My 1998 Durango SLT 5.2L has developed issues with the A/C and heating systems.

At the end of the summer this year the A/C would only blow cold air if the fan was set to the highest position. Once turned down to a lower fan setting, the air got warm. It seemed that I had to immediately turn the A/C on high when the car was started to get it to work. If I turned it on after I was driving the car I'd only get warm air. There also was hot air coming from the vents even when the fan wasn't on. Since I don't drive the car that much I learned to adapt.

Now that colder weather is here I can get some heat but only on the low setting. It blows cold air on any of the higher fan settings. I checked both of the heater core hoses and they are hot.

I'm thinking a vacuum leak or blend door problem. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

definitely sounds like a jammed blend door(i would expect a vacuum problem would have the temperature stuck at one extreme or the other), unfortunately im not sure how to get at them in the 98 MY trucks

 

Hey my 1999 Durango is having an AC issue that I cannot seem to find on this forum.

When driving the engine sounds fine. But when I turn the AC on (which dosen't blow cold air) the engine sounds loud and labored. It takes much more throttle to get up a hill or acclerate then if the AC was off. Any suggestions?

 

your compressor is probably dragging, could be the clutch or the compressor itself, but w/o getting anything cold from the a/c the clutch should be cycling rather rapidly. try unplugging the clutch and see if the problem goes away, if so you need a new compressor.

 

Hi, i just got a 2000 Durango 4.7. Doble a/c.
I have basically 2 problems.

- When you put the a/c on, it takes a real while to send cold air. When you have it like 10 minutes, it gets cold inside, but its really slow to get cold.
- Unless you put the fan at max speed you really dont feel any air. In position 2, air flows, but very slowly and you cant hear nothing. I was wondering if there is any microfilter or something blocked.

BTW hot air is anulated by the last owner.

 

thre is no air filter, your lack of air flow is likely a bad blower motor resistor (it controls fan speed)

the a/c not getting cold could be a blend door or low freon charge

 

You think? Cause when i put max power, it blows hard! When i put it in medium, it cant be heard.
Whats a blend door?

 

yes i do think, as the lbower motor fails you typically loose the lower fan speeds first and then the higher ones, until you are eventually left with ONLY HIGH and in some cases NO fan at all

the blend door is the temperature control door it directs air around the heater core or a/c condensor to make it hot or cold

 

Hello All,

So new member here, working to put my 1999 Durango back to like new condition.

I just replaced the Condensor, tranny cooler and Radiator as AC was not cold and radiator was clearly leaking with 220K miles on the auto with the 5.9L V8.

I added the pag 20 oil as stated in the manual for installing a new condensor. I then evacuated the AC system and it seemed to hold at 30 on the low side and below 0 on the high side.

Since it has both front and rear AC system, I figured it would use the stated 30 OZ of R134A. I barely got half a 20oz can into the system and it was not really cold. Checked and found my low side stem valve was slowly leaking, so I replaced it, pulled a vacuum on the system again and recharged but still only got in 10 oz before it was at the high side of the readings. I was continually running the car during the charge.

I hooked back up my hoses with the gauges and watched them as the AC system cycled.

Clutch engaged
Low side read 15
High side read 75

Clutch disengaged
Low side read 45
High side read 50

Seems to not be anywhere close to the posted readings.

I was sitting inside and turned off the auto and you hear a AWWWWW or SISSSSS sound and then it goes away.

I have used a soapy spray bottle as stated here on everything in the engine bay and nothing shows to be leaking.

Looking for some insight as to what/where I should look next. Clearly I either still have a leak or something else has failed at this age and mileage.

Thank you in advanced for your help.

 

My issue with my AC and Heat was a leaking / bad heater core. It was a small leak that I only found when I put a piece of cardboard under the vehicle in the garage. There were a few drops every morning which led me to check the coolant which was slightly below normal.

A local independent shop replaced the heater core. This involved removing the dash and it turned out to be an $800 job. Not cheap but it sure beats driving around with little or no heat.