Well, have a problem...NO A/C!

[fly53usmc]

To start off I have enjoyed my 2014 Sierra SLT very much even though I do have a few of the problems other folks are having like the moving seat issue and crappy back up camera and poor headlights but this new one really pisses me off.

Took her in for the 12000 mile service yesterday, oil change and tire rotation and they did the transmission recall check. Need to do another, something about the DIC download. Didn't have time. No problems when I drove home.

Had just came back from a trip to Disney World. Got great gas mileage, avg ao about 21. Very pleased.

 

I was heading out this morning to take the youngest daughter to move into her apartment where she is going to school. 3 hrs away. All is fine then about 1 1/2 hrs into our journey noticed the air was not as cold as it had been from the A/C. Well, nothing I did helped to get it cooler, just getting hotter. Blowing just fine.

By the time we get into city traffic ( Austin Tx) WE had to lower the windows. Getting to be about 95 outside and more miserable by the mile. And traffic was moving slowly. By the time we made it to our destination it was a 100 or hotter outside. This started happening at mileage 11950. So we head to do some running around before heading back home and temp outside at one point showed 111 per my nifty pickup thermometer. Think it was more like 103. Anyway it was just miserable. This all started about 1030 this morning and had to leave the windows down all day that we were in the pickup. Finally made it home tonight about 9pm with outside temp of 94.

 

The AC is dead in the water with almost a year on her and a little less than 12k miles. I have never had a vehicle lose the AC before and I have had MANY new vehicles. No way to talk with anyone so will have to try to get something done on Monday. Wish me luck. And did I mentioned it was miserable.

In simpler terms it just down right sucked....

[brokesilverado]

Don't feel bad I've had the a/c go out on 3 of my new gm trucks. A 93 silverado a 94 gm trailmaster conversion & a 98 gm z71. All 3 under factory Warranty got new compressors & total replacements.

[kstruckcountry]

I had the AC quit on me in a tractor with only 200 hours. Shut it off, without changing a thing, set a few hours and it's worked since.

[Spurshot]

That really sucks. A new truck shouldn't have that kind of problem at a year old.

When my last truck was a few years old, my wife and I were on a couple week vacation with the dogs up in the northwest. It was particularly hot that summer up there. We were in Yakima and it was late morning with the temperature climbing toward over 100. The a/c started acting up and was intermittent. Finally it quit making cold air. I pulled into an auto parts store parking lot and opened the hood.

I had studied a/c systems and done repair and recharging on my earlier truck. I had gauges and a vacuum pump at home. So knew if the system got low on refrigerant, it would not signal the compressor clutch to engage. Sure enough the clutch was not engaging. But excessive clutch gap from wear can also prevent clutch engagement. Banging on the clutch while its running will usually engage a clutch with an excess gap. It didn't work when i tried it. That meant it could be a dozen other things. But refrigerant low level was a likely candidate.

I went in the parts store and bought a can of Freon and a fill can tap. I also asked the clerk for a paper clip. I jumped the high side pressure sensor connector with the paper clip, which engages the clutch. This allowed the system to suck in the Freon while it was running. I put in a can and we were on the road again in about 20 minutes. The a/c has continued to work for a couple years now since then. My wife was impressed...and happy we had a/c again. The rest of that trip for the next week, we were in temps around 100.

[Ventilator]

I've owned a lot of GM's (90%) over the years, and a few Fords (10%). GM's air conditioners, batteries, and window controls just plain suck. No other way to put it. The air conditioners, batteries, and window controls in the Fords seem to last forever.

 

I have an old beater '93 Ranger with a quarter million miles on it, that I bought brand new, and I keep out in the barn for doing odd jobs around the property. It is no longer licensed for the road, but could be if needed. I retired it back in '03 when I went back to GM. The air conditioner is still blowing cold as ice, 21+ years later, and never needed any type of service. The first Motorcraft Battery lasted 8 years, the second Motorcraft battery is still in it cranking it over 13 years later. I'm lucky to get 6 years on the Delco Batteries and the air conditioners. Oh, and that Ranger was a first year redesign and had one recall for the parking brake, and never had a wrench to the motor other than normal maintenance. That is why she is still in the barn, and not my last GM.

 

Sorry to derail your thread, but the GM air conditioners just suck, and blow a lot of hot air. Sometimes I don't know why I punish myself, but GM vehicles are in my DNA.

 

Gotta love 'em, even when sometimes they don't love you back!

[kstruckcountry]

My 2006 AC hasn't been touched yet... It usually takes about a minute to get the cab down to 75, on a road trip it barely has to run. It blows much cooler than any of the SD's or Dodge from the same era I've been in. It's kind of luck of the draw.

[fly53usmc]

Hello spurshot, thought about maybe checking the Freon. Have the gauges here at the house but no Freon.

But since it did not give me any problems till it just stopped figured it might be a bit more serious.

But may go get some today just to see if that is what it is.

 

I had a 85 that belonged to my grand dad and that thing still blew plenty cold when I sold it a few years ago.

It was his work pickup so not in the best of shape but he made sure it had cold air.

 

 

Have had many chevy products as well as ford and first problem with AC out of all of them. Guess it was my time... lol Just wondering if any else has had any AC problems with 2014...

[foghorn23]

At the risk of jinxing myself I've had nothing but great experiences with AC on GM vehicles. However, I did have a 04 Silverado that would freeze up in a couple of hours if you ran max air and the outside temp was in the upper 90's or warmer. As you drove it would progressively blow hotter air. When you pulled over for 10 minutes or so and it thawed out, it was back to bone chilling. At least when GM vehicles are working correctly they are some of the best at blowing COLD air. Do a little forum reading on AC in the new F150's, lots of warm (hot), unhappy people. I know it stinks with a 1 year old truck doing this, but if it had to happen at least it happened in the warranty period. Good luck.

[foghorn23]

Not sure I would call that a great experience.

 

 

Ha, Ha. Well I guess everything is relative. Usually it usually doesn't get that hot where I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also I usually don't do a lot of road trips in my trucks with the wife's car getting about twice the MPG, so I maybe had to deal with this issue 2 or 3 times in my ownership experience as the truck seldom ran continuously for 2-3 hours. But when it was hot the AC blew good and cold and the cab cooled off quickly 99.9% of the time....guess that's my definition of "great." In my opinion AC that doesn't cool well, but is in perfect working condition= not so great.

[Spurshot]

Hello spurshot, thought about maybe checking the Freon. Have the gauges here at the house but no Freon.

But since it did not give me any problems till it just stopped figured it might be a bit more serious.

But may go get some today just to see if that is what it is.

 

I had a 85 that belonged to my grand dad and that thing still blew plenty cold when I sold it a few years ago.

It was his work pickup so not in the best of shape but he made sure it had cold air.

 

 

Have had many chevy products as well as ford and first problem with AC out of all of them. Guess it was my time... lol Just wondering if any else has had any AC problems with 2014...

Yeah, since it quit at such a low mileage/age, it likely needs some kind if repair. Even if it's just low on refrigerant, it would have a fairly bad leak.

 

I think you should take it in for warranty. Just the same, I'd throw the gauges on it to see what's going on. I like knowing more about a problem like this. It helps when talking to the service lane people.

[Spurshot]

I would think it would need some kind of repair even at a higher mileage/age.

 

 

Depends...

 

Most systems will eventually loose some refrigerant thru the seals of the compressor or the hose connections, etc.. If a system is in good shape, the loss could be negligible. But even an acceptable leak rate that may not be detected or worth a repair can be there and cause a system to loose enough refrigerant to need a topping off after a few years. My last truck, an 08, is an example of that. It was 3 years old when it quit. It was low on refrigerant. I put in 6 oz and it has worked well for 2 years/ 60,000 miles. I expect my brother, who has the truck now, to have to put in some refrigerant in the next year or so. I wouldn't take a system down for the level of leak rate. I might sniff it out with my leak detector and if I found it. I would mark it.

[Kent2500]

The air conditioners, batteries, and window controls in the Fords seem to last forever.

 

 

During my truck research, I spent numerous hours in the F150 forums. There was constant threads about AC issues.

[milligan]

We have a Cruze that had AC problems. They ended up having to do a recall and replaced the entire thing. Let us know what the issue was when you get it fixed.

[fly53usmc]

Hey all. Will keep u posted. Going to call dealer in morning and c if my daughter or wife can bring it in the afternoon. Working days and will be driving the daughters car tomorrow but they will have to pony up a loner for me...

 

BTW, still not working.

 

I am not a AC guy so can't help much except to say when u do engage the AC it seems to blow hotter than just on vent. Looks like I am getting some moisture on the ground like u should during hot days but it is under warranty and I know it will get taken care of.

Just how long and if it stays that way. Just crazy that I had it serviced then no more than 80 miles later it craps out...

[j-ten-ner]

...with a quarter million miles on it...

 

That's a nice way to put it...my truck has 1/50 million miles on it...lol

 

so long

j-ten-ner