if it's like EVERY OTHER vehicle I have ever owned or driven. The compressor should only engage when on the "Max A/C" and the "snow flake" setting. anything else should only be a vent setting with the Temperature dial set to blue.

 

my compressor only works when i have the fan on the blue side and the temp on the blue side.

 

Just bought a 98 5.9 4x4 and thought I had a problem till I came across this thread, I also noticed the compressor only turning off only on the off position. Even if you want to vent in some air the compressor is on.


I Also noticed allot of Hissing when I turned off the Ram after having the air on and was starting to get worried. I never had the amount of hiss come off a car/truck like this one. I also noticed some "foil type" material around some of the ac lines in the engine bay and thought the previous owner did some sort of patch up work till I came across a Ram in the junkyard that had the same thing.

 

it does seem like a big waste of energy for it to be running all the time. but who knows. I know of 3 trucks where it runs alll the time even with it on red. so we kinda just assumed it was like that. I wish I could recall what the dodge tech said that my mom works with.

 

Having the same problem thought it was a little wierd but my buddies have both a 99 and 00 rams that do the same.. Really dont like it hissing and always being on even in Northern MN at temps of -40 its still on when i have heat full blast.

 

how did you do this? or is there one fuse that runs just the compressor? I would much rather have the 1mpg in town then have the stupid thing running. and I don't think it will be getting above 60 here in Iowa anytime soon.

 

mines the same way


try unhooking the connections to the compressor so you know it will be off, and see if it makes a difference

 

I finally had a chance to lookup compressor relay activation in the Xmas service manual on page 24-12 (what a great resource!):

Mode ----------- Relay
OFF ------------- OFF
Max A/C --------- ON
Panel A/C -------- ON
Bi-Level A/C ----- ON
Panel ------------ OFF
Floor ------------ OFF
Floor/Defrost ----- ON
Defrost ---------- ON

So it appears that the A/C is on for all modes except for 2, Panel and Floor. This raises the question -- why does Dodge put the snowflake on just two of the modes on my 2000 control panel?

Regardless, I think that mine is working properly as A/C is cycling in Defrost and Floor/defrost modes.

Mike

 

As I state earlier on, that is the exact way mine operates. Nice to know that is the proper way it is supposed to operate. Thanks for posting that, MountainRam!