ctoddkc@rocketmail.com

To anyone who can help; Both my father and I own Jeep Grand Cherokee (02 and 03), and both of us have been having problems with the heater blowing cold lately. We have taken one of the vehicles to a dealer and have been told that the problem is with the heater/blender motor, and that the ENTIRE DASH must be removed in order to replace the motor---which the dealer wanted $1,400.00 for. Does anyone out there know if there is any way to more easily access, repair and/or replace this component? The part (motor) itself is only $300.00. Any help and/or advice much appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

JWheeler

Heater blender motor? Do you mean the blend door and actuator? I have seen a lot of those blend doors break. The dash needs to come out. There isn't a way around it. You could try and do it yourself if you need to save the cash. You guys could help each other. Not real hard to do. It will just take time if you haven't done it before.

headusher

Had this done on my '02 GC a couple of years ago. Dealer cost was $700. Needed the blend door assembly cage replaced. And yes the dash had to be dropped. Tried to get Chrysler to pay for it becuse this is a known defect and they blew me off.

If you do this make sure the mechanic checks the AC evaporator and heater core. Both opf these are problem children also, bad welds and rusting connections. Had to have my heater core replaced last year - another $300 and again the dash had to come out.


headusher

dave1123

Does anyone have a pictorial drawing of the INSIDE of the heater? My blend door seems to be working right, sending air where I want it, but it's leaking hot air when it's off. Are there two different doors or what?

Hymie

If you check out this post of mine from sometime back – you will see a link to ‘heatertreater.net’ this gives a video presentation of the installation of an after-market fix, that does not involve removing the dash (very reasonably priced, too)

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5/hea...old-air-64325/

However it is not available in a right-hand drive version.

I have effected a fix, whereby the flaps are fixed up (for winter) and dropped down (for summer). This involved cutting a hole in the duct-work, with strategically placed screws holding the flaps up. Not a very elegant solution, but better than nothing.

If you can’t fix it with a hammer – you’ve got an electrical problem!

dave1123

The problem I'm having is knowing what's in there BEFORE taking it apart. Because of the time and labor of ripping the dash out, I want to do this ONCE. It has to come apart for an A/C evaporator anyway, so I want to fix any problems at the same time. Leaking heat is not a problem now, but it will be in warmer weather without A/C. I know there are multiple moving parts inside, but I need to know what I'm getting into.

Hymie

There are two separate blend doors controlling the temperature; one to the driver side vents and the other to the front passenger side vents.

If you take a look at the heatertreater video, you will get a good idea of what is inside and how it works – since they cut into the ducting to fit replacement blend doors and motors.

ctoddkc@rocketmail.com

Thanks everyone for your help!!!

Boost Happy

Does it have auto or manual climate control? My 02 wj has manual and it was an free easy 30min fix. The gear in my actuator split and was having problems going to hot. I removed the glove box, removed the motor, took it apart, rotated the gear to were it won't make contact at the split in motion(gotta be sure to keep all the gears on time) and the reassembed. Bam, works flawlessly.

JWheeler

I would not recommend anyone chopping up the hvac box. There are no special tools required to remove the dash. Have the a/c recovered and recharged by a shop with proper equipment but the rest is basic hand tools. It just takes time if you have never done it.

JWheeler

I believe the op has a problem with a broken door inside the box. Not the actuator.

ctoddkc@rocketmail.com

the estimate sheet from the Jeep dealer says "blend motor bad. must remove dash estimate 1400.00", but I'm assuming that's the blend motor (blend door motor) or actuator that operates the blend doors, right...? Can't be the fan motor because the fan blows just fine....According to the heater treater video, it would appear that the "blend motor" of which the narrator speaks is right through the glove box and looks as though it could be removed/replaced right there...? Without having to remove the dash? The dealer also quoted a $300.00 price for "blend motor"....?

Hymie

The normal failure mode on the blend door motors is that the plastic spline-drive to the door hinge sheers, due to the part not being able to withstand the applied torque (design fault) – as shown in the heatertreater video. It is not possible to replace either blend door without the dash out (a 10 hour + job, hence the $1,400 quote) – unless you buy the heatertreater fix.

I’m surprised dave1123’s blend doors are still working – mine went ages ago on a 2000 WJ.

If you are going to take the dash out to fix an AC matrix issue (and check out the state of the blend doors at the same time), I would advise that you purchase the workshop manual. I bought a copy on DVD from ebay soon after getting the vehicle, I think I paid less than $10 including shipping – a real bargain, if printed it would run into 1,000’s of pages (it is not a scanned in copy, but a word searchable pdf).

Boost Happy

It very well could be just the motor. Before going all commando on your dash board, check the motor first. After you behind the left corner of the glove box it is held by 3 screws. Most blend door issues are with automatic hvac, if you have manual hvac(3 *****) its a better chance on being just a.broken actuator

Hymie

There are actually two motors, one operating each blend door. The front motor is accessible, if you want you can remove it and observe it operating.

The glove box is quite tricky to fully open. You need small hands to reach up within the glove box to stop the ‘sharks teeth’ catching on the rubber hoops - brute force helps.

From memory they used a hot tool in the video to cut a hole in the plastic duct work. For what it is worth, I drilled small holes in strategic locations (large enough to accommodate a junior hacksaw blade) and cut it out.

You will need to modify the cut out section, adding material at, at least a couple of locations to stop if falling in when offered up to close the hole.
You can then tape it up, or glue it back in position.

The video and my fix were applied to a WJ with dual auto climate control.
Other variants will need alternate fixes.