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A/C Issues? Anyone else

I hope my dealership calls me back very soon. They are supposed to be getting the parts to do this. I had a problem this morning that I think is relayed to the poor ac performance. My defroster will not keep the windshield clear today. It is 10 degrees here and snowing. As I was driving, the windshield frosted over inside and I had to pull over and wait for the defroster to clear the windshield. It struggles on high to keep up. 20210215_074503.jpg
 
Speedracer93CobraR said:
I hope my dealership calls me back very soon. They are supposed to be getting the parts to do this. I had a problem this morning that I think is relayed to the poor ac performance. My defroster will not keep the windshield clear today. It is 10 degrees here and snowing. As I was driving, the windshield frosted over inside and I had to pull over and wait for the defroster to clear the windshield. It struggles on high to keep up. View attachment 11984
Click to expand...
Did you have the ac on that will help and if its on recirculation it will stay fogged, i have 0 issues for mine i will be getting the tsb to fix it
 
AC automatically turns on when you turn on the defroster. In mine at least.
There is not nearly enough air flow.
 
Plus, and I know it's unrelated to this thread...
I am just ticked off at my truck this morning. My service stability control comes on today. 10,000 miles, purchased last April and first snow. Gonna be here all week so crappy timing.
20210215_094323.jpg
 
Speedracer93CobraR said:
AC automatically turns on when you turn on the defroster. In mine at least.
There is not nearly enough air flow.
Click to expand...
Is it on recirculation mode? That should be off and defroster on windshield only, the fan should be blowing hard enough like that
 
No. It is not on re-circulate.
I'm pretty sure that is not even a possibility, when you push the defrost button on my truck, but I made sure. It is probably related to the same reason the windshield fogs up on a hot summer evening if you sit stationary for a while with the AC on.
Never an issue with either of these things on my GMC.
 
Speedracer93CobraR said:
No. It is not on re-circulate.
I'm pretty sure that is not even a possibility, when you push the defrost button on my truck, but I made sure. It is probably related to the same reason the windshield fogs up on a hot summer evening if you sit stationary for a while with the AC on.
Never an issue with either of these things on my GMC.
Click to expand...
Perhaps its just a random one time thing i have had no issues like that
 
Just wanted to thank all of you for blazing a path to resolve the poor AC performance issue. I'm new to Ram Heavy Duty coming from a 2017 1500 that blew ice cold. I bought my 2019 2500 Tradesman CC new last June to pull a travel trailer, and the cab just never wanted to cool down towing through the Nevada desert where I live. I love everything about the new HD other than the AC. Well perhaps not the CP4 I'm reading about, but so far, so good as far as that goes. Unfortunately my local dealer assessed the AC and said everything was in spec, so it's looking like I won't be getting the TSB. I opened a case with Ram Care to see if they can assist so maybe there's still a chance. Are any of you folks getting denied at your dealer? Are they charging for the retrofit in your cases?
 
I got to try out my AC under normal conditions the other day when it was 80 degrees out(after being -2 the week before) and it blew nice and cold. I was kind of apprehensive about the AC performance being poor. The real test will come in the summer.
 
EDM said:
Just wanted to thank all of you for blazing a path to resolve the poor AC performance issue. I'm new to Ram Heavy Duty coming from a 2017 1500 that blew ice cold. I bought my 2019 2500 Tradesman CC new last June to pull a travel trailer, and the cab just never wanted to cool down towing through the Nevada desert where I live. I love everything about the new HD other than the AC. Well perhaps not the CP4 I'm reading about, but so far, so good as far as that goes. Unfortunately my local dealer assessed the AC and said everything was in spec, so it's looking like I won't be getting the TSB. I opened a case with Ram Care to see if they can assist so maybe there's still a chance. Are any of you folks getting denied at your dealer? Are they charging for the retrofit in your cases?
Click to expand...

Did the dealer only look at the AC temps when assessing? My bigger concern is the volume of air. On high the airflow seems to vary a lot regardless if Auto is set. Of course, I might change my tune after experiencing a Summer with it the way it is.
 
I agree about there seeming to be low airflow as compared to previous vehicles. The dealer reported that ac is blowing cold at 41 degrees at the ducts. This isn't surprising since the high temp yesterday was about 40. Temps were within 3 degrees between all the ducts. Pressures were at 28 psi low side and 203 psi high side. They ran actuator and cooldown tests which both passed. Refrigerant was at 100%. I got the feeling they weren't buying my story that the system struggles to keep up. I attempted to explain that I experience the problem when it's hot, not in the winter.
 
Disappointing. I guess you will need to try again when it gets warm out. With regards to the volume, I know the unit can do it. Sometimes when it is on Auto it will blow like crazy. Can't seem to get it to do that manually though.
 
Yeah, first world problem is all. Perhaps my expectations are higher than they should be. I've owned several vehicles where you had to open windows to cool off so I really can't complain. Trucks didn't cost what they do back then though. I figured that I'm experiencing the issue and there's a viable fix, so I might as well try.
 
I experienced this defrost issue the first week I had my truck (2-20 build) last March.

This will be included as a complaint in addition to the poor summer AC performance when I request the TSB for my truck.
 
My rig is scheduled to go under the knife 1 week from today so I REALLY hope it goes well. i.e. No rattles or broken parts. No indication they ever even had it with the EXCEPTION that the AC works like it SHOULD.
 
EDM said:
Just wanted to thank all of you for blazing a path to resolve the poor AC performance issue. I'm new to Ram Heavy Duty coming from a 2017 1500 that blew ice cold. I bought my 2019 2500 Tradesman CC new last June to pull a travel trailer, and the cab just never wanted to cool down towing through the Nevada desert where I live. I love everything about the new HD other than the AC. Well perhaps not the CP4 I'm reading about, but so far, so good as far as that goes. Unfortunately my local dealer assessed the AC and said everything was in spec, so it's looking like I won't be getting the TSB. I opened a case with Ram Care to see if they can assist so maybe there's still a chance. Are any of you folks getting denied at your dealer? Are they charging for the retrofit in your cases?
Click to expand...

I was initially denied the repair by my dealer. They said my A/C was within spec. However, the TSB does not state the dealership needs to diagnose the air conditioning. The TSB states, "DIAGNOSIS: If the customer describes the symptom/condition listed above, perform the Repair Procedure."

I told the dealer that I am reporting the issue, and that is all that is required to diagnose the problem. They performed the service.
 
My 2019 3500 had 4K miles when I bought it - started blowing hot on the drivers side and cold on the passenger with the AC on. Dealer repaired it under a TSB by replacing the AC housing and electrical harness. After that I had a rattle on acceleration behind the dash and then it started blowing hot on the passenger side. Its at the dealer now getting on of the blending doors replaced and some bolts tightened...
 
thestuarts said:
I was initially denied the repair by my dealer. They said my A/C was within spec. However, the TSB does not state the dealership needs to diagnose the air conditioning. The TSB states, "DIAGNOSIS: If the customer describes the symptom/condition listed above, perform the Repair Procedure."

I told the dealer that I am reporting the issue, and that is all that is required to diagnose the problem. They performed the service.
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Thanks, I tried reading that line of the TSB and was met with a brick wall. Perhaps I'll give that another try. There were behind the scenes meetings with the shop foreman and others. They seemed new to the issue and I suspect that they were weighing the potential liability of having an entire fleet of 2019 and 2020 trucks to repair.
 
EDM said:
Unfortunately my local dealer assessed the AC and said everything was in spec, so it's looking like I won't be getting the TSB. I opened a case with Ram Care to see if they can assist so maybe there's still a chance.
Click to expand...

@EDM, here are some ideas to coax the dealer into performing the repair:

1. Tell the dealer the TSB doesn't require them to reproduce the problem. The TSB states, "DIAGNOSIS: If the customer describes the symptom/condition listed above, perform the Repair Procedure."
2. Ask the dealer to get the engine coolant to operating temperature (at least 188 Fahrenheit) then turn the A/C to MAX and compare the temperature of the driver's side right vent to the the passenger's left vent. The vents are right next to each other, but they will see a significant temperature differential in the two vents. The driver's left vent will blow much warmer than the passenger's left vent, and this is one of the symptoms in the TSB which states, "left center instrument panel outlet is warmer than right side instrument panel outlets."
3. Create a video like I did that demonstrates the problem. Here is my video for reference. I never had to show this video to my dealership because they agreed to do the repair, but I had this video ready in case they kept denying the claim.
4. Explain to the dealer that there is a software bug in the HVAC module which can only be rectified by replacing the module (which is why it is in the parts list for the TSB). The software bug in the module is described in this forum post, but the summary is that the HVAC module is not reading/interpreting the temperature sensors correctly. Everything works fine as long as the HVAC is set for max heat or max cooling which is what they probably tested when they everything was "in spec." The problem exists in all trucks covered by the TSB.
5. Explain to the dealer that the fix requires installing new HVAC housing components that reroute the engine coolant lines to minimize heat transfer. I've included a picture of all the parts the dealer had to replace on my truck to fix the A/C.
6. Lastly, get @RamCares involved, as you already said.

It took the dealer 3 days to perform the repair because they had to take the entire dash, seats, center console, and lots of HVAC components. My dashboard was scratched during the repair, but the dealer agreed to replace the dashboard when the part(s) arrive.

IMG_3147.jpg
 
Wow, thanks thestuarts for such a helpful reply. I'll give all of your recommendations a try. Pretty cool to see a reduction of up to 7 degrees when you shut the valve in your video.
 
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