Ac drips a ton of condensate after shutdown, but not when running?

[The motor guy]

So the last couple months the ac cools sporadically and kicks on and off. The compressor appears to still cycle on and off although it's usually in like 4 second cycles. It doesn't drip much condensate until shortly after you shut the truck off. Watched it yesterday for 20 minutes while waiting at the taco truck the truck barely made a puddle, but then you **** it off and it's got a huge puddle in the driveway when I get home.

 

[Silver]

Maybe it's freezing up and thawing when you cut if off. In a house this can be due to low freon... excuse me! "refrigerant", or inadequate airflow across the evaporator.

 

[bullwinkle]

Might be a little low on refrigerant, & icing up, then all the ice melts at shutoff. Make sure your cabin air filter is clean. Or it could be expansion valve related.

 

[Blueshound]

Sounds like a vent problem to me. Vacuum or a flap or something somehow holding back the water. My home AC did this until I added a vent to the drain.

 

[The motor guy]

That's what I'm thinking. Low on refrigerant.

 

[zfasts03]

How is the cabin air filter? Sometimes weird things happen when they are clogged.

 

[The motor guy]

How is the cabin air filter? Sometimes weird things happen when they are clogged.

It's a dodge. There isn't one. Lol

 

[BigTimeTA]

So the last couple months the ac cools sporadically and kicks on and off. The compressor appears to still cycle on and off although it's usually in like 4 second cycles. It doesn't drip much condensate until shortly after you shut the truck off. Watched it yesterday for 20 minutes while waiting at the taco truck the truck barely made a puddle, but then you **** it off and it's got a huge puddle in the driveway when I get home.

I'd look for a vacuum leak.

 

[mk378]

Run for a while then open the hood and look for ice on the lines going to the evaporator.

Car systems can freeze up for a few reasons, but low refrigerant is not one of them.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Likely situation is evaporator ice melting after shut off.

 

[The motor guy]

Usually it

Likely situation is evaporator ice melting after shut off.

Just checked it. That's what's happening. What does that mean now? It's the smaller diameter line coming from the evaporator core going to the condenser. Frozen solid straight out of the fire wall.

 

[01rangerxl]

Just something to check if it's accessible, but when the blower motor went out in my Ranger I found a whole bunch of leaves and various other debris in the evaporator housing that had accumulated over about 20 years. I used a shop vac and various zip ties, plastic utensils, and other things that wouldn't damage the core to clean it as best I could. AC operation and temperature was much better after the cleaning. Way better than I would have ever expected given all I was initially trying to do was replace the dead blower motor. Might be worth a shot if you can access the area around the evaporator core.

 

[bullwinkle]

Usually it

Just checked it. That's what's happening. What does that mean now? It's the smaller diameter line coming from the evaporator core going to the condenser. Frozen solid straight out of the fire wall.

Smaller diameter is the liquid line, something’s obstructing it. My money is on the dryer/accumulator (that also has a filter in it)-bet the ice starts at the dryer, which acts like an expansion valve. Normally the smaller liquid line stays warm to hot, and the larger return line going back to the compressor gets cold/sweats.

 

[The motor guy]

Smaller diameter is the liquid line, something’s obstructing it. My money is on the dryer/accumulator (that also has a filter in it)-bet the ice starts at the dryer, which acts like an expansion valve. Normally the smaller liquid line stays warm to hot, and the larger return line going back to the compressor gets cold/sweats. Maybe it will be a simple fix. Change out the orifice filter and recharge. What do I know though, yall are the experts

 

[Gasbuggy]

It's a dodge. There isn't one. Lol

My 10 charger police car has one.

Could be the drain tube is clogging and not flowing properly.. when you park it has extra to drain out. I've had two cars totally clog the drain over the years.

 

[The motor guy]

Smaller diameter is the liquid line, something’s obstructing it. My money is on the dryer/accumulator (that also has a filter in it)-bet the ice starts at the dryer, which acts like an expansion valve. Normally the smaller liquid line stays warm to hot, and the larger return line going back to the compressor gets cold/sweats.

Is this common?

 

[The motor guy]

The part where debris gets into the line. Or are you saying it's ice?

 

[The motor guy]

So just to update. They evacuated the system and recharged it. They couldn't find an obvious leak, but said it was a pound low. I think it's been about 7 years since i've had anything done and if I remember right based on the youtuber eric O a pound is about normal loss after 7 years.