Weak AC anyone?

[GA Jet]

I am currently living in the desert where the outside air temps get up to the 120F range with the cab of the truck hitting 135F at times. So to say that AC is important is not just a creature comfort at this point! My wife's 2019 Ram 1500 Classic AC cools down fast and will make the cab of the truck down right cold in just a few minutes. Once cool, you can turn down the AC fan to Low speed and stay comfortable.

On my Power Wagon, that does not seem to be the case. I have to keep the fan on medium to high pretty much at all times, the air doesn't feel as cool coming out of the vents either. I'm not so sure how to take a super accurate reading with my IR thermometer, because I can make it go in the negative degrees Fahrenheit if I point it straight up the vent. Just aiming at the plastic slats though, I think there was only a 10-15 degree difference. I guess I need to remeasure to actually be helpful in describing the problem.

Bottom line, is it normal for the Ram 2500 to not have as cold AC as the 1500 or do I need to take this truck in for warranty work? I only have 7K miles on the Power Wagon. Thanks for any advice yall might have

 

[Brutal_HO]

There's a TSB to replace the HVAC box for 19-20 trucks. Reported as any 19-20 built before 8-20.

AC Fix TSB (Pre 8/20 build trucks)

TSB #24-001-20 UPDATED TSB: The current TSB is 24-013-21 (new parts list) https://hdrams.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-c-issues-anyone-else.573/post-44758

hdrams.com

 

[Will_T]

I have a new 3500 and weak is exactly the word I would use to describe how my AC performed over the past two weeks in Utah, Nevada, and Eastern Oregon. Outside temps from high 90s to 109.

 

[AnthonyD1978]

Mine seems weak and the vented seats too, but not sure if it's just because we had some ~100 degree weather recently. I'm going to bring it up to my dealer in a few weeks and see if it's something other than the TSB issue. The TSB requires them to pull the whole dash and AC ducting under the dash. Not something I think I want the dealer to do.

 

[akguy09]

The AC sucks in my 2021 PW also, have to keep it on MAX AC just to get some cool air. The flow I fixed by taking the cabin filter out

 

[Iowagon]

Mine seems week and the vented seats too,

Same. Vented seats seem to cool on their own schedule and effort. Definitely not consistent.

 

[GA Jet]

Yeah, glad I'm not the only one having the problem I guess... my truck was built 10/20 so it should* be clear on the TSB. Shame this is such an issue, my wife's 1500 AC is flawless, just wish mine was as good too!

 

[idratherplaytennis]

The AC sucks in my 2021 PW also, have to keep it on MAX AC just to get some cool air. The flow I fixed by taking the cabin filter out

Wait.. my 2021 PW has a cabin filter? I thought they stopped using cabin filters back in the early 2000's (my 2011 Silverado I traded in didn't have one and a lot of research was turning up that was the case). If they added them, glad to know- I used to always hate being around people smoking outside my truck and the smells drifting into the cab when I wasn't on recirculate. Conversely the recirculate would cause a build up of moisture in the system that would make it a bit musty when I wasn't using the regular air flow enough. My A/C seems to be going fine but I've only had the truck half a month and hottest we've had here is around the 80's and I tend to leave it set to Auto and around 68-70 degrees.

 

[Jarred]

Wait.. my 2021 PW has a cabin filter? I thought they stopped using cabin filters back in the early 2000's (my 2011 Silverado I traded in didn't have one and a lot of research was turning up that was the case). If they added them, glad to know- I used to always hate being around people smoking outside my truck and the smells drifting into the cab when I wasn't on recirculate. Conversely the recirculate would cause a build up of moisture in the system that would make it a bit musty when I wasn't using the regular air flow enough. My A/C seems to be going fine but I've only had the truck half a month and hottest we've had here is around the 80's and I tend to leave it set to Auto and around 68-70 degrees.

Cabin air filter is present and located behind the glove box like you would expect. Agreed on older trucks though, my 2011 1500 didn't have one either.

 

[idratherplaytennis]

Cabin air filter is present and located behind the glove box like you would expect. Agreed on older trucks though, my 2011 1500 didn't have one either.

Thanks. It's strange because when I searched around for my 2011 because I had become aware of them, everything said they stopped putting them in trucks, where as before they used to have them. Maybe they did stop for a few years or it was a Chevy thing. I don't know, I had a huge black cover for something down where I expected it to originally be until I found out it didn't have one. Still loved the truck, that was only a minor inconvenience. But glad to know I have one on this for my own maintenance purposes.

 

[AnthonyD1978]

I've read about other trucks outside of the TSB years with the same issues as well. Just another reason to not have the dealer pull out my interior.

Then again, trucks that had the TSB performed state their AC is much better now. Could be placebo though.

 

[akguy09]

To be honest I find my brake pedal quite soft on my PW also, my 12' 3500 Cummins truck had way better brake feel

 

[AnthonyD1978]

To be honest I find my brake pedal quite soft on my PW also, my 12' 3500 Cummins truck had way better brake feel

Are you running a bigger tire than OEM? When I went to 37s and a mud terrain my initial bite with the brakes got really bad. With 35 ATs it wasn't that noticeable.

I upgraded my pads and now I'm pretty close to OEM brake pedal feel again.

 

[akguy09]

Are you running a bigger tire than OEM? When I went to 37s and a mud terrain my initial bite with the brakes got really bad. With 35 ATs it wasn't that noticeable.

I upgraded my pads and now I'm pretty close to OEM brake pedal feel again.

Nope, stock duracraps