Help me out gang.


Just picked up a new 04 and a half Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab, with the LLY.


I think something is wrong with my A/C. The air doesn't get any colder than about 80 degrees - and thats colder than when the A/C button isn't pushed in. This is in all driving conditions by the way - city/highway/country two laner - all RPM levels.


Also, there's no condensation puddle under the truck after using the AC. Doesn't that mean the condenser isn't getting cold enough to pull condensation out of the air?


Is there anything I can check myself before dropping it back off at the dealer? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif Should I take it to a 3rd party for their opinion?


Thanks in advance - major props to all that post and participate in these forums.

Lack of cooloing is over charging or under charging. (There are other issues but on a NEW truck it is unlikely) If you have a set of guages to put on the truck and tell me some numbers I could possibly help.

Pilot

Im in the same boat as you corona. Yesterday it was about 90 here in Michigan and the air was doing no good. I would take it to the dealer but i dont think they can help http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

http://dieselplace.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1344&PN=5


BTW, I have an '03 and in the same boat as you two. Poor A/C last summer. I'm waiting until it warms up more here before I take it in....and also somewhat waiting until GM releases a real fix. But if it's like the steering shaft rattle they've had since '99 I'm not holding my breath.Edited by: Minn-Kota

Thank you Minn-kota i just got done reading it.. Guess i will just have to wait

Help me out gang.





When my unit does not come on, I get it going by making sure the snowflake is showing in the display, then turn the driver's side temp control up high (80) and then down to the temp I want in the cab (60), then push the auto button and set the fan speed level.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif


After that it will freeze off your family jewels if you don't set the temp to a comfortable level.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

Help me out gang.





When my unit does not come on, I get it going by making sure the snowflake is showing in the display, then turn the driver's side temp control up high (80) and then down to the temp I want in the cab (60), then push the auto button and set the fan speed level.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif


After that it will freeze off your family jewels if you don't set the temp to a comfortable level.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif


Thanks Melvin - but I've got dual zone climate control - but without the digital temperature readout. Mineis just the one with the driver/passenger hot/cold slider knobs.


I have tried turning it up to hot, then down to cool though - with no relief.

Don't wait - I had the same problem and the dealer evacuated my system and refilled it and it now hurts it's so cold, and by the way I live in the desert South West and it's already been over 115 this year.

I am new to this forum,but I am 28 year technician with a cad,gmc dealer here in texas.I have been on the phone with gm tech assist concerning this ac problem on the lly.They say the systems are over oil charged,they told us to remove the accumalators and drain the oil,reinstall it and evac and charge,putting about .2 lbs less freon that factory specs call for.I have personally tried this on several of my customers trucks and have great success

tMartin, Where in Texas are you a technician?!?

east texas

longview to be exact

The recirc button is a must down here. Too bad the auto setting turns it off after it cools the cab. Out of curiousity what temps should we be getting out of the vents?

I've noticed the same thing....no where near as cold as the Denali that I traded in. It's at the dealer overnight as we speak for this problem as well as some odd noise coming from the belt/pulley area.

Has the General made a T.S.B. on this yet so we can get our stealer's off their duffuss ? Our first day of 80* I tried to use the A/C and got 'cool' not 'COLD' from the dash vents with it set to MAX. If I backed off the slides even a 1/16th of a inch, the 'cool' went to almost warm. Of course when I brought it in to be checked it was only 65*. They told me the dash vents brought it down to 50* and that is the best I could expect. Does this sound reasonable or am I in the same boat as the rest?Edited by: Mike_in_Wisc

Well mine blows cold. But on my 02 and 04 i had to come back to the dealer and have the controls replaced due to some faulty switch. I'd might guess that one of the se switches or controls is no working properly.

I am having the same problem, I have given my dealers tech all the bullitens on the problem, he says he called GM and they didn't have anything on it, so I did my own research. It is at the dealer as we speak. I gave them tsb 02-01-38-007A so I hope he looks it up. For the GM tech in Texas, did you add any oil at all or just empty the accumilator? If it doesn't come back right I am tempted to do this fix myself. I was ready to get rid of the truck on our first 110-115 degree day this last weekend. This forum is great thanks guys

Well, I just spoke with my local dealer, Gunn Chevrolet in San Antonio.


The service guy I spoke with didn't seem to know too much about it, and basically told me just to bring it in. I sure as hell don't have the warm fuzzies that they're going to be able to fix it.


I've scoured this site, and another website and printed up some stuff as ammunition. I'm prepared to take this thing to any dealer within 300 miles that will actually fix it.


610 miles on this truck, and it's too damn hot to enjoy driving.


More to come - we'll see if the dealer can get it in at all, and if so, if they can fix anything on it.

Got mine back today....they evacuated the system and recharged with the UV dye and have diagnosed no leaks and the temp is "within spec" It feels about the same...definitely not the 68 degrees that I have it set on...an nowhere near as cold as my 2001 Denali.

TMARTIN


What should the temp be coming out of the dash vents on a 04 with the slide controlls?? I keep mine on recirculate all the time and it seems to be cold, but should I have to run reiculate all the timehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif


Thanks


Cosgrovehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

I just took mine in for it's first lube job and told them the a/c wasn't very cold. They checked it out and said the low pressue switch was bad and it leaked freon at the switch. So they evac. and recharged the system and it works great. 2200 miles as far as other problwms, nothing yet. built in April of 2004

gregg2815,as for the draining oil from the accumalator,we do not add any more,GMtech assist guy said there is still enough oil in the compressor.When we replace a compressor ,the new one has about 3 times too much oil in it,we have to drain it all out and add 4 ounces.My personal truck is a 2500hd xcab,2004.5 with about 900 miles on it,with the lly and 4x4.The outlet temps on it during the hot part of the day is around 60,I have not drained the oil yet,but I know that I am.If I get any more info from GM,I'll pass it on. tmart

Gentlemen, I got mine back from the dealership today after the fourth time it was in for the A/C. They finally agreed to tear down the system and found metal in the orifice tube. They replaced the compressor and recharged and it is blowing 55 degree air with an outside airtemp of 100 degrees. On GM tech link the Dec. 2003 issue adresses the problem of inadequate cooling. There was a defective batch of compressors from denso that caused a condition known as slugging. It gives serial numbers as well of affected compressors. I am wondering if I can get even better cooling if I dump the excess oil as tmartin has suggested. Keep up the pressure and look at all tsb's. The dealership may not know about them, so inform them and they will take care of you.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

Well, mine is at the dealer as we speak. Picking it up before 1:00pm, so we'll see what they come up with.


Are there specific TSB numbers I can direct my dealer to?

My 2003 exhibited the same problems that are listed, partially cold air. After two trips to the dealer they replaced the low pressure switch, need a coat after that.

Well, its back from the dealer. They said that the accumulator had too much oil from the factory, so they're going to order one on Monday, and call me when it comes in.


I also spoke with the service manager, and he said they've had lots of complaints about their HD Diesels with poor AC. My mother in law in Michigan has one a few months older that's exhibiting the same behavior as mine.


I guess we'll see when the dealer gets the part in, and they get my truck back in.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

My 2003 exhibited the same problems that are listed, partially cold air. After two trips to the dealer they replaced the low pressure switch, need a coat after that. Is there any way to bypass the low pressure switch? What impact would that have to the whole system?

Just an update on the A/C problem. I wrote earlier that they put on a new compressor and flushed the high side. It worked great for about two days but as one of the guys from Texas wrote there is a problem with too much oil in the accumliator. I was so ticked off that I took it to a friends shop who has A/C equipment and did the job myself. Sure enough the accumliator had about 4 oz. of oil in the bottom of it. I emptied the oil and put it all back together. I am now blowing 40 degree air on 100 degree day. It was explained to me that the excess oil clogs the orifice tube and the gas cannot push it out of the way to preform properly. Thanks to the Longview Texas GM Tech for the solution. I will keep the truck now that I am cold.

Greg,


since you've got some first hand experience with this problem - any ideas as to why would my dealer order a new accumulator instead of just draining the one installed like you did?


just curious

Well, the stealer/dealer called, and the new accumulator is in. We'll see what happens on Friday after my appointment.

Corona, unless GM has come out with a new part I have no idea why they would give you a new one. The part is basicly just an expansion cylinder for the gas to expand as it gets warmer. It may also be a way for the dealership to get money from GM. T Martin said to just drain the oil and it worked. Good luck on your tomorrow...GR

Is this oil draining something the average man can do at home without any special tools or dealer hassle?

I was told that once you get "things" in the accumulator that they're hosed, and they'll never work right again.


Iano, we'll see.

Corona, I to had a problem with the A/C on my LLY. I took it to the dealer a couple of weeks ago. They checked it out for about an hour, and basicly told me there was no problem. For some reason it has worked fine since then. I dont know if they took out any oil like others have mentioned. In NJ it was about 90 degrees today and the A/C worked fine. I did call a couple other dealers and one of them told me that they have had a couple of problems with the pressure switches.

To Texmudder, no this requires special equipment to recover the 134 and evacuate the system job takes about two hours to do mostly because it must sit in a vacume state for at least an hour. It was 110 in the Arizona desert where I live yesterday and I had a vent temp of 55 degrees. All is working well. Corona Did they get yours fixed yesterday?

I'm picking it up this afternoon - I've got all my fingers and toes crossed that they've got it right.

Greg2815,

You mentioned that you had a vent temp of 55 degrees. Would you please provide some details of the conditions when getting this reading.

- Was the truck starting off cool after being parked in the shade, or was it baking in the Az sun for awhile with the windows shut (inside cab temp about 140??).

- What speed was the fan number set at?

- How long did it take to get down to 55 degrees?

- Was the engine at idle or were you driving about town?

I am interested since I have an appointment to drop mine off at the dealer next week for poor cooling.

I was getting about 70 degrees vent temp the other day with the fan set on 5. This was starting out with the truck parked in the shade, and then driving around for about 20 minutes. Outside temp was 106. I think the TSB says about 81 degrees vent temp is in specs, but it doesn't give any details on the condition of the test other than to have the fan on high. I will see what my truck shows this afternoon after sitting in the sun first. It seems the air conditioner can never catch up when it is over 100 degrees and the truck has been parked in the sun before starting out.

Thanks.

Well - I got the call today from the service manager - and he said they got it all back together, "and the pressure shot up again." Not that I know WTF that means - and I didn't have time right then to talk to him about it.


He's got to order more parts and won't be able to get them in until Monday. I have to call him back and get more details.


I AM NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!

Do what I did and take a digital meat thermometer with you when you pick up your trucks, and test it for yourself BEFORE you sign it out. I did that with another Mfg, who kept telling me all was fine - then I sat in the driveway before I picked it up and showed the service guy the temps coming out at 70, he agreed it was bad, and I made him sign my paperwork to verify the temp. Back it went right then and there , next time I got it back all was fine.
WHY do they make us suffer like that?

Well gang, got it back this afternoon.


After my 20 minute ride home from the stealer, I was about to turn the fan speed down cause it was chilly in the truck!


They measured it, and it's blowing 43 degrees at the vents this afternoon. BTW, it's about 95 degrees outside heat index at around 98 or 99.


They didn't have all the paperwork completed when I picked it up, and they didn't want to make me wait for it. So, in a few days, when it comes in the mail, I'll let y'all know EXACTLY what they did to fix it.


Thanks to all that posted and helped me sell my case to the stealer. Without the good info I got from this site and it's members, I'd still probably be sitting in a hot truck.

I picked my truck up today after having the A/C serviced for poor cooling. Although not perfect, it is cooling better than it was.

Here are the "before" service specs. Outside temp was 108. After being parked in the sun for an hour with the windows shut, the vent temp was 125 degrees. After driving for 15 minutes, with the fan set at high (level 5), the vent temp was 72 degrees. After setting the fan to level 3, the vent temp went down to 60 degrees after about 10 minutes.

Here are the specs after picking it up today. Outside temp was around 106 and the vent temp started out at 124 degrees. After about 15 to 20 minutes of driving with the fan on high (5), the vent temp went down to 58 degrees (vs 72 before). After setting the fan down to level 3, the vent temp dropped down to 49 degrees (vs 60 before). As a basis of comparision, my brother's 2004 Tahoe was putting out 39 degrees on level 3 when we pulled into the service department to pick up my truck. (The truck has the manual system and the Tahoe has the auto system. Everything was set to max on both, and the recir was set to on.)

Here is what the service ticket states: Ck'd A/C. Found system pressures are high. Evacuate & recharged system to optimum performance specs. Recal actuators.

I spoke with the Tech, who was very knowledgeable on the cooling issues with the Duramax trucks. Basically, he removed some of the freon. He also removed the accumulator to check for excess oil, but this was not a problem in my truck. He described this fix as a "band aide". He said the real fix is the new accumulator that is coming out. The good news is that GM has issued a part number, but the bad news is there has been no announcement as to when it will be available. He mentioned that the vans had a similar problem and the redesigned accumulator that GM came out with for that system was a very sucessful fix. Tech Assist will no longer authorize replacing the orfice with the one used in the Suburban because GM was unhappy with the resulting high side pressures. I gathered from what I've heard lately that almost all of the Duramax trucks sold in the Phoenix area are coming in with cooling complaints and the new Colorado is also having cooling issues.

Well gang, as promised - here is what the service log states:


QTY 1 - replaced accumulator


QTY 1 - replaced compressor


QTY 1 - installed orifice tube A.9213 - PN#3096068


QTY 4 - AC OIL


QTY 1 - evaporator


QTY 1 - orifice tube 9.213 - PN# 52477004


basically, they replaced the compressor, accumulator, orifice tube, ,and the evaporator.


Anyway it's blowing cold, and I'm happy.

Bill in AZ, Whay dealer did you take yours too, i am in Phoenix, and am having some issues as well. If it sits in the shade it works ok, if it sits in the sun, it never cools down.

Finally seeing close to 100 here. Moving its okay, stopped its hot air.

I took mine into a GMC dealer in Scottsdale AZ today to have the AC worked on. They had never heard of any problems with any 2004 GMC trucks let alone LLY's. They concured it was not working, called and said it was fixed, They listed evac and recharge as the fix. Got into it, with my trusty thermometer, temp inside 124°F, after 15 minutes idling the best it would pull down to was 80°F. Went and got the service adviser, and he said bring it back tomorrow. It seems to me that they would be more willing to listen to there customers. I question if they even did anything. Just poor customer service. I wonder if we can get a list started of dealers around the country and service advisers that are receptive and knowledgeable about our trucks.

My AC in my LLY works great up to 90 or 100* outside temp. Then she sucks. It gets a little better at speed, but no where near where is should be.

Should I wait a few weeks, or take it in?

Follow up, to my earlier post, i took the truck back to the dealer today. After they had it all day they called to say that i was right and that GM has acknowledged there is a problem with the AC on the HD trucks. But the fix for it an Accumulator kit will not be available untill July 12th, so they ordered it and i am going to take it back when it comes in, hopefully that solves it.

I have an 04 crew cab with digital dual climate control and have taken it back to the GMC dealer for poor a/c performance. After leaving it for the day it was returned with the tech noting it was blowing 47 deg at the duct on fan speed 2 and the pressures were within normal limits. I now have a thermomitor in the duct all the time to monitor the temp. Sometimes , lately (after about a month of 68 to 72 deg. air) at around sundown it will blow cold air. Mostly, in the hot of the day I have to leave it on high and recirculate @ the 60 deg. setting to just keep the cab somewhat comfortable. (average June outside temp is in the 90's @ mid day) I thought maybe it was because the truck was black that it made some difference in usual performance but after reading this site, I'm convinced that the a/c problem is somewhat common.

I took my truck into the dealer and they agree that the air is not up to par... but before I do anything else I thought I would see if anyone out there has the new part number for the fix?


My dealer is ready to order as soon as they know what the number is.


JP

Anyone out there get a part number for the new AC fix yet?


JP

89018601 is the p/n on the card i just recieved telling me it was in.

Thanks, I have an appointment tomorrow to get it fixed. Please give us an update on how yours works.


JP


2500 HD Duramax, completely 100% stock.... I can barely afford the truck much less any trick stuff so far!

Hi Group. My A/C has perform poorly since new. Took it back to the dealer for the first warranty compliant; dealer could not find anything wrong with it, just evac and recharge w/ leak check. A/C performance improve slightly going from 80 degrees to 75 degrees at outside temp of 95 + degrees. After reading everybody posts, went back to the dealer for the second warranty compliant, dealer replace one of the Schrader valve cores, evac and recharge w/ leak check. On Recirc, vent temp pull down to 50 degrees at outside temp of 95+ degrees. Hopefully, the A/C will maintain this comfort level.

I've only had my 2004 for about 2 weeks, and noted poor cooling within the first day. I thought it was just me. Thanks for all the info, I'm going to have it looked at shortly.


Can I assume you guys are using a meat thermometer placed inside the center vent to get your baseline measurements, or something other? My system is manual with slide controls, dual zone, recirculation turned off.

I was told that the dealer checks it at the drivers side vent with and at it coldest temp, and lowest fan. Reason for the lowest fan is they said the air has more time to cool off.

I thought he was blowing smoke, but slower fan does make colder air.

But whatever you do just do it the same before you bring it in and do the exact same thing when you pick it up. Make sure outside temps are near the same don't check it at 95 degrees, then when you pick it up it's only 80 degrees in the morning. ( another Mfg. did that to me - I picked it up in the morning and it was cool, then in the afternoon it had the same problem)

Also make sure all fan speeds, temp gauges, etc are all the exact same as before you dropped it off. This will be a good gauge as to if they did or didn't do anything.

Follw up to my earlier posts. Picked up the truck today, new after installation of the GM fix for the AC problem. The dealer had it for 3 days, this was the first one they had done. They used the following 2 part numbers, the hose does not come with the accumulator and it is what held them up. Make sure they order the hose and the accumulator. 89018601 Accumulator, 15136596 Hose. Now too the results. Ambient air temp when i picked it up in Scottsdale AZ was 106° F official temp at the airport, 113 on the mirror in the truck. Inside temp 124° F. With the controls on manual and on recirc, fan on high outlet temp is 44.5° F after traveling 4 miles. Before the service the best it would do was 64° F. I would say that at least in the short run they have fixed the problem. Took 3 visits, but they took care of me.

h8pvmnt,


A couple of questions: Did they leave the same orfice in or was it changed in some other visit? Did they charge it with 1.6lbs?

Not sure about the orifice tube, it is not listed on any of the service tickets, and the amount of refrigerant is also not listed.

Also the service guy mentioned that when they look it up in the computer it only shows the SB for 2002 and 2003. They dont list it for a 2004.

I spoke with my dealer today about scheduling my truck for the new accumulator ugrade.

I was told they have the new accumulator but not the hose. Seems GM messed up on the part number by sending dealers the old hose with the new part number. They think it will be at least a week before the correct hose shows up. He said the part is in "hot" demand in Az, Texas, etc.

I was also told that the new accumulator made it into the end of the 2004 production, starting in June. All 2005 models should have the new part (we hope).

On Edit (8/11/2004) The parts are on national back order. Seems this means the parts are non stock and can only be ordered against the VIN number of the truck. Bottom line is you need to have the service writer generate a repair order so the part can be ordered for your truck, then the wait begins. They could not give me an estimate as to when the parts will arrive. Edited by: BH in AZ

I had the accumulator upgrade installed last week and checked it out over the weekend. Here are the numbers. The truck has the manual system, the temp levers were set to the max cold position, and the recir was "on". These numbers were taken while doing freeway driving.

Original figures before any repairs:
-Outside temp of 108, starting vent temp of 125 degrees.
-Fan at level 5 about 18 minutes: 72 degrees.
-Fan then at level 3 for about 10 minutes: 60 degrees.

Temp fix of removing some freon:
-Outside temp of 106, starting vent temp of 124 degrees.
-Fan at level 5 about 18 minutes: 58 degrees.
-Fan then at level 3 for about 10 minutes: 49 degrees.

Accumulator upgraded:
-Outside temp of 107, starting vent temp of 124 degrees.
-Fan at level 5 about 18 minutes: 50 degrees.
-Fan then at level 3 for about 10 minutes: 46 degrees.
-Humidity was somewhat higher on this day, do not know if that has any impact on the numbers.

I got this from another thread
+++++++++++++++++++
I had the same problem with my 04.5 LLY Crew cab. Although, instead of taking it to the dealer and just getting pi$$ed off (when they show me thier spec for the AC temps) I did the work myself.
With ambient at 103, my AC outlet would only get down to 58 degrees and this is with recir,and fan speed on 4. Which is not good enough!!
I drained the system and pulled out the orfice. When I did I had alot of oil come out with it. I removed the Accumalator and measured the oil. It had 1 ounce. The thing is, every line I removed just had a ton of oil coming out of the line.So I put the ounce back in the accumalator since so much oil was coming out of the lines.Then I pulled Vac for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Recharged the system with roughly 1.7-1.8 lbs. Also,check to make sure the rubber flap is in bottom/front of the condiser is placed correctly. It can be seen by looking through the two oval holes on the bumper.Mine was pushed down below the bumper. It supposed to rest on the inside lip of the bumper.
Setting in my driveway with idle @1500 rpm the AC outlet was 48 degees. Improvement but not quit there! Test drive time! Within a mile temp dropped to 45 degrees. I stopped to get fuel so I shut off the truck. After refueling, with the AC still on recirc and the fan setting on 4. I headed down the road. Within a mile temp now has dropped down to 41 degrees! Now thats what I'm looking for!! After driving 4 miles, temp dropped to 39 Degrees!! I pulled into a Mcdonald's drive thur to see what it would do while setting. Temp stayed at 40 degrees for 10 minutes.(drive thru was slow that day!) After setting there for roughly 15 minutes the highest temp was 41.Now this is with the ambient of 103. I read about (on forums) changing the orfice along with the accumalator,to much oil,bad compressors and so on... I decided I would see what it would do with a good vac and recharge. Its working great and I didn't have to deal with the stealer!!! Life is good! I hope this helps.
Mike

IMO, that says it ALL.


If you move your tranny cooler, it get's even better.

When I took mine to the dealer they:


Put it in the shade, fan on low. Leave for 30 minutes. come back and say, "look vent temps are 48 degrees" They burned almost a quarter tank just proving to me it's "within specs", How stupid. How a bout a real world test. What's the temp of the cab after 20 minutes, in the sun, fan on auto (imagine that) driving around town. I drove for an hour temp set on 75 and the fan never bumped down. But the dealer after 2 trips, is unwilling to do something we all know will improve the AC performance. How do you force a dealer to perform a TSB when he keeps telling you it's "within specs"?Edited by: masterp2

I'd take it to another dealer

I got mine done today boys, and let me tell you it works. If your LLY sucks for AC, call your SM, and tell him to order them parts.

How about the before/after numbers?

They weren't published on my service order. It was 95 yesterday when I picked up the truck, and after 6 miles on the freeway, I had to turn the fan down, and recirc off. I usually had to keep it on 5 /full/recirc all the time.