My D has front and rear air , two evaps ( saw two liquid lines going in through fire wall and one suction line coming out). In high ambient temps ( typical 100+ Deg. F Vegas weather) it takes forever to pull down the cab temp to anything near habitable. I've recovered the charge, evacuated the system, pulled it down to 500 microns, and weighed the charge in and it still does'nt cool worth a crap in 100Deg+ weather. R-134a isn't that bad, I suspect that Dodge equiped the vehicle with an undersized condenser coil because the system functions perfectly up to an ambient temp of 98F. I ordered some Industrial 12 from Enviro Cool which is an HFC like R-134a but boils at 30F at about 41 psig unlike R-134a which boils at 45F at 40 psig. I'll let you guys know the results after I charge the system with the Industrial 12. I foundthis alternative refrigerant at www.autorefrigerants.com click on es12a, being an HFC like the factory R-134a charge , this refrigerant uses the same oil, polyl-ester so you don't need to change the compressor oil unless excess amounts of moisture have entered the system as esters are hygroscopic (have an affinity for moisture and are capable of trapping moisture even while in a deep vacuum). Anyway I was wondering if any of you have dealt with this issue, has anyone tried installing a larger condenser coil, there's plenty of room as the stock condensor is much smaller in area than the radiator which I found odd every other vehicle I owned had a condenser coil that covered the same L and H as the radiator. Vegas weather hot, need 40F air coming out of vents with vehicle in park idling in direct sunlight no breeze outside temp of 110F. I miss R-12 dearly. P.S. I'm epa 608 (universal epa card Type I, II, and III) certified and epa 609 certified (ASE card MVAC and MVAC like equipment certified) and an active member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 so I can say without any doubt that the system was properly charged to factory specs and free of leaks and still lacks the ability to pull down in high amb. conditions leading me to believe that the factory design is to blame. Any experience with this situation allong with any suggestions is highly appreciated. Again I will post the refrigerant swap results as soon as I can I'm waiting on shipment of the refrigerant from MI.

 

Yes. The DFW area gets pretty darn hot too. My 99 has never really done a good job of cooling whileidling in the heat. Once I get rolling it's cold. I installed a Black Magic E-fan during the winter and am waiting for the hot temps to see if that was a good move or not.

 

I am also from the DFW area. I had the same problem for a while, but a few years back when I had to replace my heater core, my mechanic reassembled everything back together and doubled checked to make sure the blend door is aligned and closing tightly. Since then, my A/C temp dropped alot. I used to have to keep my system on high speed for quite a while to cool down my D in 100+ heat in DFW. Now it only takes about 5-10 minutes max to cool down my cabin and afterwards, I rarely take my fan speed past the 2nd speed setting.

I also bought some foam tubing insulation from home depot to insulate the return line and this tremendously helped also. I covered as much exposed metal as possible with the foam tubing to insulate it from the underhood heat.

Plus I have the added OEM electric fan to assist my clutch fan to provide adequate air flow to keep the A/C cold when idling.

 

Finally some folks who can relate, thanks chemoman and Kensai . BTW instead of foam , wrap the suction and liquid lines with cork tape, you can get it from places like Johnstone and Grainger, if you have a catalog from either of these places you can find it under refrigeration supplies. I was thinking of doing this as well. Ditch the pipe insulation and go with the cork tape it works much better as this is the kind of thing it's intended for, if ya have trouble finding it Google it, talk to an ac guy if you know any locally or let me know and I'll figure out a way to get you some. I'm gonna pop the $90 for a factory shop manual and see if I can't retrofit a larger compressor, accumulator, and receiver and I'm gonna tear into the dash to investigate this air duct issue. Another thing I didn't like is how one of the heater core hoses touches the suction line and how close the suction line is to the right bank, heck of a place to route it right past most of the heat under the hood, well at least we don't have to remove the right front tire to replace the battery (1st gen Intrepid design fopa). BTW does the DFW area stay 100+D 4-5 months of the year like Las Vegas ? Today at 3pm pst 2hrs behind you guys it was 106F and it's about 101 right now , I'm die'n out here!

 

Hell it's getting toasty in Reno right now but not that bad. I can still roll down the windows and be good to go... Gotta recharge the refrigerant.

 

The charge it allright, I evacuated the system, put my vacuum pump on it and pulled down to 500 microns, let it sit , it held for two hrs so I weighed in an exact factory charge with a charging scale. It works ok under 100F but once you pass 100 you're cook'n, lucky for Dodge most of the world does'nt see this kind of heat at all ever, but as for some of us we live in areas that push the limit of hvacr equipment , btw home ac units are performance rated to put out 75deg F with an outdoor amb. of 95deg F, this is the design base the manufactuers use when SEER ratings are calculated, and in r&d of units and the like. Real world says your house vents should put out 50degF and your vehicle on a good day 40deg F in park and 45deg F in park on the hottest day of the year, the D definately flunked at the proving grounds in Arizona.

 

50 degrees? I rarely see that ever happening in DFW summer! My house vents pushes 55 degrees at best but only during 105 degree summer heatwaves so I guess it is still good. But for us in DFW during the month of may, this month is the wettest month I have seen in the 10 years I have been living in DFW! In only a month's time, all our area lakes are pretty much back to normal levels! I hope to see more rain before the summer really kicks in the heat.

Yeah, DFW's 100+ heat usually runs from end june thru end september. But I am banking this summer will be a cool one I hope!

Oh, another BIG benefactor to keeping your cabin cool and not overworking your A/C is to get yourself a dashboard cover for your D! That bigass dash is nothing but a solar heating element that easily adds another 20-50 degrees to your cabin and makes your A/C work overtime! I bought one of those lifetime dashboard covers for my D and the cover conforms to the shape of my dash. Preserves the dash from cracking but most importantly, cuts down the heat immensely! I don't even use my windshield shades anymore after installing the dash cover.

 

dont forget to put some 5% tint on all the windows, helps alot

 

Oh yeah, the tint. Most durangos come with factory tinting except for the driver and passenger windows. I guess different states have different laws and regulations on how dark the tint is applied. I had my driver and passenger windows tinted with the same shading as the rest of the durango. Approx around 20 percent. alot of places, this setting is 50/50 in areas that allow this. 5 percent is limo tint! Definitely a no no and law enforcement can ticket you for that. Safest setting for nearly all places is 35 percent.

Also, at 5 percent, it is way too dark even for me to see outwards at night. I once had 5 percent on my back windshield and end up backing up into things and scratching up my bumper!

 

I was hoping for a quick fix for the heat issue, my rear AC really does not get cold at all. I checked the pressure on a recharge kit and it seemed to be alot higher than it should have been.

Is there a way I can release some of the pressure? and if I do that will the AC work better with less of a charge?