freezing up. That usually happens when humidity is high and extreme cooling is desired. In this case, it may be a coolant level issue or something else. I am no AC guru, so correcting it is beyond me. I have a week before my case gets analyzed (from the dealer side) to see what the correction will be.

Big Nate

Just had a blend door fall off and hit the blower motor three weeks ago. This is what I was told anyway. Air flow dropped dramatically and the blower motor shook badly then the evap box started condensing water.

I was a bit disappointed this would happen under 20K miles with a truck just at 1 year. Warranty got this one but what happens when warranty is gone?
AC works fine now until the outside temps exceed 100 degrees then I can't make it cool enough.