My letters to and from Chrysler about the AC blower.

I have ALL the shop manuals for this van. According to the manual, the

Grand, but are you sure your problem is with the blower *relay*? You said it's a "problem with the blower". Are you just guessing?

DS

That's not a question that can be answered by the phone number you called. If your blower motor has to be replaced, NO, the assembly does not have to be removed, If they are telling you the assembly needs to be removed there must be something more to this estimate that you are not informing this group. Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Nope. The dealer's Shop Foreman told me it was the relay and I believe him this time.

The last time I had a heater problem they ALSO told me it needed the dash removed but Maxpower suggested the HVAC might be the problem and I fixed it with one from ebay for $25. That was why I was leary of paying them to remove the dash THIS time.

But what REALLY got my goat was the STONEWALLING from Chrysler. It was a simple question requiring a simple answer. I can follow the instructions in the manual and if I HAD TO DO IT, I could have removed the dash. The point to my calling and writing them was, since the manual gives instructions for removing the junction block (and according to the Shop Foreman, the problem was BEHIND the junction block) without removing the dash why did the guy tell me they had to R&R the dash?

I have since fixed the problem by running a 12 ga. switched wire to the blue wire on the fan motor, putting a 40a. fuse in the line and everyting works. I didn't use a relay but I did solve the problem WITHOUT removing the dash. Will it stay fixed? Dunno but at least it works now and when I have TIME, I'll do it right.

John

Obviously not, but why couldn't they GIVE me a # I COULD call to get the answer OR give me the # for the DISTRICT mgr so we could talk? They REFUSED to do either. The only thing I was told at that # was that I could take my car to a different dealer if I was not satisfied with the

1st one. Or ask the dealer for the # for the District mgr. And in the e-mails, No answer to the question. And I thot it was a pretty simple question. Frankly, if I had been the one that received the e-mail from a customer, I would have tried to find out the answer, if I didn't already know it. Or at least give a place to find it. But to tell me to to go to the LIBRARY???? WHAT A FARCE!

I knew that the blower motor was not the problem because I had removed the glove box and made it run by running a wire from the big fuse box by the battery. And the 40a. fuse was OK. I then was mystified as to why it did not run AND/or where the relay was, so I could replace it myself. I thot it might be the resistor so I took it out but it had continuity on all blades. That left only the relay or some open in the wiring. Since it had run when I turned it off but did not run when I turned it back on, the possibility of an open in the wiring seemed remote. That left the relay. Where the heck was it? I changed around as many relays as I could find, in the vain hope that one would be the right one. It obviously wasn't, so when I FINALLY really read the manual THOROUGHLY, I found that it was behind the junction block. This was AFTER the dealer told me the DASH had to be removed to get to the relay. As I said in another part of this thread, I finally just ran a switched wire to the motor, it works and I will fix the relay when I have the time or the inclination. I know it is NOT the correct solution but it saved me $900 today.

something more to this >estimate that you are not informing this

I think I've answered that question. I REALLY thank your for your honesty and interest. But why couldn't someone at Chrysler have done the same?

John

You need to take that up with the service manager...But what Im saying is maybe there is a wiring problem behind the unit that has to be repaired, maybe that is why the assembly has to come out. Thats what I mean by something more to this then someone is telling us. And you still have that other option to take it to another dealer/shop!!

I doubt that such a phone number exists for ANY automaker. It would be great if automakers did have technical assistance lines, but they don't. Their business model says that kind of information is a dealer function, and that's the way its always been.

If a surgeon tells you that you need your appendix removed do you go home and call his receptionist and ask if the surgeon's opinion is correct? That is effectively what you did with D-C...

Call another surgeon, don't call a receptionist.

Matt

The new car dealers make money selling cars. It is only normal that the factory want them to actually do some things in return for that money. Such as answering questions from vehicle owners.

Ted

So you want Chrysler technical service to drop everything and help out every single person who wants a technical question on the car. If so, Maybe DC can charge double the price of the car to ensure they have 50,000 technical service engineers just to answer phones from the public.

Guess what the car business is set up on distribution. IE) DC has a franchise network to distribute there vehicles. Therefore the franchisees whom distribute these vehicles get the exclusive rights to technical service. The franchisee is forced to purchase special service tools to do service work on those vehicles also.

If you want the answer to how to R&R for your problem. BUY THE FACTORY MANUAL

That would be because, you would have every tom, dick, and Harry calling technical assistance. DC give the exclusive right for technical service to the dealer network, to protect there Franchise network.

And you also have the liability issue. If they tell you to remove the dash and you damage yourself or the dash guess who is getting sued. Their advice was appropriate in my opinion.

Steve B.

OK OK. First, let me thank ALL the people who have attempted to help me in this situation, even the flamers, because at least they were INTERESTED in the problem, which is more than I can say for the people at Chrysler.

Let me sum up this situation in as few words as possible. I put this problem on the NG because, frankly, I wanted some FREE info. However, lacking that, I took it to the dealer. The Shop Foreman told me that the problem was the blower relay, which was behind the Junction Box, which required the R&R of the dash?a $900 charge.

I was reticent to have this done because previously I had a different problem with the AC, the same dealer told me I had to remove the dash to fix THAT problem too. Fortunately, a Chrysler Tech on the NG (who shall remain nameless for security reasons) suggested that I have the HVAC checked. I went ahead and got one on Ebay, the Tech helped me program it and it FIXED the problem WITHOUT the dash removal. So I think you might understand my reticence to have the dash removed THIS time?and of course, there was the $900.

So when I called Chrysler Customer Service, asking the question, ?Does the dash require removal to R&R the blower relay?? you can imagine my surprise when they not only would not (or could not) give the answer, they would not give me the # of someone who KNEW the answer NOR the # for the District Mgr. who might know someone who MIGHT know the answer. I guess I thot customer service meant SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMER. SILLY ME! I was a ?CUSTOMER? who had a ?SERVICE? question. Obviously, Chrysler?s definition and mine are NOT the same.

But I had 6 big lovely Chrysler FACTORY purple and gold shop manuals (plus a green Haynes, which didn?t help at all in this situation) and in the BIG GREASY one, were pix and description of how to remove the junction box and they did NOT include R&R the dash. So I WROTE Chrysler an e-mail asking the same (to me) simple question. I have already included them so I won?t go thru THAT again.

I agree with those of you who say that Chrysler Dealers should make money, both from sales AND service. BUT?.where is it written that the PARENT company should NOT give the answers to (what to me are) simple questions about their product TO A CUSTOMER? Microsoft does, Yahoo does, I even got answers from Studebaker and Fiat. AND Pontiac on the Fiero. And they don?t even MAKE them any more.

So I hope EVERYONE can understand that if a company does NOT give service, THEY DON?T GET MY MONEY NEXT TIME. And I?ll tell everyone who MIGHT want to give them money, the story of my experience. Wouldn?t you?

John

I thot I DIDN'T call a receptionist. At least that was NOT my intention. I thot I was gonna get the info from the horse's mouth. If a # says Chrysler Customer Service, I EXPECT service. I was a CUSTOMER. If I reached the receptionist why didn't SHE give me the # for another doctor who COULD answer the question?

Frankly, Matt, I think that if YOU had been in this situation, after having paid $40 (plus $5.60 hazardous material fee!) and getting what MIGHT be incorrect info (based on the previous diagnosis), you might be reluctant to pay it again for what might be ANOTHER incorrect diagnosis.

And to my way of thinking, Chrysler SHOULD have HAD the answer SOMEWHERE in the organization without having to pay another $46!

Frankly, the Chrysler shop manual told me what I wanted to know but, I have found, sometimes even the SHOP manual is wrong, so I was really only confirming what I THOT I already knew--which was that the Shop Foreman was wrong again.

John

I thot I made it plain in the 1st part of the thread that I have the factory manuals--in fact I have SIX of them. Frankly, I was trying to CONFIRM what the factory manual told me--that the dash DID NOT NEED TO BE R&R.

John

That's not a question that can be answered by the phone number you called. If your blower motor has to be replaced, NO, the assembly does not have to be removed, If they are telling you the assembly needs to be removed there must be something more to this estimate that you are not informing this group.

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Sorry, I thot I had made it plain in one of the other threads that the dealer's Shop Foreman told me that the blower relay was the problem and that the dash had to come out because of it. I apologize for leaving out that part.

John

Fortunately, a Chrysler Tech on the NG (who shall

Does not compute... "HVAC" simply means "heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning." Its the whole system, not a specific part so it sure wouldn't be "on Ebay."

Do you mean a specific part? HVAC fan relay? HVAC compressor relay? expansion valve? etc?

Sheesh... since when does an intelligent person expect TECHNICAL information from "customer service." Do you go to the "customer service" desk at a stereo store to ask what the frequency response of a pair of speakers you bought there is, or to ask the value of a capacitor in the crossover network? Do you go to "customer service" at Sears to get the specs on a Craftsman battery charger?

NO! "Customer service" is for complaints about they buying PROCESS (financing, warranty claims, etc.) not about PRODUCT! Don't be deliberately stupid.

technical assistance. DC give the exclusive right for technical service to the dealer network, to protect there Franchise network.

================ In other words, they would be calling customer assistance wanting assistance because they were CUSTOMERS? WHAT A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA! Boy, THAT would be terrible. It might catch on and soon EVERYONE would be GETTING SERVICE just because they were CUSTOMERS. And they'd be HAPPY customers. And they'd buy the PRODUCT again. Wow, could the economy stand THAT MUCH STIUMULATION?

John

dash and you damage yourself or the dash guess who is getting sued. Their advice was appropriate in my opinion.

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Do you mean their LACK of advise? Steve, I didn't ask them if I COULD remove the dash, I asked if it was NECESSARY to remove it to solve the problem. Based on my previous experience with this dealer, I had a question that they refused to answer.

John