mattn124

UPDATE to my truck.

Turns out that I had one of those large electrical connectors on the drivers side come slightly loose when removing/installing the dash. All I did was touch a couple of them and all my airflow problem went away. I think the doors were positioned so that air was coming out of everything and it felt like no air movement due to the large volume of space available. I guess the loose connection did not let the signal completely travel from the HVAC head to the actuators.

The AC was also a simple fix. I was using one of those new "self sealing cans" with my old manifold and no Freon was going in (DOH!!!) As soon as I used a "regular" can of freon it took charge and all went well.

NEW PROBLEM: HELP PLEASE!!! (No Heat, Actuator not going to right position)

• When I first reinstalled the HVAC assembly, the hardware from HeaterTreater was rubbing some of the dash at the blend-door actuator
  • I did not realize this and the first time running everything this actuator was limited in travel
    • This actuator will not "learn" where its proper stops are now. I't like it "learned" the wrong location and will not re-learn
• I have unhooked the batteries for days
• Remove my Smarty JR program,
• Had the truck re-flashed at the dealership and that did not fix it.

When you watch the actuator, you can see that it is not going over far enough to the hot-side. Also, while turning the **** to hot, you can see it change direction and move the wrong way.

With the **** on full-hot, I have zero heat coming in, when you move the **** back about 3/4 toward heat, I get just a tiny bit of warmth. But not warm enough to warm the cab or defrost the snow/ice that is coming soon

When I took this to the dealership, I explained what I had done to the truck, and that I needed the HVAC module re-programmed. I spent about 15 minutes talking to the service writer but I do not think she understands. When I picked up the truck she said "it's all fixed, no codes!!" I asked her if the tech actually verified the actuator moved all the way over and she looked confused. They were super busy so I just paid my $125 and left.

Is there a specific command/option/selection that the tech would have available to them while performing this re-flash? Something they might not normally know how to do? Is there a better way for me to explain it to the dealership? I am going to call them back tomorrow and see if I can just talk with the technician myself.

Anybody know of a shop around St. Louis MO that is worth a sh*t when it comes to our trucks, and might know what I am talking about?

Any chance that a Smarty Touch might be able to fix this??

Sorry for the long message. Thank you in advance for any and all replies!

--Matt

Dave A Nolan

My 2007 began having the door issues and I thought my mode doors were blocking all air flow until I would hit a bump and the air would start flowing out the vents again. After reading about this problem in a couple of different location I thought I would order the Heater Treater doors and put the kill on this. I followed ratL-ratL directions in this post to move the dash away and gain access to all four doors. The Heater Treater directions were so-so but enough to get the job done, you can actually do a better job than they illustrate in cutting the HVAC box open for the door changes. The outside plenum cuts I used an Oscillating saw and for the inside cuts I heated a hack saw blade with a plumbers torch and cut very smoothly through them.

Upon inspection of the plastic doors I did not find any broken parts except the stop pin on the blend door and all the motors were checked and found operational. I was concerned that there was nothing obvious as to why my system wasn't blowing any air but I checked each door before re-assembly of the dash and they all worked.

It only took about an hour to remove the dash and about an hour to assemble it again. The door exchange took about 4 hours in itself so in total the job was almost all day. Once the truck was running I cycled the HVAC system through its different settings and it all worked normally. The first air out the defrosters blew debris and dust everywhere, this was after I replaced all the old foam and vacuumed the inside of the box out pretty well.

Thank you for everyones help here!

David

jumper

I will add, before you tackle this job, have the A/C refrigerant removed before you pull the dash or start cutting into the heater/AC box. You (like me) may just decide that its best not to cut holes in the box, lose separate left/right heat controls, and maybe you'll just want to replace the heater core in the process now that the truck has that many miles on it. But, while I did replace the heater core at about 200K miles in this effort, the core looked good (from the outside anyway). I do replace the antifreeze semi regularly. YMMV

Recharging the A/C with new refrigerant after its having exited the truck when the lines separated to remove the AC/Heater box was by FAR FAR the most expensive part of this DIY project. A reputable Radiator Shop won't ream you to R&R the AC refrigerant. They pull it out and replace it like for like with a labor charge. So, word to the wise.

Also, Dorman has replacements for the plastic door actuator stops and bell cranks in case you break one of them that Dodge no longer services.

DaveAlex

I have an 06, Mega, Non Dual Zone. My door broke but I was still getting enough air flow to still use the A/C. Then abruptly the A/C quit. Idiot light comes on, but the compressor clutch does not engage. Static pressure is good. Can the failure of these doors and the position of the actuator(s) affect the operation of the A/C? Any help would be appreciated. Dave from Canada.