Heater not working properly

BADAMS1

MEMBER
2008 CHRYSLER SEBRING
3.5L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

Heat started to stop on passenger side an eventually stopped. Driver side heat started to ge cooler and eventally stopped. I peformed a backfush on the heater core, fushed the whole system and even replaced the thermostat.
Got heat back on driver side but not the greatest. Passenger side is still cool. Before and after the heater flush the inlet and outlet hoses are both basically the same temperature, very warm, but not hot to the touch. The directional control works such as feet, vents, defrost, etc. And there is full working fan control. When I did the flush I noticed white specks/pieces of "scaling" the thermostat was covered with it. Apparently the coolant was never changed on it until now, ten years.
I followed the correct "bleeding" when adding the new coolant at 60/40 ratio. At this point I figure it may be a blend door issue and may action next. I starting to not like working on this vehicle's engine. I thing the engineers were high on something when designing this car. Everything is compact or just weird to work on with.

Brian

1 Reply

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

Sound like there may be something blocking the heater door. If the car sat for a while, I have seen rodents find homes in cars during the winter, First thought use a air hose and gently spray under the dash. Not full but part pressure. Then start car and see if you can hear the heater control doors move at all. That is the easiest and cheapest. Thing to do. Check all lines and electrical connections. If a blending door actuator goes bad then it will cost some to have it fixed right. Another thing is change the hoses on the inlet of the heater core. If I remember right the top hose should be going back for coolent to back the radiator while the bottom one fills the heater core with coolant. That way the heater core fills full of coolant and heats the car.