A couple of problems with my 2001 Dodge Intrepid.

I have a couple of different problems with my car that are not really related, so I will list them in separate paragraphs. All information about what could be wrong with them would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, recently my heater is not working as good as it was. Really worried about this because I have a 2 y/o who I do not want to take out in the morning into a cold car. Air conditioner has not worked for a while but I could always roll the windows down for it in the summertime. Anyway, my heater works great after I have been driving it for a little ways. But when I go out to start my car in the morning to let it warm up, even after 15 to 30 minutes, the car is still not warm. Don't know for sure if the defroster will work good or not. This just started and have not really had to use defroster yet. But after driving for a couple of minutes (usually about 5), it warms up and works great. It gets very hot, have to actually turn it down to low. I have not noticed my car running hot any lately either.

I have been told by an ac guy that I need a new core for the air conditioning problem (probably, at least I think that is what he called it). Runs freon out in a couple of months when I have it put in there. He said that he could not see any obvious leaks after putting the dye in there. Said it would cost about 500 to repair. So I have not repaired this, I just roll the windows down, but the heat is much more important. Don't know if this is related to the air conditioning or not.

Also another problem, not serious at all, just curious as to what could be wrong. When I bought my car, it did not have a cd player, so they agreed to have one installed. Well, I did not like the player they had, so I bought another one. My brother in law installed the new one. He blew a fuse and replaced it and everything when installing. But ever since then, I have had a couple of problems. My car used to have the headlights stay on for a couple of minutes after you cut the car off at night and then go off automatically and now it don't anymore. My interior lights do not come on when opening the doors unless the key is on (they used to). My stereo will not hold the memory for the radio stations I program in. I have to reset them every time I start the car. Automatic locks do not work unless I have the car started (they used to a long time ago). I have had this car for 5 years now, just finished paying it off actually, and I really like it and want to keep it for a while. All of these problems seem to come from whether or not the car is started. Like I said, not really that serious but just curious as to how easy it is to fix.

Thanks in advance for any help on this matter.

 

The two problems could be related
Could be the body control module (BCM)
See if it has any codes and post back


Set the FAN SPEED knob to anything except OFF.
Set the TEMPERATURE knob all the way into the COLD position.
The MODE knob must be in DEFROST.

The A/C button can be on or off.

Press and hold the "rear defrost button until AC00 appears in the odometer display. You will hear a chime and the A/C light will blink.

Release the rear defrost button and wait for the A/C light to stop blinking.
Codes will display in the odometer in the form ACxx where xx is the actual trouble code. Only one code can be displayed at a time, to scroll through the codes press the A/C button. You will hear a beep every time the button is pushed. When all codes have been displayed, the odometer will return to normal. DO NOT push other buttons or turn any knobs while doing this or the test will be aborted and you will have to start over.

 

okay, I will go out and check this on my lunch in about 30 minutes and will reply when I get back. Thanks for your help.

 

Okay, just ran that test you said to see if it had any codes and apparently it did not, because it never said anything besides AC 00. When the A/C light stopped blinking, it just went back to my odometer reading. Is that a good or bad thing?

 

It seems apparent that two or more wires are either crossed, or not connected at the plug to the cd. Unless it's a unit specific to your car, then the new plug has to be spliced into the wiring harness. Or you can buy an adapter plug & pigtail that plugs into the factory radio plug: the other end wires into the plug for the cd.
Things to check:
1.Your BAT. lead(hot all the time) is for the memory. There is another for IGN.
2.There's another wire that ties in w/your headlamps & dash illumination.
All in all there's 7-9 wires besides the 8 speaker wires that have to be identified and connected correctly for everything to work. Your BIL may have blown more than just one fuse. If your dont have the car's wiring schematic and/or the adapter plug, it's almost imossible to get it right. Even with a test light. It's not rocket science, but it's far more involved than the old 8 track days.
The lock problem could have been a casualty of the radio install, or it might be a bad master(driver door)switch.

 

It sounds like I need to just take it to a stereo installer and let them reinstall it and make sure that all the wires are hooked up properly. So it can still run without having the proper wiring? And this could have something to do with the headlights and the interior lights not coming on without the key being on?

Thanks

 

My wife had a 01 Stratus, very similar to the Intrepid, with similar problems.

Her heat would occassionaly work, same with the AC. I had replaced the control panel, blend door actuator, and a few sensors. It turned out the replacement control panel I got, was also defective. Got a brand new control panel from dealer and everything worked perfect again.

 

So, how much does a new control panel cost? The only thing is is that my heat works all the time, as long as I drive the car first. It will not warm up until I have driven it at least a short way. I drove up to my mom's house this morning to take my son (on a hill above my house). I started it for about 10-15 minutes and it did not help the windows much (no frost but still could have used defrosting) or heat up much. I drove it up there (not even a minute away) and sat in her house for about 10 minutes and it had made a world of difference, just by driving not even 100 feet. It had started to get warmer and the windows were better. Any ideas?

 

Before you get a control panel, change the thermostat. It sounds as if it's stuck open. If this is true, it would take a longer time for the coolant to heat up. It's about a $7 and 15 minute fix.

 

Is the thermostat fairly easy to change? Could my husband do it (who knows nothing about cars at all)? Is the thermostat easy to find.

Thanks so much.

 

Some info:

http://www.autozone.com/addVehicleId...00c1528003fae2

I was hoping there were pictures, too, but no such luck.