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No Heat 2007 Town & Country

97K views 100 replies 36 participants last post by  imickey503 
#1 ·
Can anyone tell me how to access the Hot/Cold control Vent Flap.
 
#28 ·
I'll pick these items up in the next day or so. I've already got a can of Bondo-brand fiberglass resin jelly. I don't have the small hardware or epoxy yet. I have to put things back together for the evening so I figure sometime during the week I can repair the door+shaft. I'll probably reinstall it in the airbox next weekend.

Again, many thanks for your assistance! I've lived with this problem for about a year and it gets chilly in Virginia, although not quite to the drastic degree of places up north (I know, I lived near Chicago for a long time). My wife mostly refuses to drive the van w/o heat so it has been pretty much relegated to me. Too bad I couldn't find this fix last Fall!
 
#29 ·
The screw will fit nice and tightly in a 1/4" drilled hole(just use a hand drill). The head of the screw will fit nicely deep down in the end of the broken shaft piece. In my picture I show the screw head in the hole with some putty under the screw head for support, some extra putty along the screw's shaft and some around the nut (I had to grind a little off of three sides of the nut to get it to drop into that spot. The epoxy putty would very likely be enough without the nut if you bought the metal reinforced type). You obviously need to drill a hole in three places for the screw. Try to drill the holes straight or worst case, you drill the hole a little bigger and it will still work.

Test fit all the parts without any glue.
If you are happy with the fit, use some crazy glue to reassemble the plastic bits of the flap/shaft...let dry a minute.
Mix a tiny batch of putty, put some around the shaft of the screw under the screw head, shove the screw into the hole and tighten into the nut. This will pack the putty under the head very nicely. Try to keep the splines clean where the actuator fits into.( cleans up very well with rubbing alcohol).

Let this set for 10 minutes and mix up some more putty to pack around the screw shaft, nut and anywhere else you think it needs some. Don't blob on too much though because the shaft shouldn't get any larger in diameter.

That's it for the door repair. Really quite simple but long winded to make sure you could visualize what I was saying.
 

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#30 ·
I don't know how long the 1/4" screw needs to be though. Once again this just happen to me last Sunday so I couldn't have posted this any earlier. Remember that with the flap removed now, you won't have anything but heat for the next week. I hope this works out and I was happy I could help out.
 
#31 ·
OK, the job is now finished! I repaired the door shaft with a 1/4-20x2" cap-head screw and liquid epoxy. I then contemplated using Bondo-brand fiberglass resin jelly to reattach the cutout "access door" but decided to use an epoxy putty instead. I thought it might be easier to work with. I was careful to select a putty that would adhere to polypropolene or ABS plastic. So far, it seems to be holding just fine.

With everything put together I recalibrated the actuator control system and I now have heat and A/C. The manual temperature control works as intended. I wish I had this solution last October!

Total cost of the materials: $18 ($10 for two packages of epoxy, $5 for a 1/8" dremel tool bit, and $3 for hardware). The local dealer wanted to replace the heat/AC airbox and charge about 10 hours of labor, for about $1400. I doubt my van is even worth that much.

Gordo, THANKS for your efforts to find a workable solution without breaking the bank! :ThumbsUp:
 

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#37 ·
Nice work there Dave.
 
#33 ·
Well, having heat and AC was nice while it lasted. The gear shaft on the blend door broke loose again from the actual door. The shaft spins freely without moving the blend door. I don't know if the fix was inherently weak or if the actuator motor was torquing the door while it was in a fully stop position. It seemed that might be the case because within a few days I noticed a lot of clicking noises when changing temperature as if the actuator motor's gear was moving and the gears were disengaging from the door shaft. I performed a calibration procedure several times, to no avail. It finally broke. I may try to get another undamaged door out of a boneyard, but I am really curious WHY the shaft broke TWICE. It seems clear the actuator torqued it till it snapped.

I wonder if the HVAC controller is somehow faulty. Calibration is supposed to ensure that the controller applies voltage to the actuator motor only as needed to put the door in the proper position, and no further. If the actuator is turning when the door is already closed one way or another ... then something's got to give.

Has anyone ever replaced the HVAC controller, and if yes, why was it replaced? What symptoms forced a replacement?
 
#34 ·
this information for me was amazing and saved me a ton of work and money! in total it cost about ten bucks! I went to my local pick n pull and ripped out the blend door from the drivers foot well, cutting out a nice section so i could take it out. they charged me five bucks! putting the blend door back in was easy too. I just used some epoxy putty and it held everything together. put it all back together and recalibrated the servos and voila! I have HEAT - THANK YOU!!!!!
 
#38 ·
Since my repair job broke soon after it was fixed, and now that winter is coming on again I went to a local pick n pull boneyard that had probably 2000 vehicles lined up in neat rows. And do you know I couldn't find a single 4th gen van in that section of the yard? (I saw a few in areas where picking wasn't allowed...). BTW, I saw hundreds of CFC vehicles, I swear half of them were either 3rd gen Caravans/TCs, Explorers, and Cherokees! But not a single 4th gen. What a disappointment!

Anyway, I went to a second pick n pull place and came across a 2001 and 2002. Both had dual zone heating/cooling systems. I attempted to pull the blend door on both but they had a different linkage between the door and the servo. Both had blend doors with a square end steel rod on its pivot point, off-hand I think it was about 8" long, and a plastic piece that connected the rod to the servo. My single zone system has a different door. In a previous post you can see a photo of it. I also could not cut a hole in the side of the junked vehicle's heat/ac box to remove the door because I brought an inadequate tool. Last time I cut it out using a dremel tool, this time I used a cordless drill and the same dremel bit but I couldn't get through the plastic housing much at all. Maybe the drill speed was too slow....I may have to find a cordless dremel.

With the door shaft on my van broken and nothing to hold it in place it dropped down into a default "cold" position and so I have no heat. I'm thinking of removing the door entirely if I cannot repair it again, I suspect that will allow heat into the cabin.
 
#36 ·
Hello all, newbie to this forum.

I have this same problem in my 2003 Dodge Caravan. Does anyone know if the door is accessable by removing the heater core? I was thinking of just blocking the door in the hot air position to get me through winter.

Or is the cut-out method the only way to get the door out without disassembling half my van?

Thanks,
Dom
 
#41 ·
I removed my door again today by cutting through my previous repair job and I fished my fingers in there and could feel the heater core fins, just like a radiator. If you pull out the heater core I am almost willing to bet the door will come right out, too, assuming it fits through the hole in the side of the air box.

BTW, the shaft on my blend door was again broken and separated from the main door. I epoxied it together again, this time much heavier application, making sure I packed it in all seams and small spaces to ensure maximum bondage. I'll let it cure overnight and re-install tomorrow. I'm sure it will work, I just hope it lasts a little longer this time!
 
#39 ·
As a last resort with the door repaired again, you could leave the actuator motor unplugged with the motor removed. then cut out a piece of your favorite plastic (plexi or lexan) in the shape of a letter 'L'. make the long side of the L about 3" long and the short side of the L about 1" long. Now epoxy putty the short end into the 'gear toothed' end of the door shaft. Now you can manually adjust the temp blend door and the motor is not even involved. If the L is glued in in a horizontal position, then its own weight will cause the door to drop to the cold position. A strip of Velcro on the end of the long part of the L could be used to hold it in the hot position or anywhere in between. Please tell me that if you do this, that you would never adjust it while driving!!!!!Gord
 
#40 ·
Thanks, I'll take things apart this weekend if the weather cooperates and see what I can do to make it work. I was thinking of doing something, wasn't exactly sure what or how, to manually move the door and keep it in place.
 
#42 · (Edited)
If the door fits through the core door is not the question. How would you get the ends of the shaft out of their bushings, as the door shaft does not compress like your toilet paper holder shaft does. I don't recall if all the actuator motors are the same or not, but if you suspect the motor is shot then why not hook up one of the other motors onto the blend door to see (make sure that you temporarily don't use the motor that you think is defective or you might break a different blend door. Could you also clamp the smallest Vise grip you have, onto the motor shaft and hold it in your hand during a recalibration. Stop the Vise grip from rotating at say 12 o'clock and then again at 3 o'clock. After calibration is done, then when you turn the dash dial from full hot to full cold, it should move the Vise grip from 12 to 3.
 
#45 ·
If the door fits through the core door is not the question. How would you get the ends of the shaft out of their bushings, as the door shaft does not compress like your toilet paper holder shaft does. ...........

Yea, that's how I eventually saw it as well.

So I took the trusty dremel to the air box. Thanks for all the pics, great help. The door is broken exactly like the ones in the pics in this thread.

I really just wanted to get a temporary hack :Wow1: in place for winter. Once the air box was cut open, I held the flap up in the hot position and drove a couple of screws thru the box along the flap's edge to keep it from dropping. Then I closed up the cutout with duct tape, and wedged a piece of foam between the taped repair and the servo to keep the tape from blowing off.

We drove to the store with the heat cranked :headbange

In the late spring I'll remove the flap and repair the shaft. If I come up with something different I'll be sure to post it.

Dom
 
#43 ·
Curious, does anyone know how the calibration process works? When the actuator motor activates with an applied voltage and moves the blend door, at some point the door comes to a stop in a full-cold or full-hot position. Does the motor then draw more current at the stop position (as it tries to keep turning the motor) which the controller can detect and then shut off the voltage?

Gord, I may try your vice-grip method above just to see how the motor reacts before I reinstall.
 
#44 ·
Job done (again). It's all back together and seems to work fine. I watched motor movement during the calibration process and when the door came to it's cold and hot stops the motor torqued it just a bit more before stopping. After the calibration process was complete and just checking for normal movement, the motor stopped as soon as the door appeared to stop. I'm guessing that the calibration process allowed the controller to sense the relative position of the motor gear head and then backed off just enough so that the door isn't being torqued in the stop position anymore.

It's November, I hope I have heat the entire winter! If it breaks again, then I'll have to find another non-broken door out of a wreck.
 
#46 ·
Here's a picture of the blend door repaired a second time. A heavy dose of Devcon brand "High-Strength Plastic Welder" seems to be holding up.
 

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#47 ·
I think I'm having the same issue with our 2005 GCV? It seem to be giving heat but it isn't as warm as I'm used to seeing get. I can hear a "popping" type of sound coming from the dash just to the right of the radio/hvac control pod in the center of the dash. Sounds like something is loose inside like a "door" is rattling around, trying to close and open at the same time?? Any ideas would be great!!
 
#49 · (Edited)
I add to this thread the following for what it is worth...

There was/is a service bulletin for the Passenger side blend door. Number 24-006-01 dated may 4 2001 which covered the replacement of the blend door shaft with a upgraded shaft. This for vehicles with the 3 zone sdystem. The new shaft is part number 04885511AA Shaft, Blend Air Door, Labor is given at 0.4 hrs.

Pasrt price was given this AM from local dealer at $3.00

The subject of this Bulletin was/is: No Heat on Front Right Side.
Rob
 
#50 ·
I have the exact same problem with my 2003 3.3L Dodge Caravan SE. I am going to follow your procedure. My question is ... is the blend door the same in all Gen4 heater boxes with single zone climate control? I am going to a pick and pull and they have a number of Gen4 caravans on the lot.

Thanks!
 
#51 ·
I checked a few Gen4 Caravans in a boneyard and every one I pulled apart (only 2-3) had a steel 1/4" (approximate) square blend door shaft. Attached to that steel shaft was a plastic geared piece that mated to the actuator motor. Of course, none of that fit my van's HVAC system so I had to repair my own broken door. Also, if you do find a door with the proper shaft end, you will need a dremel tool to cut open the air box to pull out the door. I didn't have a battery powered dremel tool and tried a cordless drill on one vehicle. That was a failure since the cordless drill didn't seem to have the RPM speed to cut the plastic wall of the airbox, plus the drill was too large for the confined space under the dash.

Good luck!
 
#52 ·
Well guys........add me to the list.

I have a 2000 caravan sport and when I call for heat I get it on the driver's side but not the passenger side.

Looks like I am in for some fun......

Thank you all for posting on here and including the pictures.

Maybe if I fix this the wife will like me again for a few hours.
 
#53 ·
OK ... Summer is over and I am going to attempt this repair.

Just a question --- if I remove the blend door completely without replacing it... in theory, won't this just blend hot and cold air yielding me just warm air? This might be a temporary fix to get me through the winter. I work in town ... so I only need the heat to defrost the windows in the morning. We have another car we use as a daily driver.

Any thoughts??
 
#54 ·
I just took mine apart on a 2001 caravan. From what I see, removing the blend door leaves the heater core fully exposed, which would mean all hot air, all the time. When the control knob is in the middle (neither hot or cold) it appears to close about half-way; when the knob is on cold, the blend door is completely shut with no exposure to the heater core.
 
#55 ·
Hi Everyone.-
Also a member of this club... mine was repaired at a dealership about 3 years ago (2001 T&C LXi - I believe it was around $380) and the explanation they gave me is that in order to save me BIG $$, the technician had glued the shaft on the passenger side without removing the dashboaard. Since last cold season the problem has been back on both sides, and have to assume that the origianl fix broke and now the driver side has also failed... The pics you guys have kindly provided show a single long rectangular door; have to assume that our van has two smaller doors, one for each front occupant. And would make sense since the van has dual-temp control for the driver and front passenger...
So, the repair technique would be to cut a symmetrical hole on the opposite side. Correct? I'm thinking as some other member suggested on doing the dremmel work of removing both doors and sealing the holes with tape (metallic) until the spring when I could work more comfortably on it. Does it make sense or am I missing something?

Thanks again for the good info.
 
#58 ·
This old thread seems to speak to my problem; the heat control doesn't seem to do anything. I get a flashing light from the calibrate process, I suspect the blend door is stuck or no longer attached. All the other functions work. I'm not clear where, exactly, in the heater box the door is. There are two actuators, apparently, on the driver's side, one of which works the complex cam/gear affair that cycles between various outlets. the other is lower and farther forward; I'm guessing blend door? it's partly concealed by a plastic shroud. A little help, or cutaway drawing, or photos would be helpful to me before beginning exploratory surgery.

thanks in advance
 
#59 ·
This old thread seems to speak to my problem; the heat control doesn't seem to do anything. I get a flashing light from the calibrate process, I suspect the blend door is stuck or no longer attached. All the other functions work. I'm not clear where, exactly, in the heater box the door is. There are two actuators, apparently, on the driver's side, one of which works the complex cam/gear affair that cycles between various outlets. the other is lower and farther forward; I'm guessing blend door? it's partly concealed by a plastic shroud. A little help, or cutaway drawing, or photos would be helpful to me before beginning exploratory surgery.
Don't know what year you are looking at, but here is the Blend Actuator Diagram out of my 2002 Service Manual. Might help, might not. Depends on if they made any changes in the years... For the Left-Hand Drive Models.
 

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#60 ·
Well, that helped! I pulled off the actuator and bored a couple of holes in the side of the box and discovered that the shaft was not broken, for some reason the door had been pushed past its normal down limit and was stuck but good. I pried it free, covered the holes with a piece of dense foam (seemed more elegant than duct tape) held in by the actuator, did the calibrate thing and it all works.
 
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