Fixed heater selector problem

[lynn]

Last week my heat selector defaulted to defrost only, no matter the setting. I had read alot about this, figured it would happen to me sooner or later, so I wasn't concerned when it happened. So Saturday morning I located the vacuum line near the battery. Removed the battery, and was just about to unbolt the tray... I reached under the tray to feel if the line was loose.

No, it was still solidly connected, the rubber still felt resilient.
I followed the vacuum line the other way... and there it was, on the drivers side of the engine, the rubber connector had popped off of the nipple coming out of the manifold. The rubber was very soft, and slipped on and off with no resistance. I put it on, then wrapped a zip tie around it so it would keep it from pulling off over the raised end of the nipple.
Put battery back, started the rig, tested it... selector function restored!!
That was good, because I really needed the heat at my feet this morning...!!!!!!!!!!!

[Skull]

Seems to be a very common problem. I had taken mine back to the dealer twice for the same problem. If it happens again I will have to find it for myself as I am out of warranty!

[timmy24540]

Thanks lynn, I am sure a lot ofus will have the same problem just as skull did. Great info.

[lynn]

Let us know when you want to tackle it Skull...
My 05 is still under warranty... but an hour each way to the dealer and back, plus scheduling...
This fix took me two minutes... plus the 10 minutes to remove and reinstall the battery that I didn't need to do
I expected the problem to be in the vacuum accumulator can that is positioned below the battery tray. many guys have the connection there dry-rot and fall off. Mine still seems OK at that end.
There are a couple other common issues... resistor pack failure, and fan speed switch meltdown... these seem to be relatively cheap to fix if they occur, and there is alot of info (on JU and JF) on how to fix these.
But on Saturday, I was pleased that I didn't have to tackle these issues yet.

[nwquadriders]

My Blower Motor Resistor just went out. Dealership gave me the wrong part, so now I get to exchange it and start all over. No big deal as I've still got the highest setting, but it's a bit of a pain to get in there and pull/replace. Pull the glovebox, disconnect negative terminal on the battery, and then pretend you are Gumby to get the wire harness disconnected and the 2 screws out.

They gave me the "old style" which is more of a bunch of coiled wires, etc... Then I did some reading and found out that the '02 and above have a new circuit board (credit card sized) resister block, and when I checked mine this weekend... I wasn't too surprised to find that I had the wrong one. $50 part going back to the dealer today... Hopefully they've got the right one in stock. I'm tired of ALL HEAT or NO HEAT.

[Skull]

"Pretend you are Gumby"! Now that is funny!

[jeepnut]

I had the same problem, and did the same thing lynn. Zip ties are great. But that was temporary since the beast was still under warranty. They replaced the whole harness. Than the ac didn't work when I picked up the jeep, and turned right around thinking they messed it up, but it was just a fuse that I had temporarily tapped into previously. Doh!

[lynn]

Mine's still under warranty too... but an hour each way to the dealer and back, plus scheduling the time... then some monkey fresh out of wrench school screwing around with my Jeep... no thanks, not for a loose vacuum line.