Captain Beefheart
07-16-2004, 09:30 AM
My '02 Duramax recently started having problems with the A/C. I've searched this site (and others) but can't seem to find any threads that discuss the same symptoms I'm seeing.
First, my A/C has always cooled properly and sufficiently in just about any weather or temperature. On a recent cross country trip, as I am driving down the road (highway or around town) it goes from cool to almost warm intermittently. Eventually it cools down again and the cycle repeats randomly. I keep the A/C on "recirculate" (max cool).
When this first started happening I thought it was just a matter of having the system recharged. The technician at a local repair shop (non GM) told me that the charge was a little low. He recharged it and it seemed to help a lot, but the symptoms persisted.
I took it into a dealer and all they did was charge me a diagnostic fee and confirmed that the system was charged within spec (which I already knew because I just had it recharged). They handed me the table from a TSB which showed that it was within spec given the ambient temperature. This didn't surprise me because it works fine 60 percent of the time. If they had gotten it to fail, they would have seen that it was way out of spec.
In an act of desperation, I changed the cabin filters thinking that possibly it was blocking air and causing something to freeze up and therefore blocking air flow. It really helped air flow (I highly recommend changing them regularly), but it didn't solve my problem.
I really hate to take it back to the dealer and waste more money. My truck is no longer under warranty so I'm free to go anywhere. Any suggestions?
First, my A/C has always cooled properly and sufficiently in just about any weather or temperature. On a recent cross country trip, as I am driving down the road (highway or around town) it goes from cool to almost warm intermittently. Eventually it cools down again and the cycle repeats randomly. I keep the A/C on "recirculate" (max cool).
When this first started happening I thought it was just a matter of having the system recharged. The technician at a local repair shop (non GM) told me that the charge was a little low. He recharged it and it seemed to help a lot, but the symptoms persisted.
I took it into a dealer and all they did was charge me a diagnostic fee and confirmed that the system was charged within spec (which I already knew because I just had it recharged). They handed me the table from a TSB which showed that it was within spec given the ambient temperature. This didn't surprise me because it works fine 60 percent of the time. If they had gotten it to fail, they would have seen that it was way out of spec.
In an act of desperation, I changed the cabin filters thinking that possibly it was blocking air and causing something to freeze up and therefore blocking air flow. It really helped air flow (I highly recommend changing them regularly), but it didn't solve my problem.
I really hate to take it back to the dealer and waste more money. My truck is no longer under warranty so I'm free to go anywhere. Any suggestions?