A/C not blowing through vents

[HawkeyeScott]

a/c stopped blowing out the dash vents in wife`s 07 Pacifica. a/c is still cool and blows elsewhere, but not out the vents. turn up the blower and it gets louder but very little air is coming out the vents. happened in the middle of a 4 hr. trip. happened without changing anything either. almost seemed gradually to stop.

any thoughts? 93 once had to do a temp. blender motor on a crown vic. that seemed more sudden than this. thanks for your input.

 

[97f150]

Sounds like a stuck or broken recirculation door. Drop the blower and reach your hand into the hole and see if the door moves.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: 97f150
Sounds like a stuck or broken recirculation door. Drop the blower and reach your hand into the hole and see if the door moves.
+1

It's a common problem on some Chrysler products and usually it's the vacuum diaphragm that goes (if manual control) or the electronic solenoid that sticks (if you have automatic temperature control).

 

[daman]

Or if the door is ran by vacuum like steve mentioned you could have a broke or pinched vac hose.

 

[Oil Hound]

For what it is worth, I had the same problem on a 2006 Ram 1500. Plastic door was broken inside above the blower fan.
Interestingly, there is information about this problem throughout the Chrysler line on the internet. Of further interest, a dealer different from the selling dealer, agreed to contact the "old Chrysler" to see if a fix would be covered under warranty. Amazingly, Chrysler agreed to repair the broken part under a "secret warranty program" even though the Ram was nearly four thousand miles past the 3/36 bumper to bumper coverage. You might try to get help from the "new Chrysler" if you aren't too far past the 3/36 bump. to bump. This a first post, so go easy on me.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Chrysler has a TSB out on certain models for "AC blend door recalibration".

If this applies to your car it's a moment or two on a Starscan and you're fixed.

 

[mechtech2]

I'd rather have cables than need a 'starscan' to fix my car.
Too much intricacy!
Anyway, a vacuum line may be off or faulty under the hood [going to the interior], or inside the car under the dash.
And of course a vacuum actuator may also be faulty.

 

[SteveSRT8]

You'd like it if you had seen the technology in action. They fixed my friends car (a Charger) in about 5 minutes total. It was a beautiful thing.

No ham fisted idiot stealership tech tearing apart the dash, etc.

But if you are alluding to excessive use of computers, etc., I would reluctantly agree. It's all great if it works, but when it doesn't it is nearly impossible to diagnose it properly and then fix it.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Now, here's an UPDATE with some new info:

We get in the car today and I hit the "Auto High" setting on the A/C. Guess what? It works and works beautifully! Haven't messed with it past that but I've left it on. And each time I've started the car today, the A/C keeps working like it should. (Knock on wood.)

Is there any chance this could be a SWITCH or CONTROL problem? I noticed today it briefly switched levels on the dash display from dash vents to floor vents back to dash vents (without me telling it to). This was on the Auto High setting. Never notice it do this before. I've always thought it started on the dash level setting and stayed there.

Anyway, we're 4 hours from home and it will be 93 tomorrow for the drive home. We're hoping our 2-year-old naps part of the drive home, so having this sucker continue to work would be great. I'll be willing to experiment more with it when we get home. (Ironically, we came to the beach because my wife and I have taken on extra work the last few months to get a little fun money. It would be pretty disappointing if on our trip to enjoy a little of that hard work, our car came down with an expensive problem!)

Thanks again guys. -Scott

 

[HawkeyeScott]

And yes, it is automatic temp. control. Forgot to mention that.

 

[mechtech2]

If it works, then the servos and vacuum motors are OK.
It must be an electronic control or switch problem therefore.