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Topic: 1996 FT dash air (Read 340 times) previous topic - next topic

1996 FT dash air

It has never worked since I purchased it 6 years ago. Probably needs everything replaced.
I've heard it never worked well and it's not worth repairing.
I start the generator and turn on the roof air when needed driving.
What are your opinions?

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #1 –
My dash air is also grossly inefficient. I had the roof air vents extended to the front and run the generator and roof airs if needed

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #2 –
It's not a must for me Dan but once you get used to the cold air in your lap and knees I would miss not having it. I live in the deep south and most of our trips take us south, southwest from here and it gets hot down here. I'm kind of quirky about air conditioner's in all my vehicles and keep a produce thermometer in the vents and it needs to be in the low 30's or I start wondering why. I understand the owners who  could care less. It wouldn't cost much to charge your system and see how it performs, it may just need a minimum tune up.

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #3 –
Dan, it may be worth a shot and you could get lucky.  Like Dub says charge it up and see what happens.
Ours was blowing nothing but warm air. I got a set of gauges, we evacuated the system, put in a bottle of Red Angel stop leak, refilled the system and dang.........been blowing cold ever since ( over 5 years now).  Not getting down in the 30's but it does blow at 42 which we have been very happy with.  When it gets super hot outside, we flip on the gen and run the roof airs too.

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #4 –
Quote from: MarkC –
Dan, it may be worth a shot and you could get lucky.  Like Dub says charge it up and see what happens.
Ours was blowing nothing but warm air. I got a set of gauges, we evacuated the system, put in a bottle of Red Angel stop leak, refilled the system and dang.........been blowing cold ever since ( over 5 years now).  Not getting down in the 30's but it does blow at 42 which we have been very happy with.  When it gets super hot outside, we flip on the gen and run the roof airs too.
Knock on wood, my coach's dash air has worked great since I bought it 10 years ago but the AC in my CRV has started to leak and it's getting worse. I'm going to try some of that Red Angel stop leak.

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #5 –
I'm an outlier, my dash AC works great. It has been overhauled but works great. We went out last week, temps in the mid to high 80's, sunny.... did not need to run the generator or roof AC's while underway.

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #6 –
Ours did not work when we purchased it either. I want the dash A/C to work, if only for a "backup" in the event of roof air or generator failure. I can tell you a story about a friend who didn't worry about fixing his dash AC because he planned on just using the roof air. Then he made a trip to the Florida Keys and his generator failed. July, no generator, no dash AC and he suffered for 350 miles. Drove the trip in nothing but his boxer shorts.  :o  First thing he fixed after the generator was the dash AC.

I replaced the Compressor on ours along with the dryer and two new cooling fans. It still didn't get as cold as it should, Further investigation found the outside air damper wasn't closing because of the vacuum valve couldn't overcome the spring pressure keeping it open so I ty wrapped it closed (temp fix). Also the heater bypass valve wasn't closing all the way allowing hot water to flow thru the heater coil thus offsetting the work of the evap coil. A 3/4" ball valve in the heater hose fixed that. (temp fix  :D }

It cools as it should now.......

It's not a complicated system, just takes time and parts and patience to repair,

Good luck......

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #7 –
I believe our Freon was changed out many years ago. It is running 134a which I'm sure is not how it was equipped in 1992. Unless I'm in FL, I can generally drive with only the dash air. If it's not sunny, I generally have to leave it on the lowest fan setting or I freeze. Now I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to cold, but still, it's very helpful with our rig as our generator is LP. I might feel differently if it was diesel.

All that said, if it's fixable, it would be worth it to me to use the dash air.

Michael

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #8 –
3 roof airs for the win and a blanket for Brenda

Re: 1996 FT dash air

Reply #9 –
As long as some "genius" didn't get in and mess up the system with goofball fixes, it's usually pretty simple to get the dash A/C blowing cold.