Chrysler Repair: 2002 Chrysler Sebring A/C; Heater problem, domestic water supply, chrysler sebring

Question
Roland,
I know '02 isn't your specialty but I was hoping you may be able to help me anyways. I purchased my vehicle in Hawaii and it had a pretty good amount of damage to it. Busted taillights, mirrors, windows, dents, etc... (looked like an upset girlfriend...) I'm not sure if there was any internal damage, but a lot of external for sure. Anyways At first, my A/C worked great, blowed hard and cold. Then over time, it got warmer and warmer until it was blowing outside temp air on me. I had the system recharged and that didnt seem to help any. So then I made the mistake of moving to Ohio and it's starting to snow... the problem is that my heater doesn't work at all. Blows "refreshing" 20* air in my face. I took it to a mechanic who said that it was the Blend Vent Door Actuator which I purchased and replaced. Still blowing cold air... My coolant is perfect and my temp guage gets to 1/2 in a short amount of time. Any idea what could be causing this?

2002 Chrysler Sebring Sedan

Thanks,
Jesse

Answer
Hi Jesse,
I am going to get my first manual for the Sebring (a '95 Chrysler 2 volume set) in a few days via snail mail. So I can't speak with any authority on the Sebring AC/heater system. But one thing I would do is feel the temperature of the incoming and outgoing heater hoses at the firewall. If the flow thru the heater core is obstructed they will be widely different in temperture whereas if the flow is good they should be very similar in temperature. If the flow is obstructed then you could flush the core using a domestic water supply hose to move a lot of water in each direction thru those hoses. Is the unit an automatic temp control unit? (If it has the blend air actuator then it may very well be that, the one with a digital readout for the temp setting, etc.) If so, then there is a self-diagnostic capability I can tell you about how to do and what the results mean, based on the Concorde, etc heaters. There may be a rudimentary self-diagnostic capability on the conventional unit, but I need to get the manual to tell you how to do it and what the results mean. So keep in touch and when the manuals show up I'll get back to you with any other suggestions.
Roland