Killav-TT

The large line that gets cold is the line that is leaving your evaporator coil (the cold one inside the truck) and is on the way back to the compressor. The compressor takes the gas that has just left the evap coil inside the truck, and compresses the gas to a higher pressure, which adds a lot of heat. The superheated gas then goes to the condenser, "condensing" the superheated gas back into a liquid. It is this still very hot liquid that re-enters the evaporator coil, usually through a TXV (thermal expansion valve) on newer vehicles. When this still hot liquid refrigerant changes state from a liquid to a gas again through the evaporator, it gets very cold, and you pass air across the coil and get cold air inside the truck.

I know its counter-intuitive, but the hot line is the one that has the liquid refrigerant on the way from the condenser to the evap coil inside the truck so it can cool you off. Insulating the line leaving the evap coil is not going to do much other than stop it from sweating. That is why your large suction line on your home A/C system is insulated, so it won't drip all over your insulation inside the attic. And this is exactly why the manufacture's don't insulate it, they don't care if it sweats and drips on the ground.....although some cars might have it insulated if the line runs over wires or coils or something like that.....

rdkev

lol i knew there had to be a catch...

Killav-TT

This is why adding even a small additional fan on the condenser helps most cars ESPECIALLY in traffic. Getting that hot liquid refrigerant cooled down as much as possible will make a huge difference.

I looked at an older Dodge the other day, circa 2002. The radiator was on the left side of the truck, and the condenser was on the right side of the truck. They did not sit in front of each other. They were split left and right, and each had their own fan. The friggin A/C in this truck is ICE cold too......

schizbomb

So I need to go to home depot I guess I will get some pipe foam and give this a whirl

KP50

I had a 2011 and have a 2013 Mustang GT and the AC sucks on them as well, this F150 isnt horrible but it isnt great for sure now that its getting to be 90 degrees out. The '10 snd'12 RAM crew cab I had previous to this wasnt much better though, my '08 GMC 2500 crew cab would freeze you out of the thing if you put it on 60 on a 100 degree day after a few minutes.

Only thing with this and the last two dodges is they had remote starts and they fired up with the AC on max and turned the seat coolers on so at least you didnt pass out when you opened the doors on a 100 degree day. As mentioned its a lot of space to cool off, my '13 will blow 50 degrees below ambient after 5-10 minutes of driving, I guess thats good enough. But thats a lot of cab to cool off..

jcgoodwrench03

I spent 3 years (2006-2009) as a Ford drive tech, and I cant even count the times I have has NEW fords come back after a week with the very complaint we all have, and that's **** poor A/C. Here is what was done to prevent this:

1. Better engineering in the EVAP box, and blend door position.
2. Insulated ducts in dash, and also ducts were moved further down from the top of the dash.
3. Low and High side hoses repositioned on *NEW engines. this does not include the 5.0.

Want to know how to fix it. Live in the north lol. Most of the A/C problems that came into the bays were either Rangers, or F series trucks.

Also please do not use 134 in a can that specifies *stops leaks. Number one its illegal to fill a leaking system (ref. Clean Air Act 609) at least it is for me, and the sealant will cause problems with the thermal expansion valve and the compressor reed valves (edit: Over time, after multiple uses).

kmac1036

So glad you posted this. Nothing but truth on the stop leak in a can. Also the general public is exempt from the 609 penalties because those only apply to licensed techs from what I understand anyway...

brucesears

These newer AC systems don't hold very much Freon even when full, so if they aren't full from the factory they sure won't work very well. Our previous car (an '06 Fusion) we bought in February, come 1st of April and the AC needs to work it works only half assed. The dealer filled it(it was only about half filled) and it worked like a champ. They suspected it was never filled properly at the factory.

Clone

Has anyone had any pushback from a dealer when you ask them to fill or check? Have any had them tell you it was full and when you checked it was not? Just curious as I may ask them to check mine when it goes in sometime.

jcgoodwrench03

As long as the warranty is still good you should have ZERO push back. Otherwise you may be looking at a diag fee of 65-85 dollars just to check it.

Trust me I don't think you have low 134. I have not seen any TSB's about F series trucks with low 134-a. If that is the case then Ford would isolate the lot number and VIN serials of effected trucks. So I highly doubt the problem is not a full fill from the factory.