Sponsored

Random poor A/C performance. Condenser and Evaporator already replaced...

jimbabwe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
49
Reaction score
29
Location
GA
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT PP Convertible
Hey all,

I know there are a lot of topics out there regarding the poor A/C, but this one is rather odd and I'd like other people's take on it.

I bought my '16 PP Convertible certified pre-owned a little over a year ago. Since then, I've had a bunch of A/C issues, which is annoying. The first time I brought it in to the shop was after a 6 hour drive when there was NO A/C the whole trip. The dealer diagnosed a bad condenser AND compressor, and replaced both. That was about 2-3 months ago.

Now it seems that whenever I'm driving, the A/C performance is all over the place. I'll have it set to: Recirculating air, A/C on, Fan to 4-5, Auto temp off, Inside temperature = 68, and no seat cooling, and not touch anything during my 15 min drive to work. It's only getting up to about 85 degrees F ambient here in GA, and it seems like the A/C system is still struggling! At times, with all the settings the same, there will be periods where the system will stop blowing A/C and warm, really humid air will blow out of the vents. Then, after 5 mins or so, it will come back SUPER cold for maybe another 8 mins, and repeat, with random times in between hot and cold. At the moment, I'm trying to figure out if there's anything specific causing the issues. I've tried using Max A/C, and other settings, but all have the same result in the end.

It's been back to the dealer twice for this to be checked out, but they only run it sitting still in the shop and claim "if it's blowing out 15 degrees cooler than ambient, then it's performing up to Ford standards", and won't look at it any further, which is rather frustrating. Have other people gotten the same statement from their dealer? All that my dealer has checked since the compressor and condenser change is that the blower fan is kicking on when it sits in the shop...nothing too much further.

What it sounds like to me is even though they replaced the condenser and compressor, that they didn't charge the Freon correctly, or it is still leaking somewhere. But that is yet to be seen, since the dealer won't look at it much further. So a trip to another dealer might be in order.

So, right now, I'm hoping maybe someone else might be able to provide more insight. Some thoughts I'm curious about is if there a correlation with GT PPs or convertibles having more random A/C issues, even after the condenser has been replaced? Are there other factors I'm not thinking of right now that would be worthwhile checking? Sorry for the long winded post, I'm trying to get a grasp on everything to hopefully fix my A/C woes tofully enjoy driving the car...
Sponsored

 

Fleco17

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2017
Threads
5
Messages
101
Reaction score
22
Location
Hollister,Fl
First Name
Josr
Vehicle(s)
2017 Mustang Gt
Have you thought of taking it to another dealership? I've got a hardtop and starting to see issues with cooling down time.
 

usgiorgi

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2016
Threads
18
Messages
727
Reaction score
166
Location
Fairfax, va
Vehicle(s)
C6 Z06
It's been back to the dealer twice for this to be checked out, but they only run it sitting still in the shop and claim "if it's blowing out 15 degrees cooler than ambient, then it's performing up to Ford standards".
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


So if it's 110 out and the AC is blowing 95 out the vents, that's :ford: standards? What a load of horse shit.

Try a different dealer. That one is clearly not competent.
 
OP
OP
jimbabwe

jimbabwe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
49
Reaction score
29
Location
GA
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT PP Convertible
Thanks for the responses. Yeah, taking it to another dealer is the next step in my head. I just didn't know if someone else had these issues who could let me know what the end result was. To me, it's odd that both the compressor and evap were changed out, and I'm still having issues :shrug:

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

So if it's 110 out and the AC is blowing 95 out the vents, that's :ford: standards? What a load of horse shit.
Try a different dealer. That one is clearly not competent.
That was my exact argument to them. I have to imagine there are S550s in the SW US who don't suffer THAT much during the summer time. Unfortunately, that is the story said dealer is sticking to for right now.
 

DivineStrike

Doomsday
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Threads
82
Messages
2,966
Reaction score
200
Location
Charleston
Vehicle(s)
15 GTPP, 11 F150 FX4, 07 CBR600RR
Did you ever take notice of what your outside Temps read? I've noticed sometimes the outside temp reads incorrectly. It'll read signicantly cooler than it is outside and the AC won't be as cold.
 

Sponsored

OP
OP
jimbabwe

jimbabwe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
49
Reaction score
29
Location
GA
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT PP Convertible
Did you ever take notice of what your outside Temps read? I've noticed sometimes the outside temp reads incorrectly. It'll read signicantly cooler than it is outside and the AC won't be as cold.
That's a good point. I've just been intermittently checking what the outside temp is reading, but haven't paid too much attention. Typically I've noticed that it reads pretty close to what the actual outside temperature is at, but I'll keep a closer eye on it when the A/C issue pops up again. But, now I wonder if something else may be going on with any inside temperature sensor reading incorrectly...

I'm going to try and pick up a thermocouple and A/C pressure gauge to check the pressures myself first, to see if anything is off there.
 

DivineStrike

Doomsday
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Threads
82
Messages
2,966
Reaction score
200
Location
Charleston
Vehicle(s)
15 GTPP, 11 F150 FX4, 07 CBR600RR
That's a good point. I've just been intermittently checking what the outside temp is reading, but haven't paid too much attention. Typically I've noticed that it reads pretty close to what the actual outside temperature is at, but I'll keep a closer eye on it when the A/C issue pops up again. But, now I wonder if something else may be going on with any inside temperature sensor reading incorrectly...

I'm going to try and pick up a thermocouple and A/C pressure gauge to check the pressures myself first, to see if anything is off there.
I'm not sure how the outside and inside temp sensors are intertwined in the programming but the outside temp seems to take precedence over inside temp when determining how cold to make the air...seems a little backwards but that's what I've noticed
 
OP
OP
jimbabwe

jimbabwe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
49
Reaction score
29
Location
GA
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT PP Convertible
So just an update for those interested. In regards to Divine's comments, I haven't noticed any large differences between the outside temperature reading on the dash and what it actually is outside.

I utilized the "rent a tool" from AutoZone and rented a set of a/c manifold gauges and got a can if r134a in case it needed recharged.

Hooking up the gauges, the readings on both the Low side and High side were both low to start. So, to me that would explain the random performance cutting in and out, because the same thing just happened with my house just a couple weeks ago...

So, I hooked up the r134a can and started to recharge. However, after recharging, the HP was reading correct, but the LP was STILL low. As a reference, the ambient temperature was 85degF

T16FeIH.jpg


After consulting the pressures chart below, and the indication of the results...it seems that I need to take it BACK to the dealership, as this may be pointing to something else that might still be going wrong with the system itself and not just the refrigerant level. :( But, at least I will know against taking their word for "the pressures are fine" story....

DpxCBdm.png
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
jimbabwe

jimbabwe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Threads
8
Messages
49
Reaction score
29
Location
GA
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT PP Convertible
Just in case anyone is wondering, or searches for this issue in the future, I finally got to the root of the issue.

After not getting anywhere with the dealership which did the previous work, I took the car to an independent shop for an A/C diagnostic. Sure, it sucked paying the fee, but they finally fixed it.

When he checked the amount of freon in the system, it was low. However, he also said that the machine also extracted 3oz of OIL from the lines. We speculated that the dealer which did the previous work just dumped more oil into the system after changing the evaporator and compressor, without any methodology. And that this was causing the pressure measurements to be out of whack.

The independent shop charged up the freon to spec, fixed the excessive oil problem, and now the A/C system works like a champ, even in heat indexes of 105! Now I can stay happy and cool while driving
 

ryant601

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Threads
88
Messages
996
Reaction score
164
Location
NJ
First Name
Ryan
Vehicle(s)
'16 GT - Black Accent Package
I'm inclined to think my issues are charge related. It'll blow cold, but then get warm and eventually back to cold. But this weekend in the high 90s, it was not able to keep up. I've had the condenser and the compressor replaced and after both repairs, they evacuated and recharged. I wonder if that's not the case.
 

lizardrko

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2016
Threads
32
Messages
559
Reaction score
212
Location
Bay Area, CA
Vehicle(s)
2016 Mustang EB Auto PP
Just in case anyone is wondering, or searches for this issue in the future, I finally got to the root of the issue.

After not getting anywhere with the dealership which did the previous work, I took the car to an independent shop for an A/C diagnostic. Sure, it sucked paying the fee, but they finally fixed it.

When he checked the amount of freon in the system, it was low. However, he also said that the machine also extracted 3oz of OIL from the lines. We speculated that the dealer which did the previous work just dumped more oil into the system after changing the evaporator and compressor, without any methodology. And that this was causing the pressure measurements to be out of whack.

The independent shop charged up the freon to spec, fixed the excessive oil problem, and now the A/C system works like a champ, even in heat indexes of 105! Now I can stay happy and cool while driving

Glad it got fixed. You should definitely get the shop to make a write up of the problem and the solution and take it to the manager over at the dealership that told you it was up to standards. Thats a load of crap they told you there was no problem when clearly there was if they just looked.
Sponsored

 
 




Top