Chrysler Repair: 2002 Chrysler T&C - Automatic Climate Control Problem, automatic temperature control, automatic climate control

Question
Hi Roland,
I hope you can help me out with an air conditioning problem. I have a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country LXi van. It is equipped with the Infrared Three-Zone Automatic Temperature Control System. The problem I'm having is when the air conditioning is on, there is warm (sometimes hot) air coming out of the driver's side vents. Cold air is coming out of the passenger side and rear vents as it should be. All three zones are set at the same temp level. If I adjust the driver's side temp control to its coldest setting, I can get the air cooler on that side but still not cold. The A/C system refrigerant level was checked and was a little low. It was brought back to the proper level although did not help with the problem. The fans seem to be working okay with equal volume coming through the vents. The rest of the system appears to be working fine when going through the various control settings.
I sure hope you can help identify the probable cause(s) of the problem and give me some repair instructions.
Thanks,
Keith

Answer
Hi Keith,
The latest van manual I have is '98 and that model didn't have ATC. I suspect that the blend air door actuator for the driver's side is not doing its job or the door is perhaps binding as that is how the temp is varied. On the LH body cars with ATC you can do a self-diagnostic test on the unit for fault codes: set the temp for 75, and with the engine running but the van at rest simultaneously push the floor, mix, and defrost buttons and hold them until the display starts to blink. Then release the buttons and wait for any two digit number to appear in the display (between 23 and 51). If you get a number then press the panel button to see if there is another number. If not, then the unit will revert to normal function.  I don't know if the '02 Van ATC works the same way, but give it a try and let me know if you get any numbers that way.
It appears that the blend door actuators are pretty accessible as shown in the '98 manual: remove the left lower steering column cover(remove the screw holding the parking brake release handle to the cover, then remove screws from the cover), remove the ABS control module (if equipped), then there are three screws that hold each actuator in place. You can determine which actuator is for the passenger and for the driver by changing the temp setting for each and watch for movement of the respective actuator. I could xerox a couple of pages from that '98 manual if it would be of help and postal mail them to you. Just use the 'thank and rate' tab where you can enter a comment so just put the mailing address in there.
Roland