A/C not blowing cold air through the vents

DANNY BLACKBURN

MEMBER
1996 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
6 CYL
148,000 MILES

I've got the vehicle listed above (Laredo). My air conditioning won't blow cold through the vents, only hot air. My brother owned it and he messed up both the flap doors underneath but he laid in the pass side floor and took a coat hanger stretched out and went up toward the middle and hooked to something and it took him about twenty minutes to finally hook to something and the A/C worked good but hanger came loose and he's passed away and don't know what he hooked to that far up to make the hot air quit blowing through vents and cold air come through. Anybody know what he hooked to?

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,755 POSTS

Welcome to 2CarPros.

There is a component there called a blend air door actuator. It is an electric motor that opens and closes a door. The door, blend air door, is what determines if you get heat or AC entering the vehicle. Now, exactly what he did, I can't say. However, I am going to provide directions for replacing both the blend air door and the actuator. Hopefully this will help you. The attached pictures correlate with the directions and yes, it is located under the dash.

First, here is link that shows how in general one is replaced:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Here are the specific directions for your vehicle:

BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR REPLACEMENT
Fig.19 Temperature/Blend Air Door Motor
pic 1

REMOVAL
1. Disconnect the electrical connector.
2. Remove the retaining screws.
3. Remove the temperature/blend air door motor.

INSTALLATION
1. Position the motor over the door connection.
2. Install and tighten the retaining screws.
3. Connect the electrical connector.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blend air door:
BLEND-AIR DOOR REPLACEMENT
REMOVAL
1. Remove the heater-A/C unit from the vehicle.
Under Heating and Air Conditioning/Service & Repair See: Housing Assembly HVAC > Procedures > Heater - A/C Housing Removal and Installation
2. Turn the heater-A/C unit upside down.
Fig.20 Center Adaptor Heat Duct
pic 2

3. Remove the retaining screws holding the two halves together. Remove the center adaptor heat duct and remove the screw.
4. Disconnect the electrical connectors.
Fig.21 Temperature/Blend Air Door
pic 3

5. Remove the bottom half of the heater-A/C unit.
6. Remove the door.
7. To replace the door-to-motor pivot connection, the motor must be removed.

INSTALLATION
1. If removed, install the door-to-motor pivot connection. Position the motor and tighten the screws.
2. Install the door.
3. Position the top half of the heater-A/C unit onto the bottom. Be sure the door pivot pins align with the pivot holes.
4. Carefully turn the heater-A/C unit over. Install and tighten the screws.
5. Snap on the lower center air duct.
6. Connect the electrical connectors.
7. Install the heater-A/C unit into the vehicle.
See: Housing Assembly HVAC > Procedures > Heater - A/C Housing Removal and Installation

________________________

If you look at the last picture, it shows the door I am referring to. My guess is somehow he turned it to the correct position for AC and used the hanger to hold it. The best thing to do would be just replace the actuator so you don't have this problem.

Let me know if this helps or if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe

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