Look at the vacuum line underneath the battery, it is damaged by battery acid.
The flap actuator is behind the glove box I think, that has caused problems as well.

 

Hey Swampotter . . . Did you ever get this fixed / working correctly?

 

Not yet. Between work and the rain I haven't had a chance. This weekend I plan to check the vacuum line under the battery and then go from there.

 

Ok, I had a chance to look at the gray vacuum line under the battery. It looks fine all the way from the engine past the firewall and into the cab. No kinks, no cracks or holes.

To recap..
1) My cabin air always seemed to be warmer than the outside air,
2) even in 50 degree weather with the dials turned their coldest setting, the cabin air would always get to about 10 degrees warmer than the outside.

Fixes...
1) I thought it was the duo valves but they seamed fine.
2) I next tried the climate control mod suspecting it was a bad controls but that didn't help either.
3) I then moved to the blend door. Bingo! Its stuck in the closed position. That would explain why it's always warmer in the car since its in recirculate mode.
4) the gray vacuum tube seems to be in working order.

I've removed the cowl below the wind shield and turned off the REST button and pushed the blend door open. I then turned on the REST button, blend door closes as it should. I turned off the REST button and blend door stayed closed. I'm assuming it's not the vacuum because I believe the vacuum is what is need to close the door. My next move it to research the flap actuator under the glove box and get back to you all.

 

You by chance wouldn't have taken pictures when you changed out the blend doors? I believe I have the same issue and would like to tackle this myself, but would like some visual assistance to help me walk through it..
Any help would be appreciated..
Thanks in advance.

 

You are answering a four year old post and the last one he made.

 

Thank You for all of the links to the useful information!!!

 

Any help

Problem
2004 crossfire RHD not giving cold air on a/c mode ... normal cool air not cold

investigations so far:
a/c compressor is engaging and spinning fine
refrigerant psi level approx 40 , mid way of blue
air filter is clean

any advice what to test next ?

 

I have a 2004 crossfire.
The problem is... The AC intermittently blows hot air (does not happen all the time) one day the AC works fine, some other day the problem comes up. When this happens, the driver side blows cold and the passenger side blows super hot. Sometimes vice-versa happens, if the passenger side is blowing cold, then the driver side blows super hot. NEVER does both sides blow hot.

Any fixes for this problem ?

 

You need to evacuate and recharge your AC system

 

Sounds more like heater control valve issues to me.

 

Why? He said it works sometimes, if it is working what would a change of freon do?


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Possible BUT, it needs a little more diagnosis to nail down if it is a sticking set of duovalves, or an erratic signal from the control head. That involves a little reading of the service manual to understand the operation of the duovalve 'pulses' from the head, and a voltmeter. trivikramc, did you have the A/C control head out recently, has this always been happening, please let us know these two things to rule out the two duct positioning pins behind the A/C head. As far as checking the duovalves, read some about the system operation, then set up a test for seeing if the valves are responding to the signal from the A/C head based on the driver and passenger temperature dials. Good luck!


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"Why? He said it works sometimes, if it is working what would a change of freon do?"

GG- it's complicated; I had the same problem and my go-to mechanic/friend of 30 years fixed the problem. His background is in Mercedes, BMW, Ferraris, etc - he knows these vehicles well.
The a/c system has a very good filter, however, contaminants, water, etc can build up in the freon. The evac removes these, takes the water out of the freon, cleans and puts back the correct amount of freon (recharge)
This eliminated the problem. Certainly there are other components of the system that could malfunction but the example in this case was identical to my problem hence the advice given.

 

These are the things I have done.
1. Tested the duo-valve voltage at full AC dial-- 13.1 volts
2. Tested the duo-valve voltage at full heat dial- 8.3 volts
3. The driver side coolant hose going into the firewall at full AC-super hot
4. The 2 hoses going from the duo-valve into the firewall on the passenger side were warm but not hot
5. The fat coolant hose feeding the duo-valve on the passenger side is super hot

***The console climate control unit was not changed***

 

cfk, the A/C system is a completely sealed system, not complicated at all.. There is no way any moisture can get into the system. The only way is if there is a leak, and the OP never said the system was leaking or opened. I don't know what your mechanic did with yours, but with pressure on/in the system moisture would never get into the freon to contaminate it.


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Hello Crossfire wellwishers,

I was told to drive around with full blast Heat dial for 30 minutes so that the duo valves will clear any clogs.
I did it tonight and my ac is working fine now.
I will watch this for about 10 days and see if the problem comes back.
(My problem was intermittent to start with. I will keep you all posted)
Thank you Ron.

 

Thanks for coming in with the solution! Great it is working now! Have fun and expect a lot of stares from curious people!


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My climate control has been blowing hot air most of the time independent of the temperature settings for the past few years. Turning on the A/C though does result in cold air coming out of the vents.

After reviewing this thread I have

1. opened up the duovalve -- looks fine to me. (BTW those 5 screws require a Torx T9)
2. checked the continuity of the two coils with a Fluke DMM -- both are 21.3V
3. measured the voltage coming from the duovalve harness

My next step is to remove the A'/C heater control unit and apply the glue hack to the boards.

All that said, I welcome advice. Thanks

 

Update: With hot air now blowing independent of the temperature controls, I checked the duo valve once again and found that one of the solenoids had shorted out. Ugh.

I was tired of fiddling with the thing, so I ordered a new one from Autohaus for $148 plus tax with free shipping.

The DMM showed 21 ohms for each solenoid on the new duo valve, so I installed it yesterday.

I had been concerned about the difficulty of doing the replacement, especially those lower two hoses. As it turns out one does not touch the lower hoses. However, the two clips, one on each side of the duo valve, must be slid out. Slid out, not removed. See photos 1-3.

(Since I recently rebuilt the old duo valve with a new gasket and plungers, I am willing to pass them on to someone else for a reasonable price. Will also thrown in the original plungers which looked fine.)


Locking clip 1

Locking clip 2

Lower hoses exposed after duo valve removal

Old duo valve


The results of my web searches showed that Mercedes used duo valves in lots of their cars, but the assemblies differed and thus required different removal and installation procedures than for our Crossfires.

For an entertaining video showing a more problematic removal and installation, see "How to replace the Heater Solenoid Valve in a Mercedes SLK230" by Clint Hightower ( ). Clint comes off as a good guy, so I plan to watch his other videos.

I've also attached AR83.25-P-1150V "Removing, installing and replacing duo valve" for the later R171 SLK 320 which is close, but not exactly the same, as our Crossfires.