Grand Cherokee(98-04) Re-circ Door Fix - Heat and AC Blend Door Replacement Parts
The HeaterTreater tm Re-circ door fix uses the same basic hardware as the original blend door fix. Components are stainless steel and aluminum.
Copy-cat products have begun to
show up on Ebay. Check the product comparison comments at the
bottom of this listing for information on differences and HeaterTreater
advantages. Note that 100's of these have been installed with no
failures and all products are tested for reliability and long term
operation.
SYMPTOMS
The re-circ controls whether external air is pulled into the system or internal air is recirculated. When the system fails, it generally fails in one of two ways. The axle of the door is at the top, like a swing set. The door can break where it hangs in the center, blocking neither the external input nor the internal. In this fail mode, air enters through the external vent and blows straight out the internal intake. It's like having a window open all the time. The second most common fail is for the door to break off completely and fall to the bottom of the box, blocking the fan intake. When this happens, you will generally have greatly diminished air flow and the characteristics may change if you hit a big bump, randomly bouncing the broken door around. With this fail mode the intakes are both open and external air flows freely into the GC. The door can also rattle into a position where it jams the fan motor. This will cause the motor to overheat and quickly cause additional problems with wire connectors and resistance circuits.
DIAGNOSIS
The simplest way to diagnose the problem is to turn the AC on with the fan blowing at the highest possible setting. On the outside of the car, check the air flow into the intake vent between the hood and windshield, between the windshield wipers. When the re-circ button is off, you should feel/hear air being pulled into the system. With the re-circ button on, there should be no air flow. If the system behaves the same with re-circ on or off, you most likely have a problem with the re-circ door.
If the air flow test is inconclusive, you can also remove the glove box and see the re-circ box in the upper right hand part of the opening(use the picture as a reference). You can see inside the box with a flashlight and watch or feel for any door movement when turning the re-circ button on and off. The re-circ door should seal against the internal grate when on(don't get your finger caught by the door closing...it hurts).
On the Limited model, you can also read the AC fail codes to check for failure. With the AC on, hold down the AC and Re-circ buttons simultaneously, and turn the dirvers side temp control one click to the right. A “0� means no codes. Fail codes should flash on the screen if there are any problems. If your AC codes read any combination of 19,20,51,52...this indicates that the re-circ door is broken.
HOW TO FIX IT
In the picture with the arrows, you can see the problem. This is a photo of a box that has not failed...yet. You can see the stop point that is molded into the casing and note that it is bent from constant pressure. Note also that the thin rotating pin on the nylon connection to the motor is bent from constant flexing. Generally the nylon pin will break first, but when either breaks, the unconstrained force is applied to the plastic re-circ door which will eventually break. The impact is that on cold days, the external air greatly reduces the heater efficiency and on hot days the AC cannot cool the outside hot air fast enough.
The Dealer fix for the problem is to replace the entire re-circ box. The new components have a thicker nylon stop pin on the axle and new stop points are molded into the box to account for the thicker pin, and to provide more strength. The fix works fine. But in order to remove the re-circ box, the entire dash panel, steering wheel, console and finally the complete heater box have to be removed. The system has to be disconnected from the engine, meaning that the radiator has to be emptied and the AC refrigerant system has to be evacuated and disconnected. It is a time consuming and detailed process. Quotes from the Dealer will generally run $900 to $1500 for parts and labor
The HeaterTreatertm fix entails pulling back the dash panel to get access to the re-circ box. It cannot be accessed through the glove box like the blend doors. You do not have to pull the steering wheel or evacuate the AC system or disconnect and drain the coolant. Pulling back the dash panel requires removing many screws and bolts and applying a little muscular persuasion to pull the system apart. It will take the better part of a Saturday and is not particularly difficult, but is time consuming to find and remove all the fasteners. This is probably the best engineered part of a Grand Cherokee. The picture below shows a GC with the dash panel pulled back. Note that the steering wheel, steering column and wiring harnesses stay in place. The process of disconnecting the dash takes some time(and frustration), but since we avoid the steering and electrical system, it is a fairly straightforward process that does not require any technical expertise.
The directions give the basic instructions on how to remove the panels and a few hints on the problems you will encounter. Once the panel is pulled back(not completely removed), the fix to the re-circ box is very simple using the provided components. If the picture of a disassembled dash scares you, you might want to find outside help for the job. You will need a set of metric sockets, various screw drivers, and bandaids.
The HeaterTreater(tm) components are metal and will last forever. The fix is more difficult than the HeaterTreater(tm) blend door fix, but still within the range of most shade tree mechanics. Relatively cheap, 100% effective.
The last picture shows the fix. The stop point on the casing is replaced with a metal stop point and the nylon motor connection is replaced with a metal axle and metal stop pin. The door is also metal and will last longer than the GC.
Pls check our Ebay rating and customer feedback on the HeaterTreatertm products. We stand behind the products and will work with you to make sure you are satisfied with the fix. All HeaterTreater products are designed by degreed professional engineers and thoroughly tested for ease of assembly, precision fit, and long term reliable functionality.
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