air conditioning

[Seth]

Just been thinking of something lately, wanted to see what yall thought of it. - I have been trying to improve mpg lately, and with warm weather comes the AC - i am sure i will hear some open top comments, but nonetheless, i have it and i like it. So when i am using it, what i have done in the past is turn it all the way cold and let it blow, and when i get cold turn the fan speed down. I began thinking though that maybe if i leave the fan on a higher speed and and turn up (warmer) the temp control a little bit, that the compressor would have a chance to cycle, thus improving mpg, at least in theory. Is my thinking on this correct, that there is some type of thermostat that keeps the inside air at a certain temp when on max/recirculate? and when it is cool enough the compressor turns off and the fan simply recycles the air until it senses that it gets too warm. It might cycle the compressor alot which would lead to wear i suppose but just wondering if anyone had any ideas about this? Flame away for how nit picky this is but also chime in with any insight.

Seth

[bburris]

I think that luxury cars like Caddys and my grandpa's Buick Roadmaster have something like that - in his car you can adjust the temp to the degree, then when it reaches that temp the fans simply turn lower and lower to maintain it. On a mid-90s Ford, I doubt you have the computer controls of Caddy, so on the highest and coolest fan setting the compressor is just on and the blower is blowing as much as it can.

I think the best thing to do would be just leave the windows down around town to let all the hot air out and utilize the 2/40 a/c, then kick your truck a/c on when you're going faster and the wind noise interferes with radio noise.

[Seth]

TTT

[Chadnutz]

Here it is....

If the compressor pumped to a lower pressure when you had the dial set more towards the red, then it would be turning off and on non stop - even more often that it does to begin with. It works by engaging when the pressure is at some low, and disengaging when the pressure is at some high. When you turn your dial towards the red it runs your cold air across the heater core and warms it up a little.

Trying to save mpg by not using the a/c saves you a few dollars here and there. It isn't worth it. Be comfortable and keep your foot a little less heavy on the go pedal.