This 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee originally came in with the complaint that the blower did not work and after repairing that, I found out that the heater also would not get hot. The customer was broke, after repairing the blower fault. I was looking for something cheap to do, to get heat for this customer. The driver’s blend air door actuator is behind the glove box. The glove box has to be removed to access it.
I carefully pried the center hinge tab away from the dash and then opened the glove box.
With the glove box open and the center hinge unhooked, I could lift one side and then pull the glove box the rest of the way out. The mini shock that should have been attached to the right side was already broken so I could not show how to take it loose.
With the glove box out of the way, I removed the two phillips headed screws that held the actuator in place and pulled the actuator out of the way. I also forgot to take a picture of it. Now that the actuator was removed I pulled the white short shaft out of the box with a pair of pliers. I wiggled up and down while pulling at the same time to get the shaft free. Couldn’t get a picture of all that though.
If you enlarge the next two pictures by clicking on them you should be able to see the broken internal door shaft.
The simple, cheap and temporary repair to get heat into the vehicle was to super glue the two shaft pieces together. The super glue did not hold up very well and I did this again using a two part plastic epoxy gel. I have found that it is much easier to wear gloves while using super glue or epoxy than having to use a razor blade to remove stuck objects from my fingers. Been there, done that!!
With the epoxy applied to the white sub shaft, I lined up the spline and inserted the piece fully. I then left it alone for a few minutes. It takes fifteen minutes for the epoxy to harden but it is firm in 3-5 minutes. After five minutes I started moving the shaft back and forth gently, so that it would not adhere to the heater case. After I was sure it was not going to stick to the case, I left it alone for a couple of hours. I then installed the actuator back in place and luckily it was already in the full heat position. I then disconnected the wiring to the actuator so that it would not move. Less chance of the epoxied joint breaking. This by no means is a quality repair and is not meant to be interpreted as such. As I stated earlier, the customer was broke and this was a free repair to give them some heat immediately. There are a couple of better ways to repair this condition and I hope to do a post on this at a later date. Customer willing.
I informed the customer of the situation and he claims that he will bring it back before hot weather to have it fixed correctly. When I saw the customer the next summer, I asked him if he was ready to fix his Jeep. He told me that he reconnected the wiring harness and it has been working ever since. I do not know how long it will last but he is happy and that is all that really matters.
Hi Jake,
I agree completely that it is a poor repair, but as it was freebie for a good customer that was out of money, I figured that others in the same situation would benefit from the experience. Thank you very much for pointing out http://www.jgcparts.com , they seem like good people and we will be working together soon to promote their product.
Glueing the blend doors is a poor fix. For the amount of work you did you were half way to fixing them for good! Check out http://www.jgcparts.com/JeepHeater for a cheap and good fix. I work at a shop and we always use these to fix the problem or the customer is back next season complaining again. Try them out and you and your customers will be happy – Jake Tucker, TX.