IIRC the 2005 does indeed have a ZONE VALVE.

The compressed freon may circulate to the front, the rear, or both.
There are two separate loops. The rear is NOT chilled any time the front is, so it is NOT like the Suburban I guess.

It is possible to circulate freon to the front only, and not the rear.
I know. I had a pinhole leak in the rear circuit, and my A/C would stay charged as long as my battery stayed 85 degrees or lower, and the rear loop stayed isolated.

HTH,
-John

 

My '83 GMC 2500 'burban had a zone switch too.
Had to turn on the rear air to get freon to the back.

MM

 

Noise generated by the battery cooling fan is a real problem, especially on the back seat, where it will be noticeable.
One smart solution to almost eliminate such noise is to utilize Porous Ducts made of special fibbers and usually utilized on Air Filter Systems.
It works. Believe me!!

 

 

After a lot of looking through the manuals, there is an isolation valve on the low pressure line and the TXV on the High pressure line is effectively an isolation valve. As noted above by gpsman1 this circuit is isolated when off. They are located in the Auxiliary Climate Control Housing (Fords name in the manuals) on the drivers side wall in the cargo area.

But as arranged they essentially only isolate the chiller unit itself. So if there was a leak in the two lines going to & from this location there could be an unisolable leak.

I think gpsman1 is thinking that the chiller unit is the most likely place for a leak and I think he's right. Take a look underneath at the lines that go back there if you go over some really, really rough terrain.

You know, you might pull the cover on the Auxiliary Control Housing and verify that nothing is blocking air flow or clogging the chiller unit itself. Something that prevented the Auxiliary Temperature Blend Door from moving fully also might be a culprit.

 

long time no see guys...i stopped recieving emails of new posts to my posting here...i didn't realize i was still getting replies...anyway, i've still got this problem...last night(78 degrees) i drove it to town and the battery temp was 43c...not sure what that translates to but the engine didn't shut off at red lights and the rear fan was running trying to cool it off....i took the filter cover off to see if it was pulling air from the outside but it was closed...like its supposed to be when its using the a/c cooling system...of course the cooling lines were not cold like no refrigerant was circulating(i have the inside cover off so i can see/feel the lines going into the chiller unit...i did take the whole cover off the chiller unit to make sure it wasn't clogged and it wasn't...airflow shouldn't be the problem...i will say i had a hard time getting that cover back on because of the "blend door"...its hinged in between the outside cover and inside cover and it was very hard to get it back lined up, but i got it done....i am getting very discouraged about this....i called the local ford place and they said they would be glad to check it( for $100) but then they said that the only work they had done on a hybrid was changing the oil so i'm not sure they can figure it out....i wouldn't mind the $100 if they can figure it out...guess i may have to let them try...i don't have a leak because its always been full when i check the pressure

 

come on guys....restore my faith in this rig i know someone on here can help me...

 

It appears clear that you have a problem in the cooling circuit for the battery. Unless you have the tools to check it out yourself take it in.

Maybe the thermal expansion valve itself is bad, but something is preventing this circuit from working and I believe the system is protecting the battery from overheating.

 

I agree with Bill. I think it's time to find a hybrid experienced dealer and pay the diagnostic fee. Be sure to give them all of the observational data you've collected as it should be useful for a knowledgeable hybrid tech.

 

I think I have the same problem (just keeps adding up). I did the trick above to see the batter temp and it started at 34 and rose to 44 C as i drove for an hour. By then, it would act much like described above, high RPM to accelerate, no hybrid-only mode, no battery charging while slowing down.