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blend door, preventative measures

12K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  hdandb 
#1 ·
Okay so I know a ton of you have had blend door issues , and yea there expensive to fix and are a royal Pain in the arse ..lol

so after going into what I thought was gonna be me replacing it it turned out mine was fine , I did see a way to keep it from happening though ...it'll cost you $1...lol

remove the center radio trim ,cupholder,passenger kick panel and the trim behind the glove box , now turn the a/c on and watch as the motor moves the linkage , what your gonna do is install a ziptie around the bottom arm and the dash metal , cycle the heat and a/c and tighten the ziptie until it gets tight in both directions at full on heat and full on a/c , this will limit the strain on the coupler nubs and put it on the arm and ziptie , therefore if the nub happens to break the motor still wont spin the axle far enough to snap it ...

another idea whould be if someone made metal couplers or a small bracket that would bolt to the dash metal and limit it , but the ziptie will do the same...

essentially you are taking the pressure of the stupid coupler nubs, for anyone who has had the blend door replaced with stock this will keep it from happening again ....


its not shocking dodge wouldnt figure this out to begin with, idiots over there...lol
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for the tip. I might check that out when I get a chance. I have been keeping my fan motor on low speed whenever I change the control. Training the wife as well!
 
#3 ·
To bad you didn't snap any pictures. I have saw plenty of these problems posted on here but never payed close attention because I have an 08. Your post made think of the preventive part of the problem.

Is this an issue for all years or just certain years? I would be willing to take the preventive measure and snap some pics of it pertains to my year.
 
#14 ·
Is this an issue for all years or just certain years? I would be willing to take the preventive measure and snap some pics of it pertains to my year.
The problem is with the 02-08 models. So far my blend doors are okay, but the recirc and mode 2 door (controls defrost/floor split) have failed on mine. Fan speed has nothing to do with the control of the doors. It's not a bad design, but they just didn't used good quality parts. Maybe one day, I'll fix mine. The important thing is I still have heat.......:D
 
#4 ·
Im not sure in the upper years but i know at least up until 07 the hvac box is the same , It is the same in all the 3g body trucks , 09 is the switched body style right? I assume they fixed it by then...and this is preventative , anyone who does not currently have the problem should do this to keep from having the door break , it is the most expensive and hardest door in the box to fix


Big guy, it doesnt matter how far you go on the knob, the hvac computer is trained to hit the stop when it recalibrates no matter where its at, everytime you turn the fan on the doors recalibrate as far as I can see, then they go to where the knob is set at, it is controlled by the center knob and switches from heater to a/c


if someone could figure out a way to shut off the calibration while its still good, that would stop it from breaking as well, I dont see a need to have it constantly reset itself ,any dodge techs on here know if its possible via the scan tool? Hell if you have to flash the pcm to turn on fog lights you gotta be able to shut that off ......I know you can check for broken doors via the tool
 
#5 ·
"Big guy, it doesnt matter how far you go on the knob, the hvac computer is trained to hit the stop when it recalibrates no matter where its at, everytime you turn the fan on the doors recalibrate as far as I can see, then they go to where the knob is set at, it is controlled by the center knob and switches from heater to a/c "


Ok. What about the defroster door? Will running low fan motor speeds while changing air flow direction help to prolong breakage of it?
 
#6 ·
all are the same , everytime you touch a knob the doors that that knob control all recalibrate no matter where the knob is they bottom out ...its a terrible design , the motor is way to strong for the plastic nubs , it'd be better suited to open the window ..lol


the fan motor speed knob doesnt change the door positions only the selector knob and the ac/hot knob as far as I can see
 
#7 ·
Is this something obvious if someone was inclined to tackle this preventive measure? I hear nothing but horror stories about this thing and if I can catch it now I would like to, but have no idea what to look for.
 
#8 ·
Bumper


Auto part Tire Bumper Automotive wheel system Automotive tire

like this?
 
#11 ·
yep just like that , just leave enough play so it goes full open and full closed ....thats what I did to mine
 
#13 ·
My 06 lost the door. I removed via the top intake louvers. Looks to me that the support pin on the opposite side from motor dropped out of the retaining hole. This pin has only about 1/8 supported. If the heater box distorts from vibration/heat/? that door want to drop out breakin the drive side. Does this make sense?

Between our 2 Jeeps and Ram I am begining to wonder about there heaters generaly
 
#15 ·
.... its not shocking dodge wouldnt figure this out to begin with, idiots over there ... lol
Ford only uses one color in their trunks now and they saved millions every year.

The 2002 model SLT has a badge on each of the rear quart panels. The 2003 model only has one SLT badge on the tailgate. The RAM*500 on the doors no longer have the numbers. The tailgate no longer has the DODGE but just a single Ram logo. I'm sure Dodge is saving a good chunk of change when you think of the number of Ram's world wide.

You’re trying to use common sense about a business area that has no common sense. Sometimes a bean counter has a good idea but most of the time, it’s solely about the money. I’ve have my parts list changed out because a bean counter found a part that was 1/4 of a cent per 100 cheaper from a different manufacture. A bean counter not only has no comment sense but they have no soul.

:imo
 
#19 ·
you cant see it in those pics , but the nub is on the axle inbetween the motor and box , they are cheap plastic , when they snap the door calibrates and the motor can stop so it snaps the door off inside the hvac case , Im currently working on a fix to upgrade the axles for all the doors so this wont happen ...there gonna be made outta aluminum , Im cad drawing them right now , I just need a few more measurments
 
#20 · (Edited)
I do not understand what to do or if I have the right part. I started to take off all the stuff and then went with the things that were easy, the glove box just pops out so that was first. Behind the glove box I found what I believe to be the part that is the blend door thing but I did not need to remove all the other panels mentioned in the OP. After looking at it and making it move, which the only way it would move was from temp. change, I have no idea what to do with the Zip-tie.

What breaks or where does it get strapped to? Maybe the 08 is different?

Cell phone pic because I wanted to make sure I have the right thing.




 
#22 ·
But what do you attach the other side to? If part of the wrap is around the metal frame, then where does the other go? I understand that it goes around the black piece that moves up and down with the metal rod in it, but how does the zip tie attach to it? I can't see a way to wrap it that would make any sense to me to help prevent anything.
The one metal rod connects the piece at the bottom(the one that gets the zip tie) and another something inside the black "box" thing. The black box moves something causing the rod to move the other end, the black piece in question, up and down. I saw it rotate from a 4 o'clock position to a 12-1 o'clock position, that I get. I can see that it could potentially break in 3(?) possible spots, but none of those seem that they would benefit from being zip-tied.
Picture 8 looks as if the tie wrap is just wrapped around the metal frame and behind the black piece. Kind of like in between the black piece and the wall/heater box/ac/plastic thing???????
 
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