How Do You Repair The Blend Door On A Jeep Grand Cherokee

Jeep Cherokee 1997+ Heat and AC Blend Door Replacement

This is a kit to practice a complete repair on the alloy door malfunction that is mutual to the 97- 01 Jeep Cherokee. Every Cherokee in this range either has, or will accept, this common failure. The pictures show the hardware provided for the set. All work is done from the foot area of the rider side of the Jeep, with a Dremel cutting in the bottom of the heater box...no removal of the dash panel or evacuating the AC system and draining the radiator. One time completed, the alterations are under the dash panel in the foot area and are non visible. The piece of work to install the ready is relatively simple and can be accomplished by the average shade tree mechanic. The piece of work could easily exist washed past any local independent garage. Product returns are accepted within two weeks for a full refund(minus shipping).

The standard fix for the blend door failure is to remove the heater box and supercede the plastic door. If the instructions with other fixes start out with "remove the heater box", be ready for considerable piece of work. Removal of the box requires removing the nuance console, evacuating and disconnecting the Ac compressor, draining and disconnecting the heater hoses. Fixing the door is relatively easy, but the labor(and cost) of getting to the door makes this a fourth dimension consuming and expensive job. The HeaterTreaterTM avoids the hard work past providing a kit that allows the repair to be washed with superior components without having to disassemble the machine. 1hr work vs 8-14 hours of work, and no specialized mechanical skills required.

The Trouble:

- The Cherokee is built with a Alloy Door to command the heater and Ac part. The blend door controls air menstruum through either the AC evaporator or the heater coil, or whatsoever combination in betwixt. The doors are controlled past a stepper motor. The issue with the system is that the drive motor has a wider range of motion than the movement of the door will allow. At the extents of move(full oestrus or full AC), the motor overdrives the plastic blend door into the the internal stop point in the heater box until the motor stalls. This is considerable force on the door and over time, the door cannot withstand the force and will break. Once the door breaks, you lose command over the power to regulate between heat and Air conditioning.

- The standard manufacturing plant fix is to replace the plastic door. The process entails removing the heater box which requires - removing steering wheel and steering column, removing radio and all dash panel control modules, unbolting all attachment points for the nuance console, evacuating and disconnecting the AC compressor, draining and disconnecting the radiator, removing engine side bolts that hold the heater box in place. In one case the box is removed, the fix is relatively uncomplicated, but you still accept cheap plastic doors and the trouble will occur again. It is not a particularly difficult fix for an experienced technician, but it is an 8-12hr job plus refrigerant and anti-freeze and the costs of labor and supplies adds up quickly into the $800-$1200 range.

Practise you have the problem?

The usual symptom is an disability to effectively control the temperature of the HVAC system. The door hangs on a vertical axis, so turning a sharp corner, or picayune with the fan speed can swing the door into the hot or cold position randomly. While the symptoms are adequately conclusive for blend door failure, the only way to really bank check it out is to remove the blend door actuator motor and wait at the beam.

The blend door actuator motor is located in the upper left manus corner of the rider side human foot well. The film below prove the location of the motor. The motor is attached with three v/16"(or 8mm) screws that can be easily accessed and removed. Once you lot accept detached the motor, you can turn the HVAC system on and observe the motility of the motor past turning the temp command knob. Yous desire to make sure that the motor is moving properly. (if the motor is broken, nosotros can help with a replacement).

The motor attaches to the blend door using 2 dissimilar connector schemes depending on the model twelvemonth as shown in the second picture. You can grasp the axle with your fingers and feel the extents of movement of the door past turning the knob. Yous should be able to manually regulate between heat and AC by turning the axle. The door should hit a difficult stop point when you plow information technology to heat or Air conditioning and non take whatever play beyond that indicate. If the axle is broken or feel disconnected from the door, this is a definitive indication of a broken blend door. Information technology's hard to explicate exactly what information technology feels similar, but yous should be able to switch from Air conditioning to heat and feel a solid stop at the max Air-conditioning and estrus positions. If the system is loose or ineffective, the blend door is the trouble and the HeaterTreater is the solution.

The HeaterTreater Solution:

This kit replaces the plastic door and beam with stainless steel components that can withstand the force and will last longer than the Cherokee. All work is done from the passenger side foot well, and no disassembly of the dash or evacuation of the AC arrangement is required. Tools required are a screw driver, pair of pliers, and a Dremel tool(if you don't already have one, this is a good alibi and the tool has many uses. The area under the nuance is confined and y'all will need either a stubby Dremel tool(~half dozen" long), or a flexible extension for a larger industrial rotary tool. My favorite tool for the work is a Harbor Freight mini benchtop grinder with a flexible rotary cutter zipper. #43533. This setup has vaiable speed for the Dremel bits and is a adept little demote grinder for fine metal and polishing work. ). Dremel bits, and all hardware is provided.

The repair will take about an hour the starting time fourth dimension, and once you have feel, about 45min. No extensive mechanical skills are required. The movie shows the metallic replacement kit. The plastic door is accessed by using the Dremel tool and bit to cutting into the plastic heater housing from the bottom. Complete diagrams for the cutting pattern are provided. It's a very simple process. The broken plastic door is removed and replaced with the HeaterTreaterTM. The instructions are written with multiple pictures and dual level instructions. You can read the bold impress only for experienced mechanics or read the bold and standard for total "instructions for Dummies".

The instructions are virtually insultingly simplistic for those who care to read the entire document without admitting that they did it. The fix is really easy and MUCH preferable to disassembly of the entire dash and engine cooling systems. We provide support via email or telephone if required. Our goal is to make sure that every installation is successful. To engagement nosotros have achieved that goal and have no intention of letting up. This will solve the issues with the blend door and is over-engineered to outlast the Wrangler.

Cherokee BlendDoor