Air from AC vents stops coming out

[paulolee]

Air from front AC vents on my 2003 Grand Caravan stop coming out after 3 or 4 hours or so. Can hear the blower --but no air.

[paulolee]

If the evaporator is frozen up. do air still have a way to come out of the vents? Seems like something is blocking the air, preventing the air to come out of the vents.

Do anyone have experienced a frozen evaporator and know the symptoms?

[Rottweiler28]

If you turn the heater on do you get air from there? If not it may be a blocked AC Dam. I had this problem with a car I had once where I could not get any heat or cold but if I put my hand right next to the vents I could tell there was heat or cold there. I had to take out the dam and blow it out with a air compressor, it was plugged full of dirt and leaves and the such. If not it may also be in the housing where the air blows from the fan into the van. If not it may even be an actuator door (Mind the spelling). These are the doors which open and close to let you control where the heat/ac is going Example: Floor,vents,window. If these doors stop working and stay closed then no air can pass through, usually these are controlled by vaccums, not sure on the vans as I just got mine. It might depend on if you are getting no air at all or just when the AC is on, let me know.Hope this gives you a starting point, although I may be way off base here. Good luck.

[paulolee]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler28

If you turn the heater on do you get air from there? If not it may be a blocked AC Dam. I had this problem with a car I had once where I could not get any heat or cold but if I put my hand right next to the vents I could tell there was heat or cold there. I had to take out the dam and blow it out with a air compressor, it was plugged full of dirt and leaves and the such. If not it may also be in the housing where the air blows from the fan into the van. If not it may even be an actuator door (Mind the spelling). These are the doors which open and close to let you control where the heat/ac is going Example: Floor,vents,window. If these doors stop working and stay closed then no air can pass through, usually these are controlled by vaccums, not sure on the vans as I just got mine. It might depend on if you are getting no air at all or just when the AC is on, let me know.Hope this gives you a starting point, although I may be way off base here. Good luck.

I get air when I first turn the car on and for a few hours. On my way to Chicago and on the way back, the air stops coming out 3 or 4 hours into
the trip. I also noticed condensation around the evaporator which drips into the passenger side. That is why I suspect the evaporator being frozed up.

[faulty585]

the condensation should come out of a port built into evaporator case unless it is plugged by debris.sounds as though you are loosing vacumn to doors for some reason do you hear doors close when u loose the air? i presume you dont get air out of the vents of any sort not warm or cold?

[paulolee]

Originally Posted by faulty585

the condensation should come out of a port built into evaporator case unless it is plugged by debris.sounds as though you are loosing vacumn to doors for some reason do you hear doors close when u loose the air? i presume you dont get air out of the vents of any sort not warm or cold?

I have no cold/warm air at all. I do not hear doors closing, but I can feel
the air is gradually getting less and less.

[jcm108]

Originally Posted by paulolee

Air from front AC vents on my 2003 Grand Caravan stop coming out after 3 or 4 hours or so. Can hear the blower --but no air.

I have the same problem on my 2001 Caravan. About 2 hours of driving with heat or air, then air stops flowing out of the vents. You can hear the fan running -- it gets louder when you turn the fan speed up -- but no air comes out.

Dealer couldn't fix it because they didn't run it for a couple of hours and couldn't get the problem to reoccur.

Would love to see a solution to this one...

Thanks,
JC

[Rottweiler28]

Originally Posted by jcm108

I have the same problem on my 2001 Caravan. About 2 hours of driving with heat or air, then air stops flowing out of the vents. You can hear the fan running -- it gets louder when you turn the fan speed up -- but no air comes out.

Dealer couldn't fix it because they didn't run it for a couple of hours and couldn't get the problem to reoccur.

Would love to see a solution to this one...

Thanks,
JC

I think its an issue with the main acuator door closing. I am not sure if the doors on these run by vacume or not but it would not hurt to check under the hood for vacume leaks.

[faulty585]

i have seen evaporators covered in road grime and not allow air to pass through when they expand due to cold try switching off recirculation see if it changes the air flow after a little bit?

[faulty585]

ok peoples have done some research for you and you may want to read these forums if you have ac or heater air problems?http://www.allpar.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65065
This is from TSB 24-11-97R:
OWNERS OF NS/GS VEHICLES THAT OPERATE IN CONDITIONS WHERE THE AIR INLET TO THE HVAC HOUSING IS SUBJECT TO FOREIGN MATERIAL, DEBRIS OR OTHER AIRBORNE CONTAMINATES, MAY WANT TO CONSIDER HAVING A MOPAR ACCESSORY CABIN AIR FILTER KIT INSTALLED, P/N 82202509. USE THE INSTRUCTIONS PACKAGED WITH THE KIT TO INSTALL IT.

[msmitty]

Hope this helps. If the air stops when in a/c mode, and the evaporator
is indeed icing up, turning it to heat at this point will not help unless you run it for quite awhile.(defrosting the evaporator) Check your air flow when you first start it up,(heat and cool) if it's ok, put it in a/c mode and run it , after a couple of hours (constant driving) if your problem returns then I think your icing up as you suspect. But before you condenm, run it in heat mode same length of time, if the same thing happens, I don't have a clue. BUT if it does'nt, I Belive you are low on refrigerant, as the only two things that make an evaporater ice is LOW REFRIGERANT or LACK OF AIR FLOW. Have it checked !!! GOOD LUCK!!!

[Stretch58]

Originally Posted by paulolee

Air from front AC vents on my 2003 Grand Caravan stop coming out after 3 or 4 hours or so. Can hear the blower --but no air.

Do you run it in Recirculation Mode or Outside Air Mode?

[paulolee]

Originally Posted by Stretch58

Do you run it in Recirculation Mode or Outside Air Mode?

It happened in both modes.

[KManiac]

Have you ever driven your van for 4 hours with the ventilation fan on and the A/C compressor off (snowflake button off and not in any defrost setting)? If so, does this condition occur then?