Hello fellows,

Got a little A/C trouble on my Wifes 98 Durango.

It started early this summer when we took it to A/C shop for service. It was blowing cool but not cold air.

The guy "serviced" it and charged it, and it blew nice and cold for about 15 minutes after we left his shop. That was $120.00

Took it back the next day and he said the "high pressure switch was bad and was allowing way too much pressure. New pressure switch was $60.00.

After that, it blew cold until the next day when there was no cold air at all, only heat when runnin the A/C. Took it back the next day and he says "the high pressure has blown out the "Core" and it needed to be replaced. $623.00 for that.

Now we have it back and it actually blows nice and cold....until the engine warms up and then it starts blowing heat at the floor and cold air up top.

Now, I am somewhat mechanically incline. I restore ole GM Muscle cars on the side and have done several frame-off restos.

I know if these symtoms were occuring on one of my old Chevelles or Camaro, that the likely culprit would be that the "splitter door" is not closing when the A/C is turned on...or, that the water shut-off valve is not closing.

Anyone know what the problem may be before I go back to the A/C shop for the 4th time? I would like to be armed with a little knowledge of how the Durango system works before I go back.

Thanks

 

It could be the blend door like you suggested. I would look into htat. and do the work yourself. It is an expensive job.

 

It's the heater core. The heat from that warms the feet very nicely. Doesn't "blow" heat persey, but with 180-190 degrees, 12 inches from your feet, it's bound to be warm. Bypass it and it will be fine.

I would go to another shop though. That one soundsa bit fishy to me....

 

I would say blend door, especially if it blows hot once it warms up. I recently changed my core, evap, and blower on my 00 Durango. On mine, I can reach the cable for the blend door with removing anything, if I drop the glove door down past the stops. It iseasy to figure out if the door is completely in its fully "closed" position. If you are interested in doing this, let me know and I will help as best I can.

 

A/C problem. Have freon leak. Couldn't find where. Last thought - may be evaporator. Where is it? Does it worth to be fixed. I found lately that my interior fan blower lacks circulation. Any ideas how to approach.[/align]

 

1. The evap is behind the dash in the HVAC box by the passengers feet, mounted to the firewall. Dash comes out to getto the evap. Did you use dye to help find the leak? If so, you typically will see the dye spew out of the HVAC drain. The drain is a smalltube about an inch in diametercoming through the firewall in the engine compartment on the passenger side, about halfway up, near the bell housing. If you see dye there, then it is your evap. 1st gens are known to fail an evap. Just changed mine a couple of months ago in my 2000.

2. Worth it if you want cold air, or, if you don't want the misses asking for a new car,or, if you don't want the misses taking yours, or,if you don't want to sleep on the couch.

3.Start withthe blower motor resistor. That controls the blower fan speeds.

 

I have a 2001 durango, been having a boatload of problems., finally got the blower motor resistor changed out, WOW!, what a difference $13.77 makes. Now, on to my next problem, the blower is blowing on ALL speeds, but now the vents are blowing as a group effort., main seems to be defrost vent on the dash.... So, in your posting I saw that you offered advice on how to "gain access" to the vent door or something to that effect. Well, let meofficially ask you for help, HELP! If you can offer any advice, pictures, positive feedback, please know it is all appreciated. , control seems to be working partially, (meaning, switches to the MEGA cool, - all the way to the left - option on the control ****.)

At this point,putting it in a shop isnt an option, I'm just trying to work through this one step at a time, (alternative cooling rght now is a oscillating car fan in the back blowing the rear a/c to the front.)

But then again, I'm being positive, I HAVE AIR SOUND! and if i were to lay on the dash, all would be well.

- Thanks for the help..
- Hunter

 

Hunter, I am glad to help as best I can. First, the 2001 went to an electric servo motor for the blend door, as opposed to the 98-00 which has a mechanical cable. But, I do not think this is your problem. The blend door only adjusts for temperature, NOT air distribution. The 2001 also usesan electric servo motor to control themode door (98-00 was vacuum). The mode door controls the distribution of the air, which I think iswhere your problem is, assuming your air is the temperture you expect, just not blowing out where it should. I believe a bad servo motordoes have a diagnostic code, but I am not sure if a bad switch does. Also, the doorspline may be stripped, meaning, the motor is rotating to the correct location but the door is slipping on the motor. I believe you can gain access to the mode door by removing the silencer panel underneath the driver side instrument panel. Take a look at it and see what itdoes when you switch the mode switch between the vent settings, or, remove it and diagnosisit. Hope this helps, let us know what you find out, should be relatively easy to fix.

 

air temp is good, but not as cold as i would like it to be, (never is). So, in short, we are talking about pulling the dash?, u wouldnt happen to know of any pictures or documentation that is readily available on the net for me to reference would you?


Like i said, taking this one step at a time, just spoke to a service tech at the local dodge shop, said labor is 4-500.00 and parts are roughly 200.00, so im probb coming out ahead by trying to pull the dash myself. Any tips or tricks before i start this?, so, no **** linkage that could have just been pulled loose or anything?, Geesh, it's like these guys build these things to prevent self-repair.

 

Look in the 2nd gen Dakota forum. On the top as a sticky you will see a Merry Christmas 2001 fsm post. This is a 2001 Dakota service manual that was graciously posted by someone for others to use. This should cover everything you need to figure out the problem. Shouldn't be too bad. Don't rush to pulling the dash, figure it out first. What parts was the dealer quoting to you? Were they just guessing or did they diagnosis and tell you what was wrong?