2012 Dodge Durango AC/Heat Temp Blend Door Actuator Issues

[@avzaid]

Dude, just wanted to say thank you, I was that close to remove the whole dash out, but watching your video gave me that magic tip to cut those tools short to get to that damn actuator, it was a pain but it worked like a charm ... really appreciate it.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Awesome Awni. I felt the same way you did when I found the videos I did to do this fix. Just wanted to try and help out the next person with the same situation. Getting fixed at a shop isn't even close to inexpensive. Glad it helped you out! You're very welcome.

[@1TrueDenesha]

Great DETAIL!!!! Local dealership wanted 1.5 hours, at $150/hr, and $100 for the actuator. I WILL be able to do this!! Thanks!

[@Mustangfan9401]

Awesome KJ. Hope the video helps! There are a few other videos on here that may also be helpful if you haven't looked yet. From what I've heard, it sounds like your dealer is either treating you fairly and knows a way to do this way quicker/cheaper than others, or, they are absolutely mistaken and have no clue. I've heard nightmare stories of issues similar to this costing people up to a grand! Good luck with the fix.

[@S4NORICE]

Just took a look at mine and decided to come inside and search videos as I plan to tackle this fix this weekend. My gear fell to the floor as well upon removing the lower felt cover. Aside from being pretty tight to get up there to the screws, I will also mention that it would really help if I was a contortionist to lay up in the pedal area. Tight even with the seat all the way back. Thought for sure I was stuck at one point.🤣. Thanks for the info in this video, we all value our free time, you saved me part of my weekend!

[@Mustangfan9401]

You're welcome. I understand, free time can be hard to come by these days. Yeah it's a hell of a job. Hope I NEVER have to do it again. I would however still wish this on my worst enemy 😆

[@williamvega174]

You didn't need to buy another tool to do this or hack up a T20 bit. Once you removed the bottom ducting that directs air flow to the floor, you can then remove the upper ducting by splitting it in half (it does split) then pull the front half out and the back half out the same way. Then you have all the room to use a ratchet or any tool of your liking. Reverse the process and your done. Took me more time to remove all the plastic to get to it then it was to change it. Hope this helps in the future when the gear breaks again.. And it will break again. Im on number 2 in 2 years.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Thanks William. I'll look into doing it that way next time (I know it will come) that I have to do it. You might want to suggest that to the other few guys I mentioned, and their videos. They may appreciate the advice as well. Thanks again.

[@qubiochem]

Thanks, this was a very helpful tip!!

[@mr.erico8431]

Thanks for the tip. Will be my project this Sunday. And yes replacing the same one in passenger side that was done about 2 yrs ago.

[@garretmcalmond1607]

After 3hrs trying to get it all back together and about to take it to the shop,I read this comment. 15mins later everything was back together and good to go. I wish I had seen this before I started. Thanks Willy

[@neilcampbell6571]

So I did as suggested and removed the ducting that splits in half. I now for the life of me can’t get the ducting back together in the right spot. I do have ac again tho so that is awesome

[@surfsidesantacruz8143]

One of the best experience/advice vids I've seen. Thanks for sharing the important stuff

[@Mustangfan9401]

Thank you SurfSide. Just wanted to contribute to the dyi community and help someone in a bind get their stuff fixed where it didn't cost a small fortune. Plenty of YT videos have helped me the same in the past. Glad it helped you out ✌️

[@clintf6587]

Man, THANK YOU for your input. Having the same problem on 2014 Durango. Just started, you have given in me so much information I can't thank you enough. At least I kind of know how to go about tackling this problem. Thank you

[@Mustangfan9401]

Your welcome Clint. Just passing my experience with it on to the next person hoping it helps them. Good luck with your fix.

[@douggydoug31780]

This was great for a how-to and helped a lot! Just an idea, instead of removing the top screw all of the way back it out about 2/3 way and this will give you enough wiggle room to get the old gear off and the new one on. I did this and it saved me from the headache of taking it all of the way out. Another tip, I used an Allen wrench on the top that fit the t20 screw.

[@Mustangfan9401]

I'm glad it was helpful. Yeah, I agree it would've helped alot. I didn't know how much you could leave it in while trying to remove it. Thanks for the tip!

[@shawnoneal3462]

I did this driver side gear replacement today. I tried loosening top screw and changing gear but ended up breaking ear off the actuator. Ended up just splitting and removing the floor air duct, that made all the screws accessible. It went back in pretty easy.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Glad everything worked out Shawn. That repair is a real pain in the ass. I'll remember that if I ever have to do it again.

[@brendanmcauley1616]

I did the blend door replacement in my '15 Citadel on the passenger side. I have never said more cuss words in my life while working on something. Looking forward to doing the driver side lol

[@Mustangfan9401]

I hear you Brendan. It was a long, frustrating process, but it was still worth doing myself for a few dollars vs $900+. The passenger side looked easier so from my experience, I hope it is. Knock on wood, but my '12 has 157k on it and that's the only issue I've had so far in the 90k+ we've had it....

[@brendanmcauley1616]

@@Mustangfan9401 Thats awesome, mines at 100 and I've only had to have to rear press in bearings replaced by mechanic since thats a highly sensitive area and I had to have my car towed after trying 🤣. I'm going to try and switch the actuator tonight. And yes, definitely easier on the passenger side, took me about 45 mins to do. The cussing comes from removing those damn screws hahaha

[@dustinkyle7820]

Thank you so much for this video. You saved me so much time. I sincerely appreciate it.

[@Mustangfan9401]

You're welcome Dustin. Glad it helped you out!

[@bd746]

LIfe saver video. Thanks. Did exactly what you did and it worked! Thank you

[@Mustangfan9401]

Glad it helped you out BD! You're welcome.

[@TheRealTonyCastillo]

I just did this job tonight and it sucked big donkey D... My gear was fine however, the actuator went out so I had to replace it. The door does move freely once the actuator is pulled off. I have seen some that the high heat can melt the door inside to a closed position. So if your door does not move once the gear and actuator is pulled off you may have to twist the door spline till it breaks free. It is easier if you pull the cover off underneath the steering wheel. There is a plate with 4 bolts that comes off easy, once that is off there is a bracket in the way that has 2 bolts and another screw that is accessed behind the steering column cover on the right side. Some plastic trim tools make easy work to remove most of the covers that need to be removed. Mine once I plugged it in to power to align the gear on the actuator the actuator lined up the arrow with the cogs that where open in the actuator. The hard part since my stock gear was ok and not a replacement was getting it realigned correctly, the replacement gears look to only go on one way where the stock one can be aligned to different positions. As for the tork screw that is hard to access, I ended up finding a dewalt tork that once you ground it down it still had a small section that you could use a small wrench to twist it back in. Getting the screw in and tork to stay with out falling out was pretty frustrating so I ended up super gluing the screw to the tork bit and that worked to get it started and once it was all the way tight i just left the bit in the screw for the next poor slob that has to replace it. There is another video that i watched that shows how to align the gear to the spline of the door, It can only go in one way if it is aligned correctly. Some one commented below that once the first section of air duct is removed that the other one above it can be separated, however I didn't know about that and would of made the job easier, I just didn't see a way to separate it. Maybe someone else might be able to. Don't wish this replacement on my worst enemy. Good luck to those that attempt it.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Thanks for the tips and the insight on it Tony. Yeah, it's definitely a pain in the ass. I don't know... I have a few people I might wish this job on... 😆

[@patriotveteranauto]

Thanks for the video dude, mine is stuck on cold for front passenger side . I will try to dig into this weekend 2014 Durango

[@Mustangfan9401]

Good luck with it. Depending on your mechanical abilities, I'd say dedicate a minimum of 4 hours to it in case vehicle down time or scheduling is an issue. I believe the gear on the blend door motor broke off simply because the heat had essentially melted and adhered the door gasket into the full heat position. I felt like I was going to break the door freeing it. Replaced the gear on the motor and was good to go. I wonder since yours is in cold, if it's possible the motor itself is dead? May want to pick one up in addition to the gears just in case. You can always return it.

[@heyitsnotrich]

U can remove that plastic vent and have it all apart and out in 10 minutes using a 1/4 ratchet wrench with a t20 bit electrical taped to it so it holds the bit.

[@Mustangfan9401]

@heyitsnotrich thanks. Yeah, someone made a similar comment some time back with the same thing. Wish I would have known that at the time as it would've been a big help! Thanks for the comment.

[@mikemitchell7505]

Thank you! This video was very helpful!!

[@Mustangfan9401]

You're welcome Mike. Glad it helped!

[@truck2041]

My passenger side lower one broke . The upper gear for the door it self is stuck like this. But the question I have the motor for the lower gear that shouldn't spin completely does it have a limit built in to it? I put the gear on just to see and it will Completely spin a few turns before stopping

[@jonathankuhn483]

Were you able to find a solution to this? Mine just did the same dang thing and I don't know what to do

[@federicoreyes377]

Gracias por la información que es dé mucha ayuda

[@Mustangfan9401]

De nada. Me alegro de poder ayudar

[@hc9070]

Thank you for this video😅

[@jorgeortiz1759]

How do you get to driveside blend door actuator i know passenger side behind glove box

[@JMAX79]

i replaced my actuator and broken gears and worked great for a few days but stopped working again. Tried a couple more actuators but they either wont work, or work intermittently, but only seems to turn one direction, counterclockwise. Any ideas?

[@Mustangfan9401]

It's hard to say considering at one point, it worked flawlessly or worked intermittently in the correct way. As far as the direction, all I can reply is to make sure when you reinstall the actuator and gear, that you have the heat or a/c on that side of the truck to either its highest heat temp setting or lowest a/c temp setting and make sure the door and actuator are both clocked to that correct position when put back together, but it sounds like you are probably already doing that, or had at least the first time when it worked for those few days and in that case has nothing to do with it..? Are you buying the actuators from the same store/brand/supplier? Maybe that is part of the problem? Try a different manufacturer? I'm kind of stumped myself? Unless something in the electronics needs to be reset/retought and needs computer intervention? This blend door issue hasn't seemed so far like the type of situation where you need to go to the dealer after replacing an electronic component to have things reset though... 🤔

[@JMAX79]

@@Mustangfan9401 thank you so much! I ordered a replacement climate control on eBay to try, hopefully that doesn’t require dealership programming 🤦‍♂️

[@Mustangfan9401]

@@JMAX79 Best of luck to you 👍

[@hecravesme31]

Would this cause the electrical control system to pop up ?

[@tyandrade9228]

I have the same problem as this video. I will be able to fix it now.. thank you pulled! Quick question, pulled down the felt liner why was the ac or heater pipes scorching hot?

[@krazykkarl]

Hey there! You think this would be the same process for a 2007 Durango 5.7L? I'm getting heat on the passenger side but not driver.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Hey Karl. Honestly I would have no idea if the layout is the same at least. I'm assuming the principles are pretty similar but considering the changes between the two generations I doubt this video may apply the same.

[@chevychase9797]

Why didn’t you take the panel off?

[@jameseiden2340]

Can you measure the back of the tool to the tip so we can make our tool ahead of time

[@halomaster537]

Do you have or can you recommend a video for the passenger side? I have a Durango 2011.

[@Mustangfan9401]

Hi John. I cannot remember their names now, but the guys I mentioned in the video were the guys I watched first. One of them did the same job on the passenger side of a 2011 Durango. If you searched KZbin to find this video, there was only a few others and it should be one of those few. Sorry if that's kind of a non-specific grainy answer.

[@damionprudelife8078]

So you just unhooked the negative right only not the positive

[@Mustangfan9401]

If you're referring to the vehicle's battery, yes, you only ever have to unhook your Negative (-) cable. Positive (+) can stay attached to battery while you work.

[@manuelbustamante4951]

I changed that door ac actuator Nd the gear.. and recharged my ac and still not blowing cold air .. so?? What's next

[@Mustangfan9401]

Couldn't tell you Manny. If you had AC on either the passenger or driver side when this issue started, and them did the fix, it may not have been done correctly. If you had to recharge the AC system, then you may have very well had a different problem to begin with. This issue focuses on just regulation/balance of the temperature side to side (dual zone climate control) within the vehicle. If you had zero AC on both sides, you got to search for a different issue. Good luck.

[@LiilTyweezy]

Condenser/drier assembly

[@anthonyrios3101]

Are the steps the same for passenger side

[@Mustangfan9401]

As far as the blend door, motor, and gear go, I believe so. Accessing it obviously is a little different but I never had to do the passenger side. There is a good video on here somewhere of someone doing the replacement on a 2014(ish) Grand Cherokee on the passenger side that should be basically the same. If I recall, accessing the passenger side is easier than the drivers...?

[@jalinbrown1486]

Is the blendure an actuator the same thing or 2 different pieces

[@Mustangfan9401]

For me, the terminology is kind of loose, but I take it as the blend door as the physical door inside the ducting, and the actuator as the motor that moves the blend door. So yeah, as two separate/different pieces. Hope that helps.

[@andressolis7879]

MY DURANGO IS DOING THAT.. GOING TO TRY AND FIX IN THIS COLD ASS MICHIGAN WEATHER ! LOL

[@Mustangfan9401]

Yeah we're from Michigan as well. Not a good time for it that's for sure. How is yours acting up?

[@kyronburton3460]

Charge the screw to hex head

[@albertvega7815]

I removed the actuator and the gear is stuck cannot move it clock or counter clock wise Is this indication that its bad? Should it move when its off?

[@Mustangfan9401]

I am not sure if the actuator is free to move manually while it is removed. Best I can think would be to leave it dropped down still connected, reconnect your battery, start the vehicle and try to slowly change the temperature on the side the actuator is for (or have in "sync") and see if the actuator gear rotates as you change temp. If it does, it's still good. If not, I'd assume that is your problem. Good luck

[@marcodiaz1900]

What it’s the screws size

[@patriotveteranauto]

He said T20