2018 Expedition a/c reduced cooling and air flow during long drive.

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Philamena

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I have a 2018 Expedition Max with 66k miles on it. Bought it used last August with 55k miles, local one owner vehicle. On a recent trip to Colorado the air conditioner apparently began to freeze up as the blower quit blowing out the vents even though I could hear the fan blowing inside the dash. What little air that was coming out was cool but very restricted and it was extremely uncomfortable in the cabin. I stopped and had the refrigerant checked and it was up to spec. We were able to turn the air off for about 5 minutes and it would start working again but not for long. When we got to Colorado where the temperatures were lower and humidity was much lower, it worked fine. On the return back to Arkansas and hot humid weather the problem started again. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they checked the drain tube and it was not stopped up. They seem to think it is a sensor that controls the compressor that is bad and not letting the compressor shut off. Strangely we are experiencing a small amount of water on the driver's side carpet and not the passengers side. The Ford dealer is not able to diagnose any further because they had to order a new laptop computer loaded with updated Ford software and it may be awhile before they have it in. So in the meantime I am stuck with a vehicle I can't drive comfortably. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 

gural

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Hi
in my second car - dodge grand caravan - had same problem
during long trips in summer (at least 3 hours) I could not feel the air flow
I was trying to check what was the problem step by step

In the end I found under the car a big ice box - which after i shout down the car - was melting down in 3 minuts
And the air conditioning was working proprely once again

There were two problems - one was the ac dryer (i do not know if i speel it correctly) the thing which is taking the water from ac and drops is outside the car - it was not efficient and after some time it was starting to freeze
and that was coused by a back sensor on dryer which was broken

No one knew that there were 2 sensors on ac - everybody think that were only 1
 

meridocking

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My 2018 Exp Platinum Max also has a problem with air flow in the front of vehicle being shut off, even though I can hear the fan running. I am not certain that the A/C is cooling because the air flow is so low. Back unit air flow was fine but again I am not certain that the air was cooled. This occurred after driving approximately 35 miles/minutes and the problem continued for 2.5 hours of driving 130 miles or so. I tried shutting off the A/C, tried changing to heater, pulled off the road and restarted engine but nothing helped. however, after parking Expy overnight, A/C blower and cooling worked as expected.
There has been 2 other occasions when the air flow slowed way down for a minute or so, then returned to the setting. This is not a fan blower problem, but vent control problem. Coincidentally, I played a CD in the player (for first time ever) while on the 180 mile trip, and removed it at end of trip, noting that the disc was quite hot. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.
 

Hurricane

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Mine is 2018 expedition doing the same thing. It has 77k mikes on it. None of the controls are responsive when it occurs, but if I kill the engine, open the door, and then restart the engine, it works fine. If anyone has more details on how to fix the issue, I would be very grateful! It’s hot out!
 

bodabdan

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A/c systems freeze up for 2 reasons-
The evaporator coil is too cold due to an improper charge or bad expansion valve/orifice
- or-
Insufficient air flow across the evaporator coil, usually due to dirty evaporator coil, bad blower motor, or bad cabin air filter. Closing all the ducts can also contribute.

Evap. coil forms ice which blocks airflow, ice melts and airflow resumes until it ices again.
You can melt the ice by putting fan on high, put temp on cold, and leave a/c off.
 

pheasantdog

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I just had the same thing happen on a trip - very humid but not super hot - mid 80's. Fan would barely blow, even though I could hear it. The air in the vents felt the same as outside. Tried shutting off the vehicle and restarting but no help. Got home and scheduled service. But the next day it worked fine. Mine is 2018 Expedition Max
 

acepilot13

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All I just had the same issue with mine. Driving 9 hours to Colorado it would freeze up after about 4 hours. Confirmed by turning AC off and letting the fan blow. Slowly you get more air passing into the front vents. Then I turned the AC back on. I knew my pressures were good so my thoughts are it was either moisture in the line or bad expansion valve. What I did was since I was going to have to pull a vacuum to get moisture out I decided to replace the expansion valve as well. It's a ~$40 part with a little frustration. So I had the refrigerant evacuated, pulled a vacuum for an hour and then I actually recharged with R134A(shhhh don't tell the EPA) one I'm not paying $44 a can for that 1234yf that is pretty flammable and two r134a has slightly better performance. Now since it's not tuned for r134a at the expansion valve you have to play with how much you charge the system to. Mine was pretty close to sticker quantities. I just used superheat and subcooling to get the right amount. It has been working great now with no issues.
 

manuelb

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I just had the same thing happen on a trip - very humid but not super hot - mid 80's. Fan would barely blow, even though I could hear it. The air in the vents felt the same as outside. Tried shutting off the vehicle and restarting but no help. Got home and scheduled service. But the next day it worked fine. Mine is 2018 Expedition Max
Friend, I did the same thing. I programmed the air conditioning from scratch with my scanner. It worked for about 6 hours but then it blew slowly again, did you manage to solve the problem definitively?
 

manuelb

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My 2018 Exp Platinum Max also has a problem with air flow in the front of vehicle being shut off, even though I can hear the fan running. I am not certain that the A/C is cooling because the air flow is so low. Back unit air flow was fine but again I am not certain that the air was cooled. This occurred after driving approximately 35 miles/minutes and the problem continued for 2.5 hours of driving 130 miles or so. I tried shutting off the A/C, tried changing to heater, pulled off the road and restarted engine but nothing helped. however, after parking Expy overnight, A/C blower and cooling worked as expected.
There has been 2 other occasions when the air flow slowed way down for a minute or so, then returned to the setting. This is not a fan blower problem, but vent control problem. Coincidentally, I played a CD in the player (for first time ever) while on the 180 mile trip, and removed it at end of trip, noting that the disc was quite hot. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.
Exactly the same thing happens to me, what was the solution, please? In the scanner it says that it has to do with air control that there is no communication.
 

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