2005 SLT AC problem

[ramguy79]

I have an AC issue with my 2005 Ram 1500. The issue started about a week ago. When at a stop, the AC blows full power, but when I accelerate, the fan speed drops considerably, maybe 50%. The air is still cold, just at a greatly reduced volume.

Additionally, I noticed what seems to be an excessive amount of water coming out of a drain hole at startup. This started maybe a month ago. I've attached a picture of the hole. My truck has been parked on my inclined driveway almost every day for the past year. Before that, it was always parked on a flat surface.

Any help/thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

That's you AC drain.
Are you parking up hill?
Right above the AC dryer, under the black plastic cover that covers your wiper assembly is the inlet vent for your AC airbox. If you are parking up hill you could be getting condensation entering in through that vent if you have debris under there keeping water from draining off to the sides.

Also, you will get condensation inside the AC housing from the evaporator after you shut off the AC, so say you have the AC on and you park it up hill and shut it off and go in for the night, you will get condensation for several minutes until things warm up. And being up hill it may not be able to drain.

When I 'worked on my wipers I had a lot of crap under there. Might be worth a look.

You could also try running the heat for a minute before shutting the truck off.

And make sure that water isn't actually antifreeze from a leaking heater core.

 

[ramguy79]

Yes, I've been parking with my truck facing uphill.

It's clear and evaporates quickly, so I don't think it's antifreeze. I'm in a hurry to leave every morning, so I've never bothered to check though. I'll try running the heat before shutting my truck off too.

 

[ramguy79]

Ok, I kept my truck parked on the street all weekend, and there was little/no water from the AC drain when I started it this morning, and the AC doesn't lose power when I accelerate. My coolant is at the "Add" line, so I'll top that off, but otherwise, the issue seems to have resolved itself.

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

FYI, there is typically a throttle control switch that will kick off the AC compressor when you are flooring the gas pedal. Don't know if that is the same on rams, if it is it's probably a computer controlled function. That would not affect the fan though, just disengage the clutch until you no longer need the acceleration.

What could affect the fan is if under acceleration you have a belt slipping and your alternator isn't putting out the amps it should. You're ignition and fuel pump would start running off the battery and could cause a voltage drop you might experience at the heater fan.

 

[ramguy79]

I'll check the alternator and belts as well. FIL has a multimeter, and I'm seeing him tomorrow anyways. Thanks for the tip.