'01 Stratus heater issues

Hello,

The heater in my '01 Stratus started acting weird recently, and I'm
clueless about cars so I'm hoping for some advice. It's generally
fine, but lately it's been suddenly spitting out non-heated air when I
stop at red lights or slow down in heavy traffic. Once I get going
again, the heat returns. The engine temperature always remains
constant, though.

Is there anything I can try to resolve it other than taking it to a
shop somewhere?

Thanks,
James

 

The first thing you need to do is make sure the coolant level is filled, if
it is low, it will cause this.

 

As can a air bubble in the system from under-fill on coolant.

 

The coolant looks to be about 4/5 full. Any other potential causes
that are easy to check for?

 

???..Fill the system all the way up and make sure the overflow bottle is at
the proper level before you check for anything else!!!

 

THIS BULLETIN SUPERSEDES TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN 07-02-00, DATED

June 16, 2000, WHICH SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM YOUR FILES AND NOTED IN THE

2000 TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN MANUAL (PUBLICATION NO. 81-170-00001).

ALL REVISIONS ARE HIGHLIGHTED WITH **ASTERISKS** AND INCLUDE

ADDITIONAL MODELS, ADDITIONAL SYMPTOM AND REVISED PART NUMBER.

SUBJECT:

**Low Or No Cabin Heat,** Engine Cooling System Fill Procedure

OVERVIEW:

This bulletin provides **clarification of** the engine cooling system fill
procedure.

MODELS:

**2001 - 2002 (JR) Sebring Sedan/Sebring Convertible/Stratus Sedan**

1993 - **2002** (LH) Concorde/LHS/New Yorker/300M/Vision/Intrepid

NOTE: THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A V6 ENGINE.

SYMPTOM/CONDITION:

A vehicle may exhibit **low or no cabin heat,** engine overheating and/or
coolant bottle

damage after service has been performed on the engine cooling system. This
may be

caused by lack of complete **filling or** refilling of the system with
coolant/antifreeze.

AMBIENT TEMPERATURE MINIMUM FLOOR OUTLET

TEMPERATURE

Celsius Fahrenheit Celsius Fahrenheit

15.5 60 62.2 144

21.1 70 63.8 147

26.6 80 65.5 150

32.2 90 67.2 153

DIAGNOSIS:

When refilling the engine cooling system after any service operation which

required a complete or partial draining of the engine coolant, the following

Repair Procedure must be used to ensure a complete fill of the engine
cooling

system. This is a Repair Procedure clarification.

07-002-02 -2-

NOTE: **THIS BULLETIN ALSO APPLIES WHEN THE COOLANT LEVEL

APPEARS TO BE CORRECT BUT THE CABIN HEAT IS LOW AND/OR WHEN

ADDING COOLANT BECAUSE THE COOLANT LEVEL IS VISIBLE BUT

BELOW THE COLD FILL LINE (1993-1997 MODEL YEARS) OR BELOW THE

MINIMUM LINE (1998 AND LATER MODEL YEARS).**

PARTS REQUIRED:

Qty. Part No. Description

AR **05066386AA** Antifreeze/Coolant

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

Miller Special Tool 8195 Cooling System Filling Aid

REPAIR PROCEDURE:

CAUTION: MAKE SURE ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM IS COOL BEFORE REMOVING

PRESSURE CAP OR ANY HOSE! SEVERE PERSONAL INJURY MAY RESULT FROM

ESCAPING HOT COOLANT. THE COOLING SYSTEM IS PRESSURIZED WHEN HOT.

1. Obtain Cooling System filling aid (Special Tool 8195). The device looks

like a funnel which attaches onto the filler neck (just as a regular
pressure

cap does) along with an attached hose clip.

2. Attach filling aid to cooling system filler neck. Use the clip to pinch
off the overflow

hose attached to the fill neck. Attach a 1 1/2 to 2 meter (four to six foot)
long 6.35

mm (1/4 inch) ID clear hose to the bleed valve. Put the end of the hose into
a clean

container. This is to prevent coolant from spilling onto the accessory drive
belts.

NOTE: IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE COOLING SYSTEM AIR BLEED

VALVE BE OPENED BEFORE ANY COOLANT IS ADDED TO THE COOLING

SYSTEM. FAILURE TO OPEN THE BLEED VALVE FIRST WILL RESULT

IN AN INCOMPLETE FILL OF THE SYSTEM.

3. Open the cooling system bleed valve:

1998 Model Years and Later

.. 2.7 Liter Engines: Located on the water outlet connector at the front of
the engine.

.. 3.2/3.5 Liter engines: Located on the lower intake manifold, left of

center under the upper intake manifold.

1993-1997 Model Years

.. 3.5 Liter engine: Located on the thermostat housing.

.. 3.3 Liter engine: Located on the thermostat housing.

4. Pour a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water into the large side of the
filling aid/funnel. Mix

the coolant concentrate with distilled, deionized, or reverse-osmosis
purified water.

5. Slowly fill the cooling system through the large side of the filling aid.
Watch the hose

connected to the bleed valve! When a steady stream of coolant comes out of
the

hose, close the bleed valve and continue filling to the top of the filling
aid.

6. 1993-1997 model years: Put a small, clean reservoir (approximately 16
ounce

or 1/2 liter capacity) below the end of the overflow hose.

-3- 07-002-02

7. Remove the clip from the overflow hose. Any excess coolant in the filling
aid will now

drain into the overflow section of the coolant bottle or into the small
reservoir.

8. 1993-1997 model years: Remove the reservoir and recycle the excess
coolant.

9. Remove the filling aid from the fill neck. Ensure that the bottom seal of
the cap and the

fill neck are free of debris and replace the pressure cap on the coolant
bottle.

IMPORTANT: The 1998 and later model year coolant bottle has two chambers.
Coolant

will normally only be in the inboard (smaller) of the two. The outboard
chamber is

only to recover coolant in the event of an overheat and should normally be
empty

(except for the coolant drained from the filling aid. This coolant will be
drawn back

into the pressurized side of the cooling system over time).

NOTE: COOLING SYSTEM FILL PROCEDURES ARE CRITICAL TO OVERALL

COOLING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE.

POLICY:

Information Only