A/C & hot weather question....

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
5,440
Location
KC
I have a 2007 Escape. When it gets above 85F outside, it has a real hard time cooling down the interior. When I hit 90F+, it is cooler to roll windows down sadly. My shop says all the pressures read good and the delta between outside air and inside when using fresh air intake A/C setting is close to 30F. The problem is the day they tested it was cooler than 80F outside.

So, my question is, could there be an issue where an AC performs normal at lower ambient temps but not at higher temps due to higher pressures that don't indicate problems at lower temps?
 
Last edited:
A 30F drop when it is 80F ambient is quite good. You should run the system is recirculation mode for sure. Is the interior filter restricting flow and needs to be replaced? You say it is an 2007 so was it ever much better? Ed
 
The AC in my 01 Escape with 214k still cools great. It has been high 90's with high humidity in the Dallas area this week. I always run it in max recirc setting. There is definitely something wrong there. I hate to say this but my experience has been that the dealers are the best choice for AC work.
 
Get a meat thermometer and stick it in the vent. The air coming out of the vent should be at least 40F less than outside temp.
 
In this heat and humidity my truck won't keep up unless it spends time in recirc. Humidity puts an extra load - as the AC has to dry the air before it can cool it. The escape has a large volume of air to cool also, since the SUV form includes the entire trunk region.
 
I would check the condenser for bent fins and bug and dust build up, I've had thick dusty fluff inbetween condenser and rad that have caused cooling issues for me in the past.
 
Just for some clarification, it is a brand new AC system using ford OEM parts. Condenser, evaporator, compressor, orifice, etc. The system has been vacuumed and refilled 3 times this year to clean out the gunk from the replacement. There are no leaks.

I cannot say if it has always been this way as this has been my wife's car for the first 140k miles and her usage was not the same as mine.
 
Is the electric cooling fan working properly? Some systems have a "high speed" setting for cooling the condenser in really hot weather. Also, does your system turn the water to the heater core all the way off so you AC isn't working against the heater?
 
Last edited:
Something people often fail to account for is that your vehicle has been in the sun. The interior keeps radiating heat for quite awhile after you start it, so having the windows open 1/2" at the top lets the heat escape, so it does feel cooler with windows up. Hot air rises....

Once the interior cools down, then the AC has a chance to catch up. If you're doing a long highway trip it will be hot once. If you're doing a bunch of stuff around town, or just commuting, it will probably be hot all day. It's a question of capacity of the system - it can't cool both the existing air AND all the interior surfaces right away.

A 30° reduction from OAT is pretty good. You could increase the efficiency of your system by insulating the cold side of the AC system under the hood, if it isn't already insulated.
 
Last edited:
Put a thermometer into the center vent.

I forget what my VW would blow, but it was below 40F in the worst of summer. Didn't matter, it took forever to cool down. Too much interior. But since it was blowing c wasn't the culprit.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Something people often fail to account for is that your vehicle has been in the sun. The interior keeps radiating heat for quite awhile after you start it, so having the windows open 1/2" at the top lets the heat escape, so it does feel cooler with windows up. Hot air rises....

Once the interior cools down, then the AC has a chance to catch up. If you're doing a long highway trip it will be hot once. If you're doing a bunch of stuff around town, or just commuting, it will probably be hot all day. It's a question of capacity of the system - it can't cool both the existing air AND all the interior surfaces right away.

A 30° reduction from OAT is pretty good. You could increase the efficiency of your system by insulating the cold side of the AC system under the hood, if it isn't already insulated.


I think this might be part of it but I wanted to make sure I have eliminated any other possibilities. If this is the main culprit, might be time to get some window tinting done and a clear film on the windshield. I just want to make sure before shelling out $ for something that might not help.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Is the electric cooling fan working properly? Some systems have a "high speed" setting for cooling the condenser in really hot weather. Also, does your system turn the water to the heater core all the way off so you AC isn't working against the heater?


I don't think mine has a high speed setting and I'm not sure how to check the heater core part but I assume it is fine because if I use vent outside air comes in very close to outside temperatures if my vehicle has been in the shade or garage.
 
I'd look for a clogged condensor (bugs, dust/dirt, leaves/twigs, etc) or a weak or inoperative radiator/condensor fan. When the ambient temp goes up, its harder for the condenser to shed enough heat to fully condense and cool the refrigerant, so it starts to effectively lose capacity.

The other possibility is an over-charged or over-oiled system. When there's too much compressor oil circulating with the coolant, it also cuts into system capacity and that tends to show up in hot weather.


Finally, make sure the blend doors aren't mixing heater core air in. A 30F drop in 80-degree weather is marginal, marginal, marginal. In 80F ambient, the AC system should be able to get the discharge air temp into the high 30s and the compressor should cycle on all but the highest fan speed settings. A dead giveaway would be if the compressor is cycling (keeping the evaporator core just above freezing) but the discharge temp is still too warm.
 
Maybe the pressure settings are not correct as specified? My Genesis Coupe has an error on the label under the hood. The metric weight is good but the english weight is wrong.
 
get a ac condenser foaming cleaner and spry clean the condenser. Use recirc.

I have dry eyes and I cant use my ac
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
get a ac condenser foaming cleaner and spry clean the condenser. Use recirc.

I have dry eyes and I cant use my ac
frown.gif

Couldnt you just put on some sunglasses? Or wear some minimalist goggles like these? There for motorcycle/ATV riders

slkytk.jpg
 
For what it's worth, I ran into a very similar issue with my 2003 Mercury Sable a number of years ago, oddly enough less than a year after a large portion of my A/C system was repaired/replaced after a highway incident.

The A/C worked, but it took FOREVER to cool down, and it never really got COLD. I live in Phoenix, too.. so when it was summer, I was miserable.

I tried numerous things...

Adding refrigerant just made it run warmer. I then got ahold of better equipment and properly evacuated and corrected the pressures in the system. This helped, but did not really fix the problem.

In the end, it came down to the 'blend door' settings. The system in my car was climate controlled, and I found a command procedure that made the system cycle and calibrate the blend doors. Once reconfigured, the A/C ran super cold. Better than it ever had in the past.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top