HI,
Fixed the AC this summer but now I the heat is not working. I would like to rule out a few things before taking it to my favorite AC/Radiator guy. Can someone help me help myself? The controller is the std three dial no frills type.


We topped off the radiator fluid


1) Clogged core: Guessing I need to check the lines going into and returning to the heater core to see if they are both hot? Know any good online schematics to point out where they are?


2) Doors: When I use AC or just let it blow cool air, the modes all seem to work, defrost, upper, lower, both... seem to blow in the correct areas. However, when I turn the temp dial to hot, (when the engine is cold or hot) I no longer hear the "whump" noise of what I imagine is another door switching from a heater core to the AC coils??? is that possible that a kind of actuator is not working correctly or the door is frozen and can I check this?


2a) if there is an actuator not working is there a wiring diagram so I could apply voltage to it to see if it is burned out? How about one to check to see if voltage is being applied with a multi meter?


3) I read somewhere that you can set the mode to defrost, turn the heat up all the way and hold the RW defrost until it beeps and that will set a mode to calibrate the doors? Guess I will try that first. Is this correct?


4) What else can I look for?


So far I have done a online few searches, but nothing has presented itself just yet.


Thanks,
Kevin

 

1) Look for the two hoses going into the firewall behind the engine. (Not the A/C lines.) They're pretty easy to spot. Use a flashlight. They start off the coolant outlet manifold on the top of the engine (6 cyl anyway).

2) The "blend door" mixes cool and warm air to control the temperature of the air reaching the car's interior. It has nothing to do with where the air comes out of the dash. If you get warm air when the **** is turned toward the red side and cool air when it's turned toward the blue side then it's working correctly. You don't usually get a "whump" from this door because it operates through a range rather than an all or nothing situation.

2a) Wiring diagrams are found in the shop manual. They occupy something like a hundred pages. A wiring diagram won't be much help. If you can see the actuator, you can tell if it moves but pretty much everything is buried under the dash.

3) I don't think that calibration technique works for the 2001 model year. It never worked on my 2001 but did work on my 2002. The proper method is: temp all the way to cold, mode all the way to defrost, with engine running, press and hold rear defrost button until there's a beep.

4) Make sure your coolant level is fully up. Low coolant is probably the most common cause of poor heater output. If you recently added coolant, it may take a few warm-up and cool-down cycles to get the air out of the system. DO NOT fool with the bleed screw on the coolant outlet manifold on top of the V-6 engine. As sure as the sun will come up tomorrow the screw will stick to the part it's screwed into and spin it which will cause a leak and you'll have to replace the whole thing.
BTW,if you recently added coolant, you may already have a leak, which should be addressed before you do anything else.

 

Follow up: I recently found out that the radiator cap was bad and replaced it. Now the system is under pressure. (Surprised it did not overheat) I have seen where the door actuator is in a junk yard and it looks almost impossible to get to and work on. There does not seem to be any clear videos on how to get all that crap out vents and all, and it is impossible to see all the nuances of getting them out, it is a touchy feely thing.

Are there any good diagrams or stop gap fixes? I would be willing to cut a door in the ac boxes and epoxy them back If I thought it would work. This car may wind up in a yard when I am through with it anyway. Most likely I will start a new thread.

 

If you want to spend about 25 bucks or so and invest in a Haines manual, it'll tell you how to remove the dash and get to the actuators for the blend door and mode door. It's a very big job that will probably take you days. Before you do that, try replacing the control head. It's very easy, and the controls are widely available and not very expensive. The controls are very often the cause of heater/AC problems.
To remove the control head, use your fingers and some plastic trim tools or a wooden paint stirrer and pop off the bezel that surrounds the controls. Then you just remove some screws, ease out the control head and reach around behind to disconnect the wiring. Three plugs. Takes about 10 minutes.

 

Hi,
Thanks,
I have read the manual in the store... it actually is not all that helpful. I have also gone to a junk yard to try and do most of the work on another sebring. I understand how tasking it is. I would have heat if I could afford the bill which would most likely be well over a thousand dollars. Much cheaper to try and find an electric heater until I can get another car. If I could find a true enough diagram, I might be willing to cut a hole in the AC box and get to the doors manually, then epoxy them or build an access panel.

I have three climate control boxes now. Chrysler is not selling them anymore.
and there is really no way to test them to see if they work.