[edoug]

I just recently purchased a 2016 challenger hellcat and think I'm having issues with the AC and it not turning on. I bought it out of state so I have been talking to the service manager where I bought it and he initially had me check that they didn't accidently remove the AC clutch relay as they tended to pull the engine relay when storing overnight. Checked that, it wasn't missing. I also check F12 and made sure it wasn't blown. The next convo I had with him got really technical and want to try to fact check was he is saying.

He was telling me that the AC system has been set up with a sensor in the front grill and if it receives an OAT reading of 72 or less degrees then the system won't turn on the compressor to provide cooler air. As such, he is saying I will have to wait until a warmer day to verify whether there is actually anything wrong with the AC system. The further any potential issue goes undiagnosed, the more nervous I get that I will be on hook for any expenses to fix.

Based on my searches online, I wasn't able to find anything that discussed this. Any thoughts you all have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[16GoManGoHC]

I have a 2016 and run a power chiller and I run my AC most all the time even in 40F ambient. It never shuts off.

 

[baabootoo]

Nah, I run mine under 70 also; most all the time lately. I have read the opposite though, that some compressors won't cycle when it's too cold.

 

[edoug]

Alright so slight update. It’s been a week since I’ve had the car. The AC hasn’t kicked on once until today. I’m trying to going back through what happened but can’t piece it together.
I left work and didn’t mess with any settings at all on start up. It was the same as I had in the morning when it didn’t work. It was set to fan only at 4 with a temp of 66. no AC, no max ac, no recirculated air on, no other settings on.
Anyways I’m 10 mins into my commute home where we were crawling at 10-20 mph in a downpour for about 5 mins when ice cold air started blowing (presumably the AC kicked on). The temperature outside was 68 so wasn’t a drop in temp due to storm. This is only time it’s come on ever and so weird it did in the middle of a commute where it was set to fan only the entire time. I went ahead and clicked the AC on to check if it would still work. It still blew really cold air. I switched it over to auto and lowered the temp setting to 64. It got even colder. It was smooth sailing all the way home for the last 10 mins. I had to see if this what temporary or not. I left my house an hour later and it was back to not working at all. Tried turning on fan only, auto, AC, max AC. Nothing worked. I just went out for another ride and still no luck.
What the hell is going on and why did it just randomly work once out of 15ish rides I’ve had?????

 

[El-Gato]

Theres is a line on 2016 to condensor its under the airbox they havd a rub issue should be able to see from under vehicle chk for oil residue on line, ref oil always shows up at leak source esp on the hi side. Mine rubbed a hairline crack at 7000 miles. warm day the undercharged refrig expands in system to satisfy the lo press cutout. IE works fine except on cooler days low 60s would not engage compressor, your cars stock ac should work fine down to 46* ambient. That line is about 60 bux @eastcoastmoparts there has been at least 2 revisions to correct the issue. Might be worth taking a look at.

 

[edoug]

Theres is a line on 2016 to condensor its under the airbox they havd a rub issue should be able to see from under vehicle chk for oil residue on line, ref oil always shows up at leak source esp on the hi side. Mine rubbed a hairline crack at 7000 miles. warm day the undercharged refrig expands in system to satisfy the lo press cutout. IE works fine except on cooler days low 60s would not engage compressor, your cars stock ac should work fine down to 46* ambient. That line is about 60 bux @eastcoastmoparts there has been at least 2 revisions to correct the issue. Might be worth taking a look at.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I will check this out and report back

 

[edoug]

I ended up taking into the dodge dealership to have a tech look at the all the lines. He didn't see any apparent leaking. He mentioned the freon we have in our Hellcats is the "fancy" version that already has dye in it so if there was any substantial leaking there would be green markings all over.

The next steps they want me to bring it in and hook it up to the AC machine and check the pressure to see there any leaks and then replace the freon and recharge it. sounds like is going to cost me about $350 to do these next steps.

Before I commit to that, is there any other potential checks for something else that could go wrong that wouldn't be as expensive to rule out? Based on my description above, because the AC compressor kicked on once (when I didn't even have the AC button activated) my suspicion is it might be a sensor that is broken rather than the AC system. I'm by no means a mechanic or a technician so I'm purely questioning based off my observations.

 

[Xylander]

It sounds like a servo or a sensor to me. If the thing worked once, chances are it still works now. AC mechanical systems rarely fix themselves... especially if there's a loss of pressure in a line or loss of refrigerant. A bucket with a hole holds no water sort of thing.

I'm not a mechanic. I don't even know these specific systems so well. I do however know general car stuff, and there are electrical relays/servos that open/close vent mechanisms. There's also similar electrical systems that turn on the compressor. My bet is that it's an electrical gremlin of some kind. Chasing down electrical issues is no less expensive.

 

[El-Gato]

I ended up taking into the dodge dealership to have a tech look at the all the lines. He didn't see any apparent leaking. He mentioned the freon we have in our Hellcats is the "fancy" version that already has dye in it so if there was any substantial leaking there would be green markings all over.

The next steps they want me to bring it in and hook it up to the AC machine and check the pressure to see there any leaks and then replace the freon and recharge it. sounds like is going to cost me about $350 to do these next steps.

Before I commit to that, is there any other potential checks for something else that could go wrong that wouldn't be as expensive to rule out? Based on my description above, because the AC compressor kicked on once (when I didn't even have the AC button activated) my suspicion is it might be a sensor that is broken rather than the AC system. I'm by no means a mechanic or a technician so I'm purely questioning based off my observations.

It sounds like your gonna have to let a tech look at it and go thru the circut pwr,cntrls, ac circut to diagnose properly. If they have to charge the system because it is low they will have to pull the old charge and install all new if so have them pull a vacumn and chk for leaks. The yf is a blended refrig and is not going to work as efficently if someone trys to top off a existing charge. Following thread.

 

[baabootoo]

One last thing that I just discovered today when it was hot and muggy; 60 is not the lowest setting. There is a LO setting one turn lower that is their coldest. GM cars used to have 60 as the lowest so I was confused.

 

[edoug]

I just talked to the dealership. I am glad I asked them to test the AC clutch relay before they hooked up the AC machine. Turns out my hunch that is was an electrical issue was correct and not a leaking/low freon issue since it had turned on once randomly with super cold temperatures. The AC clutch relay had gone bad and wasn't providing power to the system. A little frustrated at myself for not thinking to have them check it when I took it in last week to check the lines or just going out and buying a $10-20 multimeter to do it myself. Hopefully a lesson learned for myself and anybody on here in the future. Also, a little bit of frustration should go towards them for not thinking about it either and for telling me next steps was to go the AC Machine, refill freon and recharge which is a $500 next step. Like shouldn't they have standard operating procedures with a correct order of operations to diagnosis these issues??


Anybody have a good mechanic they trust with their Hellcat in the Kansas City area? Definitely not going back to the Dodge dealership after this experience.

Edited: for typo indicated by **

 

[DodgeCares]

I just talked to the dealership. I am glad I asked them to test the AC clutch relay before they hooked up the AC machine. Turns out my hunch that is was an electrical issue was correct and not a leaking/low freon issue since it had turned on once randomly with super cold temperatures. The AC clutch had gone bad and wasn't providing power to the system. A little frustrated at myself for not thinking to have them check it when I took it in last week to check the lines or just going out and buying a $10-20 multimeter to do it myself. Hopefully a lesson learned for myself and anybody on here in the future. Also, a little bit of frustration should go towards them for not thinking about it either and for telling me next steps was to go the AC Machine, refill freon and recharge which is a $500 next step. Like shouldn't they have standard operating procedures with a correct order of operations to diagnosis these issues??


Anybody have a good mechanic they trust with their Hellcat in the Kansas City area? Definitely not going back to the Dodge dealership after this experience.

Hi edoug,
We sincerely regret to hear of your trouble. If you are in need of additional support while in dealer service, please let us know via PM. We can certainly have a case escalated for additional assistance while in service.

Rob
Dodge Cares

 

[edoug]

I wanted to circle back on this post for those that are following.

I ended up spending a few minutes discussing with the service manager. He was a really good dude and took the time to explain to me what happened. He claims that the AC clutch relay can't be tested as simply as hooking up a multimeter to it. He was saying that the multimeter would still read a 12V reading. They had to use the AC machine to diagnose it was the relay and that's why the labor was so high. At the end of the day, the other third party dealership that I bought the car from a couple weeks ago paid for the costs to fix the AC so I'm not out anything. However, I am interested if this statement is true because it just seems like such an expensive option to find that a simple replacement clutch relay will fix the problem and want to know if I can trust this service shop going forward.

 

[edoug]

Hi edoug,
We sincerely regret to hear of your trouble. If you are in need of additional support while in dealer service, please let us know via PM. We can certainly have a case escalated for additional assistance while in service.

Rob
Dodge Cares

Beware this is lip service. Took over a week to respond after the issue was over. When asking a follow up about whether the right steps were taken to diagnose the issue.They just said they stand by their dealership decisions so not sure what they meant by “escalating for additional assistance”