HVAC system woes

[Chadp82]

Dropped my JTR at the dealership for the 4th time for related issues, all with the HVAC.

The first was a continuous clicking sound. They replaced an actuator for the blend doors.

The second was the clicking again, they replaced another actuator, I believe it was related to the temperature, but a different one than the first round. As I understand, there are two main actuators in the system.

The third was clicking again. They found a broken arm or connector to the door, and replaced the entire guts of the system.

A couple weeks ago, I would get heat on the passenger side, ice cold driver and rear. I tried to pull fuses with hopes the system would reset and it was a simple thing but it didn’t resolve it. I dropped it off today, and they gave me a loaner which I appreciate. The service advisor said they are going to get the jeep engineering team involved and believe it may be a computer issue sending signals that cause the faults and actuators to malfunction.

We will see. It’s only 2 years old and 15k miles. It’s been frustrating but the service department has been very professional and said they will leave me in the rental until they are confident it’s resolved.

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[JonMN]

How is your dash holding up to the work? My dealer kind of scared me off a bit. Was your second click episode constant or occasional?

I am also a member of the clicking HVAC club, but it's so intermittent I am still deciding if I should have it fixed. I have a copy of the service manual, and there are 4 actuators behind the dash:
Recirculation Door Actuator
Mode Door Actuator
Blend Door Actuator (2 if controls split for driver and passenger.)

My system clicks after starting, which I believe is indexing. I was thinking this was the drivers side blend door actuator, so they changed it and it still clicks. After they replaced it I lost heat on the Driver's side, but a second visit fixed this too.

My second HVAC click is really random, as the auto system decides to make a change in something. If it's hot and full A/C, no click. Same if it's really cold. But in the middle there is an occasional click as one of actuators makes and adjustment. Seems to be right behind the screen, which makes me wonder if it's the Mode Door Actuator.

If it was worse there would be no choice but for me to have it fixed, but it's just random enough for me to wonder if it's worth it.

 

[Chadp82]

My dash is holding up fine from what I can tell.

The second episode was more constant but would go away after driving for a bit, however would come back once and awhile after it faded after driving for a bit.

Mines still in the warranty period, so letting the dealership handle these problems. The guy at the dealer said these aren’t cheap if it was out of pocket and wants to resolve it for me while the warranty is still there. When I pick it up next time I am going to ask about extending the warranty at no cost to me for the HVAC system since it has been reoccurring.

 

[Splenda]

How is your dash holding up to the work? My dealer kind of scared me off a bit.

Great question. Every time I pull something apart, I break off some little plastic tabs that hold the metal clips. I need to find the part number for the plastic door on the passenger side that covers the door wiring harness.

 

[Chadp82]

Well, they replaced the whole housing, controller, and all actuators. They got an entire assembly shipped from the jeep factory. We will see….

 

[Chadp82]

Well, back in to the dealer it goes. I started to get clicking intermittently but it’s noticeable. Theres no pattern on when, sometimes at startup, sometimes it starts after driving for 30 minutes. Sometimes it lasts less than a minute sometimes it’s several minutes. The only commonality is when it occurs they are at 9-10 seconds apart.

I am sure the dealership thought oh crap, here we go again when I set the appointment.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Well, back in to the dealer it goes. I started to get clicking intermittently but it’s noticeable. Theres no pattern on when, sometimes at startup, sometimes it starts after driving for 30 minutes. Sometimes it lasts less than a minute sometimes it’s several minutes. The only commonality is when it occurs they are at 9-10 seconds apart.

I am sure the dealership thought oh crap, here we go again when I set the appointment.

Mine makes all sorts of clicks in the dash as well. Sometimes rhythmic, sometimes random. I haven't paid enough attention to find a pattern. It's not under bumper to bumper warranty anymore so it's not getting solved until something breaks (everything works at the moment) or until I get rid of it for another new modern pile o junk truck.

 

[legacy_etu]

Mine clicks too but I'm out of warranty as well so it's staying since heat and ac still work fine.

 

[JonMN]

It is so tempting to shoot a little silicone spray in the duct on the chance a blend door is a little too tight. I even have a long red straw for the can . . .

 

[Eagle22]

Great question. Every time I pull something apart, I break off some little plastic tabs that hold the metal clips. I need to find the part number for the plastic door on the passenger side that covers the door wiring harness.

I found this on Amazon. It has a replacement clip for every job I’ve done:
https://a.co/d/hwHJkcj

 

[Chadp82]

Well got it back today, we will see.

one of the doors connection points was broken. This happened one of the other times too. The replaced the housing, doors, and actuators. They said the housing was binding the door causing it to break, so replaced the housing.

 

[Stan H]

Well mine was clicking and now the passenger temp isn't the same as driver and I seem to have no AC but the AC pump is working but I get no refrigerated air . What's the deal with that. The recirculation/fresh air door servo quit took it apart and it was contacts not getting contacted nudged them up put back together and now it works .I am at a lose here.

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