I have a continuing problem with the manual A/C unit in my wife's '98 Jxi conv. It blows cold, but after a while, it arbitrarily redirects the air flow from the dash vents to the defroster vent, to the floor outlet, or just deadheads it to nowhere at all.

I've attempted to pull the A/C fault codes by placing the unit into diagnostic mode, but it doesn't respond. The procedure I've followed has been: Engine running with car in Park; Fan on; Temp. set to full cold; Mode set to Defrost; Pressed and held the "EBL" (finally figured out this is the rear defroster!) button for several minutes each time. The odometer never displayed anything other than the mileage. Am I missing a step or something? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

a manual ac control head will not give codes and anything where he miles are will be for engine computer codes nothing else. U will need a scanner to get into the BCM and see what those codes are.

 

Thanks for your response, Chrysler Tech. It does seem odd, though, that you can't pull A/C codes manually on a Sebring without the aid of the scan tool, when you apparently can access them manually for at least the LH cars and even the Dodge Stratus. I was following the procedure documented in numerous threads in other Chrysler product forums, such as: www.lhforums.net/forums/showthread.php?p=267680. What's up with that?

 

You can access fault codes that way in post-2000 Sebrings. I'm not sure about your vintage vehicle. Apparently the capability isn't there.

Your symptoms seem to indicate a problem in the mode door operation. There's a controller that operates the mode door to direct air flow to the floor, dash or defrost. It's designed so that if it fails, air will go to the defroster. Somewhere in the circuit controlling this door, there's a problem. Could be in the control head, the door control motor, or in between.

Thanks for the link to the site with the fault codes. I've been looking for those for a year.

 

Glad to be of help with the codes, friend. "One hand washes the other", you know.

I also believe the problem to be in the mode door operation. I guess I'll just have to start ripping out and replacing to resolve the issue.