2001 Dodge Ram 1500 - Blend Door Repair/Heater Treater Installation - Part 1

In this video, I demonstrate how to repair a broken blend door actuator in a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 using a repair kit from a company called Heater Treater. The blend door diverts the air from the HVAC system over the AC evaporator core or the heater core to adjust the temperature of the air blowing out of the vents.
If you have air blowing from the vents, but it is cold when your temperature dial is set to hot, or vice versa, you may have an issue with the blend door actuator in your vehicle.
The repair kit I used in this video can be purchased here:
heatertreater.net/
Part 2 of this series can be viewed here:
• 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 - ...
Part 3 of this series can be viewed here:
• 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 - ...
I am not a professional mechanic, and my videos are not intended to offer professional advice. Always reference your vehicle's service manual for official information, and please do not attempt any repair that you are not comfortable doing.
Thanks for watching!

[@bengreiner9860]

Thank-you!!!. This was exactly my problem and I just did the repair following the instructions in this video and now have working A/C!

[@raysullenberger5626]

Just bought a 1999 2nd gen Dodge, with a blend door failure, now I can fix it. Thanks so much for the "How to class." : )

[@ScotStevens]

Hey Matt, Thanks for the video! I will share a trick I used to get that back screw out. I cut the rubber and pad just like you did. I used the crescent and allen head bit to turn the screw a very small amount (just enough to move it). Once I realized what a pain in the but it would be to get it out like that, I had a look around and tried, on a hope, an 8d duplex nail. I bent the nail 90 degrees about 1/2" from the tip and made an angle screwdriver. The diamond tip of the 8d nail actually worked quite well and rotated that screw out. reinstall was easy (relatively of course) as well. Thanks again!

[@thebmac]

I have had the kit for a month or two and finally looked up under there. I was hoping that was the servo and it wasn't buried back under the plastics as I have a manual transmission. Thanks for the vid.!

[@jennypattison9018]

Wow Matt!! Kudos on the great videos of this!! Amazing!! Just saved us $600 at the repair shop!! I knew it had to be a fairly simple job! I want to show this to the shop and ask them "Why $600, Why do you have to pull the dash when it's obviously accessible from underneath??!!" Now, to order the part and then the hard part, getting hubby to get it done!! LOL! Or just do it myself, haha!! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us!!!

[@mattpayne4087]

Wow, I'm so glad to hear this helped you out, Jenny! Thanks very much for your kind words. It's a shame somebody tried to take advantage of you like that. I have no doubt that you and/or your husband can tackle this repair. The most important thing required is patience, haha. Everything can be completed with simple hand tools. In fact, if you are more petite than your husband, it might even be easier for you to do this yourself, since it does take a bit of gymnastics to get your hands to a couple of the fasteners. Best of luck - I hope you're able to take care of it without any troubles. Thanks for watching!

[@dinoegghunter4206]

i just super glued mine and clamped it up , it worked !!

[@drearaujoa6]

Awesome video. My heat and a/c works perfectly but it has to be on backwards for the temp knob. So cold is hot and hot is cold. I just ordered the heater treater kit and look forward to fixing it this weekend. Thanks again.

[@dmagic1one]

Thanks, the information here was great. I found it much easier to use a small closed end wrench around the phillips driver bit. I wrench also has that little angle bend which helps even more.

[@mattpayne4087]

Thanks for sharing that tip! That does sound easier. Thanks for watching!

[@moschetto58]

Thumbs up left because the explanations are clear and helpful, but both videos are agonizingly slow, some trimming would have been beneficial.... in any case thanks for taking the time to help.

[@christophercannon5068]

How did you get the plastic off that goes over all that?

[@aaronbrewerton3514]

Where did you get the repair kit

[@derekvandyke5132]

Yay I may be able to get heat back in time since in 2 days were supposed to have a low of 45 and high of 65°f

[@casacohagen5733]

a small ratchet and a 1/4" socket turning that screwdriver bit would probably be a better bet on that back actuator housing screw.

[@shannonweiss-osborn8451]

Doesn't work that well. Tried it that way myself.

[@marktamez57]

I just bought an 01 Dodge 1500 what's told that the Actuator was busted on the AC and I needed to get a new one so I did that come to find out the SCREWS are broke off from the housing Is there any way to repair it with JV world or apoxy I see putting the screw amounts back on the housing

[@unknown9218]

Would a broken plastic piece cause low air flow coming out the vents and the air to not be cooling?

[@andikeka3382]

where is the filter to replace it.. please i need to know 🥺

[@mattpayne4087]

There is no cabin air filter in the second generation Ram trucks.

[@bladerunner6282]

pretty much a good view of the piece that needs to come off, and then a very long segment on how to get at an inaccessible screw. BTW, i think this is what's wrong with my 2001 dodge ram pickup. the air conditioning works fine sometimes but on occasion, when braking will turn from cold air to hot air. there is also the intermittent sound of a fan hitting a plastic shroud under the passenger's side dashboard on occasion. i can also hear the faint sound of a plastic door closing.

[@puck5237]

Blade Runner you ever figure that out, That’s the exact problem I have

[@bladerunner6282]

@@puck5237 i fixed my problem. i bought the part advertised in the video (and yes, i know it should cost about a buck, but whoever came up with this quick and relatively inexpensive fix will get my 30-40 bucks without further complaint from me). BTW, i bought a 90 degree bend phillips head/flat blade screwdriver at ACE hardware ( www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/screwdriver-sets/20591?x429=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhv384MuR6QIVdT6tBh0VlgIPEAQYASABEgL9BPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds ) it was indispensable. after ripping out a few square inches of vinyl flooring (i don't have carpet in my ram) and a like amount of sound proofing stuff, i could eventually turn the screw about 1/8 of a turn at a time. meaning it took about 10-20 minutes to undo one of the screws. pulled the broken part of the hinge off with a pair of needle nose pliers (it came out in two pieces as you might guess), stuck the 'magic' splint on and bob was my uncle. it should be noted that before i started i verified (though it's not really necessary) that the blend door motor was indeed working properly, defined as when the temperature knob on the dash was turned that the motor turned the blend door shaft, which is barely visible and touchable with a well placed finger. i'm pretty sure that in my case, the blend door itself was just 'twisting in the wind' so to speak and at the mercy of it's own inertia as a result of the broken hinge/motor shaft interface. all in all i was very, very pleased that i managed to fix a problem that has been plaguing me for over a year and was misdiagnosed by multiple AC professionals (damn them! :)).

[@monicaottoway4864]

Okay. So I bought the part. However my issue isn’t any of the issues you have mentioned. My heat goes on when moved to hear and when set to cool. I got down there and had my daughter move the hot and cold and I could see the blendor part moving. So here is my issue when I hit about 60 MPH it stops working. Does that have to do with the blendor? I am girl fixing my own stuff and hate to be taken advantage of. Can you help me to trouble shoot it. I have no issue following the steps in your video, but don’t want to do all that if that isn’t my issue. Thank you in advance.

[@mattpayne4087]

Hi Monica, much respect to you for tackling your problem yourself! Can you clarify what exactly stops working when you hit 60 mph? Are you saying that the air completely stops blowing from your vents at 60 mph? Or does it perhaps start blowing from the defroster at 60 mph? Or are you saying that the blend door stops working properly at 60 mph, and you still get airflow from the vents, but can no longer control the temperature of the air at that point? If you can clarify, I'll do my best to help you out. One of the common problems is that the air ducting controls (floor vents vs. dash vents. vs. defroster) are operated by engine vacuum (suction), and if one of the vacuum hoses in the engine bay develops a split/crack, it can cause the duct controls to go haywire. This same thing happened to me years ago - while accelerating from a stop, my dash vents would suddenly stop blowing air and all the air would get routed to the defroster vents. It turned out to be due to a broken vacuum hose in the engine bay - under heavy load (like when accelerating), the engine was sucking in more air, (some through the broken vacuum hose) and it caused the issue with the duct controls. Thanks for watching!

[@martywheat9726]

You have a vacuum leak 💯

[@naplesnative2394]

Matt... if the ac blows cold on the driver side (left and right vents by steering wheel) and blows hot on the passenger side, you think this will help? Thanks for any info.

[@walterjohnziemba6720]

Did you ever get an answer for this? I have the same problem.

[@naplesnative2394]

@@walterjohnziemba6720 no I didn’t Walter, typical...... and sold the truck. Hope you get it fixed man. Good luck. 👍

[@bdogpranks8853]

I have a 98 dodge ram 1500 5.9l v8. On the fan speed control 1 and 2 i have a pretty good amount of heat. On 3 and 4 it gets colder. Ive changed the thermostat. The heater core is hot but my antifreeze is only at about 65 degrees at operating temp. The dash says it is running at about 190 degrees. After a while 3rd and 4th setting starts to get warm ill change it to defroster and back to the face and you here a klunk and it goes cold again. Any idea?

[@jeremybuchanan289]

This is exactly my issue too. Same year truck. Did you ever figure it out?

[@bdogpranks8853]

@@jeremybuchanan289 i have not. I will let you know tho if i do!

[@jeremybuchanan289]

I'm leaning towards changing the radiator. Already flushed the heater core, and I doubt it could be the water pump. Likewise, if I figure it out, will let you know.

[@bdogpranks8853]

@@jeremybuchanan289 Alright thanks. Ive been told to flush the whole system just havent had time. I checked my water pump and it was alright.

[@jeremybuchanan289]

Our trucks use a cable to operate the blend door. It is adjustable, and has a procedure to reset. I found it in a forum. Here's the adjustment for the temp control cable on the 1998-2000. Any time the heater-A/C control or the temperature control cable are removed and/or replaced, the following procedure must be performed. The temperature control cable housing and core must be installed at both the heater-A/C control and the heater-A/C housing ends, and the heater-A/C control must be installed in the instrument panel. Rotate the temperature control knob on the heater-A/C control so that the knob pointer is in the 12 o'clock position. Pull the temperature control knob straight out from the heater-A/C control base until the perimeter of the knob (not the knob pointer) protrudes about 6 mm (0.25 inch) from the face of the control base. Rotate the temperature control knob to the 1 o'clock position. Push in on the knob slightly and continue rotating the knob to its full clockwise stop. The knob pointer should be aimed at a position about 8 mm (0.315 inch) beyond the end of the graduated red strobe temperature control graphic on the face of the heater-A/C control base. If the knob isn't pointed to the correct position, go back to Step 2 and repeat the adjustment procedure. Rotate the temperature control knob counter-clockwise until the knob pointer is in the 12 o'clock position again. Push the temperature control knob straight in towards the heater-A/C control base until the perimeter of the knob (not the knob pointer) is flush with the face of the heater-A/C control base. Rotate the knob to its full clockwise stop again. The knob pointer should be aimed at the end of the graduated red strobe temperature control graphic on the face of the heater-A/C control base. If OK, go to Step 8. If not OK, go back to Step 2. Rotate the knob to its full counter-clockwise stop and release the knob. If the knob springs back from the counter-clockwise stop, the self-adjuster clip that secures the temperature control cable to the blend-air door lever is improperly installed. If the knob doesn't spring back, the temperature control cable adjustment is complete.

[@nelmor29]

It just occurred to me, will it work if I just leave a locking plier on it and just open and close when its either hot or cold?

[@tradesman63]

Yes, but you would need to bungee it to keep it from bouncing around.

[@ferberb9662]

I have a 1995 Dodge Ram and the problem I have is that when I floor it or accelerate hard I hear like a door move and it stop sending a/c air true the vents and it goes to the windshield vents for defrost and went I stop the acceleration the a/c air goes back to the front vents this happens every time I accelerate hard have anyone have or had this problem please comment

[@mattpayne4087]

It sounds like you have a vacuum leak somewhere, as the controls for the air damper that directs air to the floor or dash vents operate by vacuum. I had the same problem years ago - it ended up being a split vacuum hose in the engine bay. I'd start by tracing all the vacuum hoses to see if any air unhooked, and if not, then start feeling them for splits/cracks. Good luck, and thanks for watching!

[@ferberb9662]

A tanks for the reply and I will look at this problem this weekend

[@rhllnm]

@@mattpayne4087 That sounds like my problem. Going back and forth between hot and cold air. Thanks for the tip.

[@wheelinndealin]

Oh god, it’s a multiple part video. Looks like I’m not getting this done in 5 minutes...

[@camwood84]

Thank you for helping me feex mi cheet

[@richardmood3299]

Most engineers can't even fold a paper airplane. Everything is done on CAD software. To be able to find a design engineer that can work with their hands is dam near impossible.

[@jessejames5825]

I can do both :)

[@frostynuts4944]

Wow. Never seen someone take so long to take 2 screws out. Painfully long winded video.

[@jessejames5825]

As a Designer & 3D modeler, I see this as one of the dumbest designs ever. The manufacturers purposely design things like this is so the customer will take it to the Stealerships to get it worked on. As a mechanic, things like this are infuriating to me. The design of the middle shaft out of plastic is dumb as well as cramming it wedged up against the floorboard like it is makes me never want to buy a dodge ever again.