2002 Durango front A/C problems
#1
08-17-2004, 07:50 AM
2002 Durango front A/C problems
I've had my 2002 Durango in the dealer 3 times (4th visit scheduled 2 days from now) over the past few weeks due to poor air flow. I also do not feel as though the A/C gets cold enough on hotter days. I would consider hotter days to be 90 to 92 degrees or hotter. Central Florida regularly reaches 98 degrees - give or take a few. I purchased the auto used a little over a year ago from the auto auction.
As far as the poor air flow is concerned, I am amazed and how different each vent differs in air flow. My original problem/complaint was that the inside vents blew much harder than the outside vents. And that is not to say that even the inside vents were sufficient. If you were to sit in the drivers seat and point vents directly at your face, you would not even feel the outside vents hit your face...and you would somewhat feel the inside vents. This is also assuming that you have the front vents on high. Any speed lower than that is basically worthless. (Especially the lowest of the 4 fan speeds - I'm not even sure why that exists.)
Also the A/C does not seem to get as cold as what I would consider the norm to be. And even when it does begin to cool, I am literally 20 miles down the road (Interstate travel) on a 25 mile commute home.
To make a long story short, the first time I brought this to them they denied there to be a problem. (I also had other issues to be worked on.) The second time they told me to close some of the other vents to push more through the outside vents. The third time they said they confirmed a problem with Chrysler and Chrysler told them to insert some sort of foam inside the duct work to direct more air to the outside vents. The only problem with this is, now I have poor air flow through the inside vents. I am unable to feel air at my face from the inside vents with the fan speed turned to the highest setting.
Has anyone had or heard of similar problems? I am giving this dealer one more chance before I take it to another dealer. My biggest problem with the "insertion of the foam" solution is it doesn't really fix the problem and 2 or 3 years when the foam begins to fall apart or the foam breaks loose the auto will no longer be under warranty.
As far as the poor air flow is concerned, I am amazed and how different each vent differs in air flow. My original problem/complaint was that the inside vents blew much harder than the outside vents. And that is not to say that even the inside vents were sufficient. If you were to sit in the drivers seat and point vents directly at your face, you would not even feel the outside vents hit your face...and you would somewhat feel the inside vents. This is also assuming that you have the front vents on high. Any speed lower than that is basically worthless. (Especially the lowest of the 4 fan speeds - I'm not even sure why that exists.)
Also the A/C does not seem to get as cold as what I would consider the norm to be. And even when it does begin to cool, I am literally 20 miles down the road (Interstate travel) on a 25 mile commute home.
To make a long story short, the first time I brought this to them they denied there to be a problem. (I also had other issues to be worked on.) The second time they told me to close some of the other vents to push more through the outside vents. The third time they said they confirmed a problem with Chrysler and Chrysler told them to insert some sort of foam inside the duct work to direct more air to the outside vents. The only problem with this is, now I have poor air flow through the inside vents. I am unable to feel air at my face from the inside vents with the fan speed turned to the highest setting.
Has anyone had or heard of similar problems? I am giving this dealer one more chance before I take it to another dealer. My biggest problem with the "insertion of the foam" solution is it doesn't really fix the problem and 2 or 3 years when the foam begins to fall apart or the foam breaks loose the auto will no longer be under warranty.