Air conditioning problems
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Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 25
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From: BIRMINGHAM AL
Air conditioning problems
My 97 base had perfect air conditioning the first year last year it started getting warm driver side and cold passenger. This year i get codes b0361 and b0441 has anyone had these codes and did you replace the actuators ? I think I have a slow leak in shader valve as well when I take the cap off I feel pressure! Any help is appreciated
Moderator, Tech Contributor
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 15,435
Likes: 3,982
From: Cape Coral, Florida
Sounds like your Schrader valve is leaking so the refrigerant is low and as you said you may have a leak somewhere else…the leak needs to get fixed first then add refrigerant…that is why you are experiencing cold on passenger and warm on driver…as far as your other 2 DTC’s the 0361 is a “left actuator feedback short to ground” and the 0441 is “left actuator out of range”…so you have either a wiring issue or a faulty HVAC module or left actuator…so you have a 33% chance if you just want to guess and replace a part…are these 2 DTC’s current or history ??
Racer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 253
Likes: 38
From: Austin Tx
My 2000 coupe was doing the same thing with hot air on drivers side and cold on pass side.Left side actuator was bad. Opened it up and found the largest gear that's connected to the output shaft had cracked on one side so it lost a lot tension on the shaft that went thru the middle. I was able to epoxy the crack and sand the inside so it fit the shaft properly again. That worked for a while. Eventually replaced the actuator and no issues since. Driver side actuator isn't too bad to access. Pass side looks like a much bigger challenge.
I remember someone saying at the time, that when the batt is disconnected (or HVAC fuse pulled), the actuator has to find it's home position when it's powered up again. It does this by driving the actuator until it reaches the hard stop and stalls the elec motor. This is hard on plastic gears. I can't confirm if this is actually true but makes sense. Since then, I've avoided disconnecting batt unless I have to. When replacing batt, I'll jumper another batt to the cables so car never actually looses power. Been close to 10 years without any further issues.
I remember someone saying at the time, that when the batt is disconnected (or HVAC fuse pulled), the actuator has to find it's home position when it's powered up again. It does this by driving the actuator until it reaches the hard stop and stalls the elec motor. This is hard on plastic gears. I can't confirm if this is actually true but makes sense. Since then, I've avoided disconnecting batt unless I have to. When replacing batt, I'll jumper another batt to the cables so car never actually looses power. Been close to 10 years without any further issues.
