Making it Colder - A/C Hop-Up

[The Bandit]

Is there anyway to make my A/C system on my 1994 2.3 Ranger any colder than it already is? It functions completly fine, but I know there has to be some way to improve it.

 

[4x4junkie]

How cold is it now? Anything less than about 36-38° at the center-right dash vent and you may run into problems with the evaporator icing up.

If it's not at least 45° now, it may be in need of servicing (checked for leaks, recharged, etc.).

 

[The Bandit]

I'll check it with a thermometer and see how cold it blows. It takes it a little while to get frigid.

I thought about insulating the accumulator and A/C box near the header a little better to prevent the heat coming off it and the engine from heat sinking. Maybe using some header wrap on the header itself to help reduce underhood temp's a little more. My truck does not run hot at all, but everything under the hood is always seering hot.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

sounds like you are low on refrigerant just by the fact that it "takes awhile" to get cold.

if you are SURE its fully charged. clean out the bugs and gravel from your condenser fins and make sure your cooling fan is working good, this will improve it the most. don't bother insulating the accumulator because its located AFTER the evaporator and won't improve performance. insulate the line after the orifice tube leading into the evaporator case. you can find the orifice tube by putting your hand on the line coming from the condenser heading towards the evaporator.. run your hand along the line with the system running, it will feel hot until you find the orifice tube then it will feel cold. so insulate the cold line

 

[The Bandit]

Alright. That seems simple enough. I wonder what would be a good insulator for it? Strips of dynamat wrapped with header tape?

I'm still considering trying to keep some heat away from the A/C box on the firewall. I don't really know if that would make much of a difference or not.

I'll clean the condensor out, and make sure the system is fully charged. It gets cold as soon as you turn it on, but takes about 5-10 minutes to get extremely cold-I know its getting really cold when my fiance flips the vents closed.

 

[4x4junkie]

I agree, it's probably low on refrigerant. Mine gets nice & cold within 30 seconds or so.
Does the compressor cycle on & off repeatedly while it's running (runs for less than 8-10 seconds at a time even when it's warm outside)?

don't bother insulating the accumulator because its located AFTER the evaporator and won't improve performance.

I would think insulating the accumulator could indirectly improve efficiency simply due to less heat reaching the condenser (making the system not have to work quite as hard). However I would doubt the performance gain would be real great though.

 

[The Bandit]

It seems to kick on and stay on pretty steady. It's starting to get pretty hot here, and I'm just looking for ways to make it as cold as possible, as quickly as possible. It feels good after working out in the sun all day.

Is there any panels I can stuff some dynamat or some kind of additional insulation in to keep heat out, and my cold air in? How thick is the insulation above the headliner?

Yeah, I do have a thing for insulation. You should see the house I'm building.

My truck's a single cab, so theres not much to it on the inside. Just trying to keep make it quieter and comfortable.

 

[4x4junkie]

I'd get a temp reading from your center-right vent. If it's not getting below 45°, there's a problem with the system that insulating things isn't going to help.

Once that's been determined, insulating of the blower motor housing, and the evaporator housing should be able to knock your interior temps down another 5-10° or so when running it on recirculate mode (Max A/C). Ford actually began insulating these items (along with the accumulator) on '94 models, although I think it was mid-year when they switched to R-134a at the same time.

 

[The Bandit]

My truck is a '94, but it dosn't have the insulation on the A/C componenets like you described. It says '93 on the MAF, so I'm thinking it was a early '94 model.

I'm going to check out the charging on the A/C system this weekend possibly. Then I'll insulate everything.

 

[94rangersplash]

Tinting the windows is the best thing to do to help keep cool. And i dont know where your from but on a 95, 100 degrees day there isnt a ac ive ever seen that'll get to 45 degrees in the vent thats 50 below the outside air temp that would be insane maybe on a 80 or 85 day but no higher than that

 

[The Bandit]

The side windows are tinted fairly dark. Not sure how much percent. I'm thinking about doing the back window.

 

[4x4junkie]

Tinting the windows is the best thing to do to help keep cool. And i dont know where your from but on a 95, 100 degrees day there isnt a ac ive ever seen that'll get to 45 degrees in the vent thats 50 below the outside air temp that would be insane maybe on a 80 or 85 day but no higher than that

Put it on recirculate (Max A/C).
I took this pic in my BII on a 95° day last summer here in southern Calif.

 

[--weezl--]

it sounds like a refrigerant issue, but something that could be causing issues is the flapper on the hot/cold switch, if it is sticking open partially (or closed) you might be getting hot air from the heater section mixing into your cold air conditioned air bringing up the temperature

 

[4x4junkie]

it sounds like a refrigerant issue, but something that could be causing issues is the flapper on the hot/cold switch, if it is sticking open partially (or closed) you might be getting hot air from the heater section mixing into your cold air conditioned air bringing up the temperature

That's definitely a possibility too, although I think it's fairly easy to rule out by whether it blows warm or hot air when the A/C is off or just set to the panel vent setting.

 

[--weezl--]

true, but it can be hard to determine if it's warm from outside air or heater air sometimes... and the recirc will make it harder to figure out...

but like i said, i think the problem is it needs a recharge...