garyo11 said:
I have an '06 LE that's developed a problem the dealer can't fix. On long, cross country drives (6hrs plus), the A/C and fan will quit working. The fan indicator bars show full "on" and you can hear the fan motor running but absolutely nothing comes out of the vents. When I stop, I get a huge puddle of water (much more than the normal condensation drips one gets from an A/C). I'm pretty sure that the system is freezing up but I can't make the connection with no air coming out of the vents.
It's rendered the truck useless to me for long drives and the dealer never sees the problem because they don't go out for 6 hour test drives. No service bulletins on this and I'm frustrated. Any ideas?
Absolutely. And I can't believe that they can't fix the problem without actually experiencing it.
The evaporator coil is freezing with ice. When it does, the air passages through the coil are blocked. When the ice melts, it'll drop lots of water . . may even miss the integral drain pan in the evap coil compartment.
This is a common problem with AC units. That's why I have trouble believing that they can't fix it. The system is either low on refrigerant, has insufficient airflow to keep the evap coil temperature above 32 degrees, or has a faulty expansion device that is not regulating the refrigerant into the evap coil properly. There may be some other control allowing icing of the evaporator coil.
You should not have to put up with this problem. It should not be difficult for a competent and trained technician to diagnose and remedy.
This is my educated diagnosis from your description. I own a medium-sized residential and light commercial air conditioning company (less than 20 employees) and have almost 30 years of training and experience. AC is AC, whether in a vehicle or in a structure. The same refrigerant cycle applies.
Ken
