AC problem
 

Anyone here have any AC problems with car. I had the AC replaced at 31000 miles and under warranty, now at 59000 the thing has went out again. Of course the the replacement warranty just expired, go figure. Looks like the clutch is burnt out for the 2nd time. Just asking since we all live here in Texas and maybe the problem is more occurring in warmer climate areas. Talked to Texas Motor Ford and they said they would see what they could do about helping me out since they replaced the last one. Not really expecting much but maybe they will surprise me. Either way it has to get fixed, too freaking hot these last couple of days. lol

I hear yuh. I believe the cause is heat from the exhaust manifold. I made a heat shield for mine out of tin and reflective tape. No problem so far.

you could be right, that side of the car had a lot of heat coming from it. Figures it would go out and my temp was showing 107, damn that was a long drive home.

That's only my theory it has no basis but I do know heat destroys shit and that compressor sits right by a hot ass manifold with no insulation or protection. Dumb design.

Damn I didn't know this. Got me a little nervous now :(

If you look at where the compressor is it sits below the Exhaust manifold. Tucked in beside the block. The only thought I have is that ford engineers thought the heat would simply rise above it? The only air flow that reaches the compressor is that of the rad fan with hot air from the radiator. So the compressor literally bakes. I have already insulated my lines above the passnger manifold with high temp DEI wrap to make it a little easier on the compressor. Im working on a new setup for the Compressor right now with a little more shielding.

My other Theory is that poeple race with the Ac running. Thats a double whammy for it. The heat and the shock of all that hitting the clutch.

I can agree totally that the heat is the problem. I used to have similar problems with starter motors going out on an old car i had in high school. It too sat directly under the exhaust manifold. I would have to replace those damn things almost yearly. I am now very interested in doing some heat wrap myself. Any particular brand you'd recommend / where to get it?

I will post up some pics of mine when I finish. I used what I had left of the regulare Dei 1'' wrap tape. Silver in color. Now for the heatshield Im going to use DEI gold wrap. I have a 24'' by 24'' sheet with some leftover from building a heatshield for my dsm's alternator. IT was $70!! The best by far though. Its hard to reach the compressor and even harder to mount. I went to Lowes and bought some foil a long time ago it worked great for the alternator shield.

Honestly this would be a great product to market. I see tons of "AC out" threads all over google and it is scary.

Ya I really want to do this now. I just went out and looked at the compressor and exhaust manifold. It is dumb how close together they are. Ford even insulated the A/C lines that exit the compressor up to a certain point but not well enough I think. I think it would be best to wrap the manifold while I am at it too.

Now that is a toucgh call. Wrapping tends to lead to rust on a manifold in short order. I wrapped my rubber line above the manifold all the way up with 1'' dei wrap tape. I will probally end up doing the hard lines as well where there is a closeness to the manifold. I think IMO that a heat shield would be sufficent. The tape Reflects the heat away which is really the problem I believe. With out the heat directly on it, the problem shouldnt be that large. When I did my alternator it actually picked up 1 volt from just making the shield. It was close to my downpipe and was cooking. A nice heat shield with about 1'' of free space between it and the compressor would be great.

:word::word:

Can you post some pics of what you did for the alternator and the A/C lines so far?

Def. I get off at 4pm today. I wil take some. The alternator was for the DSM. If I can figure out a way to make them mount securely i will make some extras and sell them.

Nice ya I am very interested in doing this. I am actually about to go out and just get some wrap to do the A/C lines for now and a temperature gun to start taking baselines from.

Maybe we can wwork together on this. You can find the tape at Oreillys. $20 I believe. Start where the factory tape stops and wrap the rubber. 1 layer is plenty dont double wrap. Since the tape is reflective it really doesnt matter.

Ya I am about to head out to meet my dad for lunch and will grab some while I am out. I am going to run a temperature baseline line on the line before / after. Then it will be on to finding a way to protect the compressor it's self.

You will notice a difference. The compressor part is gonna be a bitch trust me. Could be my imagination but the AC seemed cooler after i wrapped my lines. Especially at Idle.

post pics when yall get done.

Will do.

Ditto.

Im interested as well to see what yall fab up to protect the compressor. It's hotter than a bastard outside during july and august.

Hotter then a slut. :insane: Anyway I just got to thinking about all these AC problems and as soon as I looked at it I knew. Reminds me of the Starter on the old camaros. NOw that being said another Idea has hit me. A starter motor blanket it made by DEI. It may be a hell of a lot easier to make work. Going down the hwy i dont think having the ac on is a big deal. Lots of airflow. In traffic, especially gridlock I can only imagine the heat below that hood especially when coupled with the heat coming off the pavement.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ps1b0ba9f5.png

This is my dsm. You can see where i used to gold reflect.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3...psaddcfbec.jpg

I like the idea of the start motor blanket used to protect the compressor. As an update I wasn't able to find any thermal tape to wrap the lines in. I don't have an O'riley's near me so checked out autozone and napa. Neither store any anything. I will probably just buy the stuff online.

You find an oreillys they have it and a starter blanket. I will post pics of the little wrap ive done so far.

its in the "performance wall" buried by the exhaust wrap most oreillys carry it but hardly sell it if ever expect lots of dust.

SO TRUE!!!:roflsquared:

Just got back from the dealership and it's the clutch hub assembly, I asked the tech about the heat and he said he hasn't had any come thru with this problem. Now I am in and out of my car all day long so a lot of starting and shutting the car off might have something to do with it. They are going to check the compressor out once the part comes in but that's not until Tuesday. Still not sure what help on the cost they going to offer, warranty on the last clutch hub assembly went out on July 24th.

God thats irritating as hell to hear even though it's not my car. I swear some of this shit is engineered to fail right after the manufacturer's/dealer's warranty.

Most techs dont know crap. Most not all. The issue with heat destroying components would be drawn out. IT wouldnt be an overnight event.

I honestly believe this is shit engineering on where to put the compressor.

I would like to think they put more thought into the design of our cars but I bet you're right, on some things they are probably pressed for time to get the product to market and just say "fuck it".

And cost for that matter

This is it so far.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ps231e492e.jpg

Cool. I just got my heat blanket in. It has an adhesive backing but not sure if wrapped around the compressor if it will hold out. Maybe the heat will help the adhesive bond. I will for sure clean it up before I try to apply it.

I still need to find some tape like that. Haven't yet tried O'rileys yet. Will give that a shot.

That is where the line for the A/C compressor feed in is? WTF?

Time to go buy some heat wrap I guess....

Interested to see how exactly this works for you. But the compressor isnt a cooling item. Its builds more heat than anything else outside the motor. So if you wrap it the let us know how long it lasts... cause it wont be long.

Nay - What year, engine, and transmission do you have?

It seems that most AC threads I see are surrounding 2011/12 5.0's with Manual Transmissions, so wanting to compare yours to the other's I've read about.

Ya I'm going to do some testing before I go with it. I am going to run some base line measurements to see how much heat it normally builds up compared to the differences with being wrapped. Id assume the exhaust manifold that sits not even an inch away is the leading cause for the compressor to heat up excessively as compared to the unit itself generating damaging heat.

It's a 2011 5.0 6 sp manual tranny, they replaced the clutch hub assembly and said the return line had a small leak they fixed that and added freon. Checked the compressor and everything was fine there. total out the door was $481, they paid for the rental car. guess that's better than nothing

That's not too bad but its a 2011, I have a 2004 nissan with 228k miles with ac on every summer and heat every winter with no ac replacement or top off.

These cars should not have ac issues. Any updates on the heatshield?

I wrapped all my lines. Pics shortly.