Is good air conditioning absent from Durango?

[jeep lover]

Originally Posted by tommychau

One thing I would check is to make sure your baffle door is sealed good. I guess even on a cool day and your engine being cold, I guess it can still mix your cold air with outside air? Hopefully you know a trusted mechanic that can try to look at this for you without having to go too deep into the system short of taking the dash off.

In the beginning, I wasn't getting the cooling it should have. After the A/C checks out and you can see the return line to the a/c compressor is chilling really good. So the final culprit must be the Air ducting system is poorly designed. In a good way when my heater core went out and my personal mechanic had to tear down the dash and disassemble the heater core/AC core box. When he put the stuff back together, he made sure everything was closing tight and no leaks. Since then, my A/C system is now chilling like it is suppose to. I rarely have to put it past the 2nd notch on the blower speed to keep the interior cold on a hot summer's day.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been ripped off for diagnostic services and evac and recharge, when what I should have done is go to this website first. Live and learn. 'Bout the time I'm getting ready to die, I get smart. Figures.

[tommychau]

We all have been there. This site helped me alot to know my 00 R/T durango much better. If you want to know even more, there is a dedicated message forum site for Dodge/Chrysler enthusiats. That site has much much more information strictly for Chrysler/Dodge products as well as knowing what future production vehicles will be out soon.

http://www.dodgeforum.com

I am known there as Kensai

One thing to try is to temporary bypass the heater core by pulling out both the heater hoses from the engine side of the firewall and join the hoses together with a coupling. See if your A/C Temperature improves. Also, check your airflow coming out of the vents? At high speeds, does it feel like high speed? I guess you will only know this if you know a fellow with another durango. If the heater core bypass makes a difference, it could be the baffle door not shutting tight or not insulated well that switches you between cold and hot air. If you are not getting good air flow, it could also be because the baffle door being stuck at a position where it combines cold/hot air or there could be an obstruction somewhere in the core.

My fellow co-worker owns a 2001 durango and his A/C is running cold but the airflow coming out of the front vents does not have too much air flow. Thus why he complains the durango doesn't feel like it is cold in the compartment. His high speed is similar to my 2nd speed setting. Now he is taking his in to check for air flow problems.

Good luck and hopefully your A/C system is Air control related like mine. If someone tells you that they checked and said that they can see the baffles shutting tight, have them show you to see with your own eyes and see how they react? Because my mechanic says, there is no way to see it without tearing down the dash to get to the A/C Heater core assembly to know that. The core is not even accessible from the engine side of the firewall.

I doubt the dealer would waste a basic diagnostics charge on a all day tear down/reassemble on the dash unless you get charged an arm and a leg for it.

Tommy

[jeep lover]

Thanks to both of you guys. I think I'm on to something here, so will do the heater hose bypass this weekend and see what happens.

September 15:

So here I am now in mid September, and in Austin it is HOT. 93 today and humid as heck. I did the heater hose bypass this past weekend, and it did help. Thing is, it is fine now as long as you are driving at normal speeds, but if you slow down for an extended time, or in stop and go traffic, then the air starts warming up. My thought process says the condenser is not funtioning properly, maybe clogged coil? Any way to cure this without replacing the condenser? Am I correct in suspecting the condenser?

[ISAMBARD]

I live in Dubai and it is starting to get warm now. I have had my heater hoses disconnected for years to overcome the overheating problem with my 2003 5.9L Durango SLT and my A/C is no better. A couple of things that seem to make things a bit better:
1. The shared front back and up/down setting seems to work better than any other with the rear A/C off. That's fully counter clockwise.
2. If you are driving under 40 mph switch the overdrive off.
Now that gets me to thinking one of the problems could be the compressor is not rotating fast enough to push out enough low temperature coolant. When I cruise on the highway my revs are at about 2000 and that doesn't work the A/C system hard enough.
I am off to the 3M shop this month to get some heavy duty tinting done.

[stevesmith]

Do you have your ac fixed or not.I also have the same issue with Durango 2003 and the problem comes out to be in the actuator.

[Hands On]

I know this thread is a very old one.....but it is a very legitimate problem with these Durangos.
02 Dingo- same ac problem. Solved!
I wound up stripping the efan and mechanical fan. Put in a BMW dual temperature switch and a Volvo fan controller along with a Ford Taurus efan. It's all automatic. No on-dash switches etc. Had to remove dash to replace all motors that control the air vents, might as well. Went with oem from eBay. While I was there I completely insulated the entire ac/heater plenum. Now the ac will freeze you out in these extreme temperatures here in Phoenix Az. Plus, the engine temperature gauge never gets past the half-way mark.
Dodge never really put much thought into the ac systems on these Durangos for the desert heat.(pretty much all the big 3) had to modify the ac and cooling system on my Town Car as well.
In Arizona, you pretty much gotta go full hog to get your ac and cooling system working properly on these Durangos.
Hope this helps someone.

[billp1949]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and have a question concerning the Dodge Durango heater core bypass process.

I have a 2001 Durango and like many others here have a great deal of trouble with the A/C system. I'm thinking the heater core bypass is something I'd like to try.

With only a shut off valve added to the input hose, when closed will it cause any harmful back pressure in the system? I see the one valve shut off as a good easier way to eliminate heat but I want to be safe.

Would it be better to have a combination shut off and bypass system acting together? Isolate the heater core and fluid flow back into the system?

I'm handy but I want to be safe also. I'd appreciate your input and suggestions. My Durango at it's best gives me around 60-65 degrees when the ambient temperature is 95 degrees. Everything is fine in the system when it's started in the morning when it's cool outside and the engine is cool also. I've had it to about 48 degrees. In mid afternoon when the engine is hot and that inlet heater core hose is hot my A/C efficiency goes downhill. I see I'm not the only one with that problem. Dodge has no clue!

Thank You For Your Help!

billp1949

[Hands On]

Still having issues with your Dingo?

[Tinovolpe]

The only way I get ice cold air on my 99 is to run AC in "max" mode. In that mode if I'm not mistaken it recirculates the cabin air instead of trying to cool down incoming hot air. As the cabin air gets cooler its easier for system to cool it done even more. In that mode I actually have to turn it down after 20 minutes cause its too cold. If your getting 50 degrees out of your vents count your blessings. At any rate what really makes it feel cooler is the AC pulling all the humidity out.