My 2002 crystler Sebring has electrical switches on the drivers door armrest and there is a lot of cold air blowing inside the car when I’m driving, any thoughts on how to fix this?
Well, your question is a bit “open” as they say. Are you saying that your vehicle has switches on the drivers door and the cold air is emanating from the door or the switches? Its unclear what association (if any) we are supposed to make within that statement.
There must be some correlation you are trying to make by mentioning the switches on the door and cold air… Please clarify.
There’s a couple of ways outside air gets through the door to the inside. The rubber seals that seals the door when you close it needs to be intact. Any rusted holes or seams in the door needs to be sealed. And if you remove the doors interior panel there should be a seal barrier between the door panel and the door. Many times it’s just a sheet of heavy plastic sheeting that is glued to the door. If your panel has been off at some time or another then that may not have been properly put back on.
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That plastic sheet being left out when a repair was made is a very likely cause.
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Ha yes!! I totally forgot that Iv seen the plastic sheets before, I’ll have to check that out when it’s not 5 degrees outside lol much appreciated
In the meantime, see if you can create enough positive air pressure in your car to push air out of those leaky parts. Try running the fan on its second highest or highest setting when you’re running the heat, and it might temporarily improve conditions.
Maybe, if you can mitigate the effect, you’ll decide this isn’t worth taking off the door panel until you have another reason someday.
My car is such a heap that, when I replaced the driver’s window regulator, I never replaced that plastic sheet or reinstalled the door panel. (I thought I might own the car long enough to have to replace it again someday, and I’m lazy.) Fortunately, I live in Florida, but even when I occasionally drive in sub-50 degree weather, blasting the heater fan keeps the pressure inside my car positive, so I don’t feel any cold air coming in.
@Whitey has given you good advice. Cold air infiltration was a real problem with the recirculating heaters that were merely a box containing a small radiator and fan that hung under the dashboard. In the late 1930s, an engineer at Nash, Nils Eric Wahlberg, came up with a heater that brought in air from the outside and heated the air as it came into the cabin. This pressurized the cabin when the heater fan was on and kept the cold outside air from infiltrating the passenger compartment through the cracks and crevices. Nash called this system “Weather Eye” and became available on the Nash before 1940. Now this system is used on virtually all cars. Be sure your heater is not on the recirculating mode and turn the fan on a higher speed and this may help until you can remove the inside door panel.
As a side note, Wahlberg also devised the system where the air conditioning and the heating were integrated and were completely behind the dash and under the hood. This system became available on Nash products in 1954. The GM and Chrysler factory air conditioning had the compressor and condenser under the hood and the evaporator and blower in the trunk. The cooled air was brought into the cabin through plastic tubes. It wasn’t until 1957 that GM cars had integrated the heating and cooling into one system.
Also back then were add-on recirculating air conditioning systems. The evaporator and blower were in a box that hung under the dashboard. My parents bought a used 1963 Buick LeSabre with this type of air conditioning that was made by the Mitchell company and called the Mark IV. It did work well.
I think if the OP turns up the fan speed and makes certain the heater is not in recirculating mode, his problem may be solved without taking off the inner door panel.
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