Blend door breakage

[MR.K]

Is there any thing you can do to prevent the blend door in heater box from breaking? ie. lube,frequent useage,epoxy a reinforcement... just dont want to have to tear out my dash someday ... I have a Apr. 03 Quad HO... ... . thanks

 

[scbroder]

There are actually two doors (defrost and recirculation) that usually could break and require replacement, typically the blend door does not break. The issue with these doors is there is not stop for the electric actuators; therefore the only thing to stop the door from rotating is the door hitting its stop. Eventually the door will break where it attaches to the actuator.



To answer your question, I believe this failure is inevitable. The only way you can help prevent it is to make as few changes as possible to the mode knob, and recirculation switch.



Go to this thread for pictures.

 

[rbattelle]

I usually say a little prayer before adjusting the HVAC controls. And I adjust them slowly. When changing the vent location I always pause briefly at each "station" before moving on to the next.



Keeping my finger crossed...



Ryan

 

[betterthanstock]

I leave mine on dash vents all summer, and defrost almost all winter. If the ac could only be turned off while in the defrost position, then there really would be no need to constantly move those doors.



Has anyone looked at the wiring diagram? I wonder if it is possible to weaken those motors (by adding a resistor?) so they don't put so much torque on the flimsy plastic door.

Maybe DC should reflash the motor controllers to get them to put out less torque so they don't break those doors. And also to allow us to turn off ac with defrost on?

Dr Z, are you reading this?

 

[rattlbox]

i just had mine into the dealer today to have the recirculation door replaced mine snapped off. 7 months old and the door breaks off. nice stuff they use huh

 

[MR.K]

I think we need to do something ... sounds like they're all doomed... . that resistor idea could be the ticket tho... soooo wadda you know . . us 3rd geners may have found our KDP replacement... ... ... .....

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Maybe DC should reflash the motor controllers to get them to put out less torque so they don't break those doors. And also to allow us to turn off ac with defrost on?

Dr Z, are you reading this?

Being it's a known problem, maybe DC should step up with a recall. Ya, right.

 

[MR.K]

A crash in your future ?

Maybe Dodge should fix them... . If you can't defog -defrost your windshield... you could hit things... ... that should have the "slip and fall ,give us a call " boys busy for a long time . I do think this is going to get worse as it's a big problem now from what most say... .

 

[PCowan]

i just had mine into the dealer today to have the recirculation door replaced mine snapped off. 7 months old and the door breaks off. nice stuff they use huh

How do you know when it breaks? Noise, Lack of flow, or ???

 

[nickleinonen]

How do you know when it breaks? Noise, Lack of flow, or ???

can't clear mist off inside of windshield [no air flow from top dash vents]

 

[rattlbox]

i knew when mine broke because the piece that came off the door fell into the squirrel cage and made a terrible rattle and vibration in the blower motor,and when i dropped the blower motor i seen the door when i looked through the hole were the blower motor goes.

 

[mlewis73]

I think a little Class Action would be in order. No excuse for nearly all Ram HD owners to have to deal with the cost of fixing this KNOWN defect out of pocket.

 

[MR.K]

Serious Problem

This problem really could kill someone ... . Who you hit or who's driving... It's not so bad if you know it's an issue . . but let someone borrow your truck on a cold day-night going down the road and have it break ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

 

[RollOver_Pete]

i knew when mine broke because the piece that came off the door fell into the squirrel cage and made a terrible rattle and vibration in the blower motor,and when i dropped the blower motor i seen the door when i looked through the hole were the blower motor goes.

Mine did the exact same thing today. The truck is only 8 months old. Had the same problem with my 03. :{ Some of the various pieces, parts and other things that go into making a truck a truck are total and complete pieces of poo #@$%! . So... . do I go to the dealer, leave the truck so they can let the truck sit in the back for 1/2 day, order the part, and maybe get it fixed by the second or as with the 03, the third day

I was able to get the old door out without pulling the entire enchilada apart. I simply removed the blower motor and reached inside to pull the old door out. To put a replacement in, I'll do the same but the lil motor thingy will have to be removed to get the door back in... . piece of cake... . 20 min. job Mabye, I'll make one out of galvanized sheet metal...

 

[ArmstrongB]

Yet Another.....

My HVAC went nuts today... . YEP it was the REC door that broke ... . Am I lucky that mine made it 9 months lol!!! Off to the dealer it goes, god I hope my dash doesn't rattle by the time it's all done

:-laf

 

[JApol]

god I hope my dash doesn't rattle by the time it's all done

:-laf

Mine does

 

[ArmstrongB]

WOW !!! Took the truck in for the door fix... and they were done in under 4 hours! Im not sure how they did it but he showed me the part before it went in and it looked like it was a whole assembly, box with a door and motor on it. I dont think there is anyway they could have taken the whole dash out and back in ... in 4 hours. The guy that worked on it was at lunch... next time im down there Im going to ask him how he did it. Gerdon Dodge in Corydon, Indiana. I know Ill be going back!!!

 

[DPKetchum]

If he'd done a fair number of them and gets in works he can do them that fast. I've seen techs that could do three evaporators a day on Jeep Gran Cherokees. Others take a day and a half to do one.

 

[PSteinis]

Is there any harm in leaving the recirc door out? I am recouping from a hip operation so my agility is limited some what. I was able to remove the 3 screws which hold the fan motor in place and drop it out of the housing. I reached in and snapped the door in half as it was blocking all air flow. Pulled the door out and I now have my AC back again. See any problems to leave it like that?

 

[rbattelle]

Pulled the door out and I now have my AC back again. See any problems to leave it like that?

Other than permanently locking you out of recirculation mode (I think), there shouldn't be any ill-effects.



Ryan