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DIY: A/C & Heater Actuator Gear

43K views 59 replies 31 participants last post by  TillSRT8 
#1 ·
For those of you who have broken the gear for your recirculation, here is a how-to. The dealer wanted to charge $1,118 to fix total BS.

So, if you have found this laying around your passenger side floor somewhere, this is how to fix it......



Needed:

Part #68072190AA - A/C & Heater Actuator Gear $18

T20 Torx

Small Socket Wrench


First, you need to take the glovebox off. This was extremely easy. It isn't even held on by bolts. Here is a link to help you since explaining it would be hard....

http://www.wkjeeps.com/interior_trim.htm#GLOVE

Once the glove box is off, this is what you will see. The motor for the gear itself is held on by 3 T20 Torx bolts, one is hiding.



If you look closely, you can see the other gear in the middle of the picture. The piece you are fixing attached to this other gear to move the door.



Once you take the 3 torx screws off, you can hold the motor in your hand. The broken piece where the gear used to be held on pulls right off.



You can see the new part compared to the old part. They reinforced it, so there is no gap in between the plastic of the gear.



Take the new gear and slide it on the motor, but pay attention to how it goes on, because it has a very specific way of going on. It just slides on, that's it.



Now, I would say the trickiest part of this was putting the motor back into place. That circular part attached to the gear goes into a hole at a certain angle. This hole I'm referring to is the part that actually moves. I had to turn my recirculation on to get it to move into the right position in order to mount the motor back up. Once you get the gear into the hole, screw the torx bolts back in. Turn your car on and make sure the gear is moving properly by pressing the recirculation button on and off. If it is successful, put the glove box back on and you are good to go!

Congratulations, you just saved yourself $1100 :p

Hope this helps!
 
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#5 ·
Well, the only thing I can think of is that it's kind of a pain to work in that area. You only have so much room between the dash and passenger seat to work. I'm small at 5'8", so it wasn't too hard.

Ya, I felt how much pressure was being put on that gear when it moved, and I'm not surprised even a little that it broke.

Wow, you just saved a ton of people a ton of coin! Work like a charm I take it?
It fixed the recirculation problem, but it did not fix my specific problem, no :(. I believe there is another door inside the dash for the A/C itself that is broken. Unfortunately the dash has to come out for that, and I don't have that kind of money to pay someone to fix it right now. Sucks, I was pissed. But at least I fixed this other problem.

Good work! Never had this issue, but good info.


Sent from my iPhone 4S
Thanks!
 
#4 ·
Good work! Never had this issue, but good info.


Sent from my iPhone 4S
 
#8 ·
What is your problem? I'm having an issue where my A/C isn't coming out on the passengers side as cold as the drivers side.
 
#9 ·
That's exactly my issue. This didn't fix it. I thought it might, but nope. From what another guy said on my other thread, there is a door for the passenger side A/C to come in and it's stuck. You have to remove the dash to fix this one. No idea what I'm gonna do...
 
#10 ·
WOW , Now that is great info Tamara , you should show the dealer that quoted you this thread :)
 
#11 ·
is this an issuue with alot of peoples jeeps? cause if it is that sucks! i had a 2006 dodge diesel and the problem it had was the AC door wouldnt switch back from defrost. the door was broken so i had to rig it to stay open and when i needed defrost would do it by hand lol. what is it with the year 2006? first, cheap radiator hose clamps and now this...sheesh...
 
#12 ·
Well mine is a 2008, but it seems like this is happening across all years. If you search about this problem on here, you will find multiple threads. Most people never did anything about it because they thought you had to take the dash out, which obviously, you don't.
 
#13 ·
i see..i have only owned my jeep for about a month now so im still new to it all lol..but what you did didnt fix the issue, correct? i havent noticed any problems with A/C yet but now with this thread im going to check ha!
 
#15 ·
Great write up Tamara. Thanks for sharing. I have an 08 as well and I'm out of warranty so I may have to refer back to this thread at some point. So far no problems though. How is little Kona doing by the way?
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the write-up, Tamara. Great info to have in case this problem happens to me.
 
#18 ·
No problem!

Great write up Tamara. Thanks for sharing. I have an 08 as well and I'm out of warranty so I may have to refer back to this thread at some point. So far no problems though. How is little Kona doing by the way?
Thanks! And she is doing amazing, thank you so much for asking! She takes off running in the yard and everything. She is still wobbling, but she walks and runs like there is no tomorrow. I'm so proud of her!

Thanks for this Tamara! This will save all of us a nice grand if/when it happens to us!
Anytime! I literally laughed when the dealer told me the price. So dumb.

Tam you are such a bad azz!! Nicely done!
Ha! Thanks man, glad I could help!
 
#20 ·
Did you ever check your freon level? Mine was blowing cold on the driver side normal on the other with everything set to the coldest. As soon as we topped it off it worked fine again.

My mechanic didn't even charge me for it.

To me it just a cheap thing to eliminate before getting into it deeper
 
#21 ·
Yeah, I'm having a freon leak issue and that might be my problem. Think I may have found it with some dye, but I'm out of town till the 23rd, so I won't know until I get back.
 
#24 ·
Interesting. Well, I will go do that today if I can find someone who knows what the hell they are doing. Maybe I will go to the dealer this once. I am leaving for the desert tomorrow and was planning on not taking my Jeep because of the A/C, but if this would help, I want to take it!
 
#26 ·
You can charge your A/C with a few tools from autozone. Just buy the kit with the hose attached
 
#27 ·
Subscribing because I have the same problem. The driver side is cold but the pass and rear air are much warmer. I was quoted around $1200 by the dealership to replace the blend air doors/actuators. I took it in for a second quote at my local auto AC/Heat shop and they said anywhere from $200-600 depending on if the dash needed to come out. I have read that there is another way of replacing these blend air doors/actuators but it requires cutting into things and I don't like that idea. The only reason why I haven't had the AC shop to do the work is because I hate the idea of my dang dash being pulled out! My Jeep is SOLID with no rattles or squeaks and I want it to stay that way, but I will need to have it done soon because it is already getting into the high 90's here in North East TX and a good AC is a must.
 
#28 ·
Great write up Tamara. I had this done under warranty by my dealer. It was interesting to see the pics as to what they did. They did mention that it took some work to get the thing back in properly. Now I know what to do if it fails again.
 
#31 ·
I tried posting it in there, it said I didn't have access. :p

Thanks Bernie!
 
#32 ·
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#35 ·
You are off the hook this time. Almost as bad as those that don't use the search function. LOL
 
#36 ·
Hahahahaha! No no, definitely not even in the same ball park as people who don't search.

By the way, what's a catch can? Should I buy one?

:D:p:D:p:D:p
 
#39 ·
to those that have made this repair, can you tell me how much the actuator moves once its fixed? i just repaired mine, i was able to get it back togeather without having to turn the recirc on and off, to make it line up.
once its fixed though and you operate the recirc switch the gear only moves like half a turn, it seems like when it is installed the gear is in the center position, than when you activate the recirc it only moves the last little bit on that gear.so basicially the gear is two times longer than is needed. Or another way of putting it, some of the teeth on the entire length of that gear never get used.

is this what everyone elses system operates like? thanks and merry christmas
 
#40 ·
to those that have made this repair, can you tell me how much the actuator moves once its fixed? i just repaired mine, i was able to get it back togeather without having to turn the recirc on and off, to make it line up.
once its fixed though and you operate the recirc switch the gear only moves like half a turn
, it seems like when it is installed the gear is in the center position, than when you activate the recirc it only moves the last little bit on that gear.so basicially the gear is two times longer than is needed. Or another way of putting it, some of the teeth on the entire length of that gear never get used.

is this what everyone elses system operates like? thanks and merry christmas
I believe that is why you have to push the button so you sync the gears properly, sounds like you are off a couple of tooths.
 
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