My Dodge RAM Laramie 2005 (2500) 5.9l works very well but A/C passenger's side (only) is driving DW nuts! Driver's side works fine. I figured getting that A/C issue fixed may also remove an error code (P0483) which appears occationally when I turn the ignition key on/off 3 times without starting.Error code {P0483} does not always show - approx. 50% of the time when dumping codes. Just hope I don't need to change the clutch fan as the engine temp. always remains cool or cold! Here's what I saw on line about this reappearing problem.P0483 DescriptionThe electric cooling fan is controlled by the Engine Control Module (ECM) through the cooling fan relay based on inputs from the following components:- The engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor- The intake air temperature (IAT) sensor- The A/C selector switch- The A/C refrigerant pressure sensor- The vehicle speed sensor (VSS)The ECM controls the cooling fan by grounding the cooling fan control circuit which turns ON the cooling fan relay. The cooling fan relay will be commanded ON when the following conditions are met:- The engine coolant temperature reaches 106°C (223°F) or more.- The A/C clutch requested.- The vehicle speed is less than 38 MPH.The cooling fan relay will be commanded ON regardless of vehicle speed when the following conditions are met:- The engine coolant temperature is 151°C (304°F) or more.- The A/C refrigerant pressure is high.The cooling fan may be commanded ON when the engine is not running under a fan run-on conditions described in the electric cooling fan general description portion of the service manual.Thanks for you time and sorry to be so long winded.

The A/C problem you are having is a blend door in the HVAC duct system under the dash. The code you are getting is a different problem with the engine fan.;)

transamz9 wrote:The A/C problem you are having is a blend door in the HVAC duct system under the dash. The code you are getting is a different problem with the engine fan.;) The older Rams are known to have trouble with the blend doors breaking. Very expensive fix at the dealer, it involves taking the dash apart to fix the problem.

Not just Rams!! My 2004 Silverado has had the ECM (replaced twice)and "blend" doors replaced three times. First time it was driver side. Second time it was both sides. Drove me nuts. The third time, I told the dealer... replace all the doors. First two times they only replaced "the ones that were broken". You also might try having "a talk" with the truck. I sat in mine last summer when it was "thinking" of malfunctioning again. I said "don't you even think about it. If you do... I am going to turn you into scrap metal!"That seemed to have worked. AC/heat has worked fine. However, I've had to replace the instrument cluster and am waiting on rack/pinion parts to come in. Might be time for another talk. cts

covetsthesun wrote: Might be time for another talk. Maybe you can convince your truck it needs to get better MPG? :)

Dorman makes a replacement blend door assembly which should be better than OEM. NAPA can order them, as I'm sure many other parts stores. Just avoid the cheap imported no-brand replacements.

A/C ok drivers side but only on/off passenger's side (P0483)

18 Replies

boston_blacky
Explorer
May 11, 2016
Kellerx5er question refers . . . . I understand from the tech who did the work - if there is insufficient R134a the driver's side will take priority while the other side produces next to zero cold air. And that's all she wrote - your honor!! BB
Community Alumni
Apr 12, 2016
If I remember correctly, it has to do with where the vents get air from. The driver's side vents get air mostly from the lower half of the evaporator while the passenger side mostly gets air from the upper half of the evaporator. When the refrigerant is low there's enough to absorb the heat at the bottom where it enters the evaporator coil, but it's mostly vaporized before it reaches the upper section.

The blend door issues mostly affect the vents unilaterally. All vents will blow hot or cold, you can only get fresh air or recirculated air through the vents, or you'll loose a set of vents completely (defrost, dash, floor).
kellertx5er
Explorer
Apr 11, 2016
boston blacky wrote:
Forty-five dollars and 2 lbs. of R134a (according to the a/c tech.) - problem solved and we're good to go! Why I waited this long to get the problem fixed is still unknown!! BB

Would love to hear the explanation why this caused different temps from different vents. I was on board with the blend door suggestion.
mich800
Explorer
Apr 11, 2016
srt20 wrote:
On my wife's work truck the blend door broke off and was blocking the airflow to the vents. I removed the fan cage and reached my hand up in there and pull the door out. Took 5 mins. Works fine now, but just can't recirculate air from in the cab. Just outside air. It usually doesn't get as hot up here in WI for long periods like down south though.

Depends on the set up. On my old F150 it is simply to block off the heater core. So the more it opens up the warmer the air. When mine broke it was at full hot. So no fun in the summer. So in my case if I simply removed the blend door that would mean full heat all the time.
srt20
Explorer
Apr 11, 2016
On my wife's work truck the blend door broke off and was blocking the airflow to the vents. I removed the fan cage and reached my hand up in there and pull the door out. Took 5 mins. Works fine now, but just can't recirculate air from in the cab. Just outside air. It usually doesn't get as hot up here in WI for long periods like down south though.
raston
Explorer
Apr 11, 2016
Could be low refrigerant or could be broken blend doors. Go here for good info on the blend door problem... http://www.heatertreater.net/magento/dodge/ram/02-08/dodge-ram-02-08.html

Obviously the refrigerant is the easier and cheaper of the two so I would start there.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Apr 11, 2016
I agree with the blend air door issues on these era Rams. however an easy and more possible fix may be an evac and recharge. when the system gets low, because of how the evap is designed, the drivers side will get cooler than the passenger side! recharging the system may fix the issue. I`ve ran across this problem on different car lines and the majority of them were fixed with an evac and recharge!
boston_blacky
Explorer
Apr 10, 2016
Forty-five dollars and 2 lbs. of R134a (according to the a/c tech.) - problem solved and we're good to go! Why I waited this long to get the problem fixed is still unknown!! BB
john_bet
Explorer II
Jan 21, 2016
The passenger blend door broke on our '11 Jeep last year. The parts were $8.00 and labor was over $200.00 at dealer.
45Ricochet
Explorer
Jan 21, 2016
srt20 wrote:
This era dodge trucks had a lot of HVAC issues.
I have an 05 as well, and had the cool/cold drivers side and warm passenger side. I talked to an auto AC guy and he told me that the AC charge psi wasn't high enough, even though it was in dodges spec. Anyway, long story short, he added more refrigerant and the AC has be flawless since. This was in 2009, and the AC worked perfectly last summer.

X2
Another known issue with that era of Rams.
Having said that, what were they thinking...