Last summer the a/c in my '03 Caravan stopped blowing through the vents. I could hear it still blowing and could feel just a little air coming out. When this happened the air that was coming out would come out of which ever vent setting it felt like. I would turn the control knob and it would do something other than the command it was on. I took the van to a local mechanic to have the a/c recharged thinking that might be the issue. He told me the a/c level was low but that was not the main issue. He said the control assembly was bad and that there was a small hole/port in the middle of the dash behind the radio that is blowing air. As a small fix, he ran a small hose from that hole up to the vents. I have had the a/c recharged, it is full, no leaks and blows really cold. I have changed out the assembly, now the air does not move around sporadically but there is still not much air coming through the vents. Does anyone know if this hole should have a hose running to somewhere else in the dash? Or should there be a plug in the hole? Or any other suggestions? It should also be noted that the air that is blowing is blowing very hard. If it were just getting into the vents it would be fantastic. Any help would be appreciated.
Can you re-state the info “and that there was a small hole/port in the middle of the dash behinh the radio that is blowing air”? Do you mean there is a small hole that is LEAKING air?. Is this hole there by design? if not how did it get there? Why was only a “small fix” performed? When you say hose are you speaking of a hose that is intended to distribute heated/cold air? As you can tell I can’t get very far with the info provided.
I do not think, but don’t know for sure, that it is a leak. The hole appears to be there by design. Once the black framing is removed from around the radio, below the radio to the right, towards the passenger side is where the hole is located. The small fix was done, looking back, I don’t think the person working on it was very familiar with the van and he made the assumption that there should be a hose carrying air from this hole into the vents. And those that I am speaking of would be intended to distribute cold air.
The small hole in the ducting may be there for cooling the radio chassis.
The blower speed control should control the amount of air being forced through the vents. There still may be a problem with the vent control system. It sounds like the air blend doors aren’t in the correct position.