Recirculation Door Replacement Completed

[bigceltic]

Since I have a brand new AC system in my truck now, I figured I'd fix my recirc door issue - has not been working right for the past couple of years, and creaked a lot during the winter. The door mechanism was stripped - it would move as commanded, and was not "floppy", but you could easily move it by pushing on it with a screwdriver. I was also noticing that even when you put it on recirc, you would still get a lot of outside air - smells and such - so I think the door was being pushed back from outside airflow. I ordered a door from Blend Door USA - wow, what a nice part, very well made. It would have been a super easy job, but when I removed the glove box, I saw that the control unit for my aftermarket security system was installed in the space where my hand would need to be to access the two Philips head screws that hold on the actuator, so that needed to come out. The first 2 screws were easy, but there was one way in the back left that I could not get to. Luckily one of my daughters was able to get her hand back in the very confined space to remove the this last screw to get the alarm control unit out - when they installed it, it must have been on "take your daughter to work day" because, otherwise, I have no idea how that got that screw in there! Once the control unit was out, it was "super easy, barely an inconvenience" (quoting the Youtube Pitch Meeting guy - if you haven't seen him, check him out). Removed the 3 screws holding the fan, pulled the plastic cam (I think that is what is called) out of the old door with a needlenose pliers (really had to pull on it!), and pulled the old door out the bottom where the fan had been. Put the new door back in the same way and connected the new metal (aluminum?) cam and put the actuator back on, put fan back in, and reinstalled the security system control unit (and had my daughter screw in the impossible-to-reach-without-tiny-hands screw). Door works great! Had it not been for the security system, it would have been a 15 min job. And man, those Blend Door USA doors are really high quality.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Good write up, I did mine about a year ago. I think I used a screwdriver set that has multiple driver bits and about 8" flex shaft. Got my replacement at O Rileys. All metal.