QuestionI hope you can help me. I have a 2001 Sebring Sedan with a HVAC problem I am having problems diagnosing.
Here's the problem: at the beginning of last fall, as the nights began to get cold, I turned on my heat for the first time in months. I could'nt get anything but A/C, and that VERY cold. I thought maybe I might have a bad heater core, so I tore apart the dash and checked it. its was dry and was hot. running the Heat, i noticed that it seemed like i could hear airmoving, but not on the HC side of the dash. i then checked the ducting, looking for leaks or anything, but then it struck me, i was getting AC, so it wasnt a duct problem. I pulled apart the switches to see it i had a bad temperature dial. My lovely mother has the same model, one year older (2002) and so it takes the same mechanical components. the switches from my car worked in hers, and hers did nothing in mine. i looked deeper, and noticed a whirring noise on the right when i went from recirc to regular AC. thats when i figgured out that there's a door controlled by a motor to change that feature, and thats how I figgured out theres a door that switches from heat to AC! needless to say, it wasnt moving. well, sort of. when you first start the car, the motor's drive shaft thattruns the gear to move that door moves the full range of motion in one direction, then moves all the way back. and stops. it wont move again until you turn the car off and restart, then it does the same thing again. i removed the Motor/Actuator, and once again installed it on Mom's car. the motor worked fine, and hers did not work in mine.
I noticed an earlier answer about there possibly being a "self-diagnostic" feature, activated by pressing and holding the Defroster button in until it flashes. this does not work, HOWEVER: if you place the controls in high speed fan, all the way cold, and defroster settings, then press the defrost button, a tone sounds and " AC 00 " is displayed where the mileage normally shows. if you press it again, you see "AC 32" one more press displays "---------".
Long story short, the motor/actuator wont move the temperature mix door back and forth to switch from cool to heat. The recirc door and dash switch works, fan motor and speed switch works, if you manually turn the door back and forth you can get heat or AC (which i have been doing for a few months now... kinda unsafe at 55MPH if you know what i mean!), but the motor to turn it wont move and inch on command. the motor is fine, and its getting juice, evidenced by the fact that it turns when you start the car. I am out of ideas, and cant figgure anything out further. HELP!
AnswerHi Bryan,
Thanks for your response via the ratings. The control unit is the main ATC display and push button chassis in the conter console. I under stand that you have tried to substitute the blend air door actuator with a good one, and if it is also true that the door mechanically responds appropriately to the actuator and that door is not binding up, then the next thing to consider is the control unit being faulty. There is a temperature sensor in the dash behind a small there is a sensor and a small fan) but you don't get a code for that being a fault. So that main control unit is what I would suggest you borrow from your monther's car and see if you plug that in place of yours that your door would then work.
I have the procedure for removing the non-ATC unit from the Sebring sedan which is probably the same as your ATC unit. Just send me your postal address and I'll xerox and snail mail it to you.
But before you get into dismantling both cars, do try to verify that the blend air door does move in both directions when you have the known good actuator installed on the unit. If it will do that and yet not control the air temp then I would believe there is something the matter with the main control chassis. If you spot the sensor/grill you might try to change that out with mom's just to be sure it is not the problem.
Roland
