5thGenRams Forums

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Air conditioning Hack

Royal27

Active Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
33
Reaction score
31
The talking heads at FCA ask me to make another video after the third failed attempt to fix my HVAC. So decided to share with all


For those of you just using the valve at some point your blend door will break and it’s going to cost you thousands to get fixed if your warranty expires. Everyone with this issue need to start complaining and forcing them to fix it.

Why would the valve cause the blend door to break?
 

Cross88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2019
Messages
224
Reaction score
180
Location
Currently CA
Why would the valve cause the blend door to break?

I was actually wondering the same thing, because isn’t the blend door located after the heater core and within the dash? I don’t understand how a valve, to just restrict coolant flow to the heater core have any effect on the operation of the blend door? I myself have my valve at about 50% now, get just under my oem a/c temps (only by a couple degrees) and 120* worth of heat when need, pretty much oem.
 

Gsmith223

Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
126
Reaction score
79
the valve is a work around that is covering up a blend door issue. At some point those door or actuators are going to break
 

ColoradoCub

Ram Guru
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
559
Reaction score
553
Location
Calirado
I’m not sure why you think that the blend doors are going to break. i just don’t think the hot air door is closing all the way, could be the casting of the heater box door opening, not a long enough rod or an actuator without enough throw. But I can’t see a correlation with them breaking.
 

ac1dd

Active Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2019
Messages
154
Reaction score
95
I’m not sure why you think that the blend doors are going to break. i just don’t think the hot air door is closing all the way, could be the casting of the heater box door opening, not a long enough rod or an actuator without enough throw. But I can’t see a correlation with them breaking.
Could be that the flaw causes extra stress on them due to the defect and being plastic or thin metal actuators their service life will be cut short...just a guess.

In any case I am really floored that FCA hasn't come up with a true TSB for total correction of the problem. It's so glaring a defect!
 
Last edited:

Gsmith223

Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
126
Reaction score
79
Could be that the flaw causes extra stress on them due to the defect and being plastic or thin metal actuators their service life will be cut short...just a guess.

In any case I am really floored that FCA hasn't come up with a true TSB for total correction of the problem. It's so glaring a defect!

I have fixed many issues like this in other FCA vehicles. You are dealing with little bitty soft plastic gears in the actuators any slight tolerance issue and the actuators with eat the gears and fall apart. If the actuators dont fall apart then it will break the stops, blend door and or, the blend door gear.
 

Gsmith223

Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
126
Reaction score
79
The HeaterTreater replaces any of the plastic doors in the Dodge Ram HVAC system with steel. Replacing the existing doors with another plastic door is at best a stop-gap solution. The failure is a result of excessive forces generated by the DC servo motor in the calibration of the door.

If you are considering aluminum or plastic doors, please read the comments below.

There are five different door systems in the truck and HeaterTreater can replace any or all of the doors.

1. Re-circulation door.

This door is located above the fan motor behind the glove box opening. You can observe the door by fully opening the glove box and checking the door through the internal air intake grate. When broken, it can either stall in one position or fall down on top of the fan motor. It should be either fully open or fully closed, never in the middle.

The RAM has a design flaw and a stop point molded into the re-circ box is missing such that force is always applied to the door in one direction, not the limit pin as designed. This door is most susceptible to failure and replacing it with plastic will ultimately fail again. The dealer sells a complete new box with the molding error fixed, but you have to remove the plenum box and evacuate the AC to access it. Even after all the work and with re-designed parts, the cheap plastic will still fail again. Our steel door takes into account the Dodge design error and is a permanent fix.

2. Blend door

The truck has an upper and lower blend door that "clamshell" over the heater core which is on a horizontal plane. The upper door is connected to the actuator motor and has to withstand the calibration forces and is susceptible to breakage. The lower door is connected to the upper door with a wire rod and is strictly a follower to the upper door. Typically we see the upper door break and recommend replacing just the upper door and just re-use the lower plastic door since it is primarily flow control, not temperature, and it is more difficult to replace. We can replace the lower door if there is physical damage to the lower door, just contact us via email ([email protected]) and we will provide parts and additional instructions. The lower blend door is sometimes referred to as the “fifth door” and generally replacing it is not necessary.

The above discussion is for single control, not dual control(separate temperature control for driver and passenger). On the dual control system there is an actuator motor hidden on the back of the box to control the passenger side blend doors. We can replace the upper and lower doors, but this will convert the system from dual control to single control. Note that failure on the dual control system is rare and generally we recommend leaving it alone unless there is obvious physical damage. May be a different control algorithm or stronger parts, but failure is rare.

We do see issues with a temperature differential between the driver and passenger side on both dual and single control that is related to problems with the heater core and/or the AC evaporator core. If you can change temperature, but not get good performance, the core(s) are probably the problem. We have write up's on both issues and will be happy to provide additional information via an email request. The core is a parallel flow core(not serpentine) and it’s common for some channels to flow poorly. One way to check is to let the engine get to full operating temperature with the heater off. If you get a burst of heat when you first turn it on, but it dissipates, this is an indication that the air flow is extracting heat faster than it’s being replenished. Here are links to information on the heater core and AC evap core which outlines common problems and solutions. Heater core issues AC Evaporator Core

 

heydre

Active Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
95
Reaction score
55
The HeaterTreater replaces any of the plastic doors in the Dodge Ram HVAC system with steel. Replacing the existing doors with another plastic door is at best a stop-gap solution. The failure is a result of excessive forces generated by the DC servo motor in the calibration of the door.

If you are considering aluminum or plastic doors, please read the comments below.

There are five different door systems in the truck and HeaterTreater can replace any or all of the doors.

1. Re-circulation door.

This door is located above the fan motor behind the glove box opening. You can observe the door by fully opening the glove box and checking the door through the internal air intake grate. When broken, it can either stall in one position or fall down on top of the fan motor. It should be either fully open or fully closed, never in the middle.

The RAM has a design flaw and a stop point molded into the re-circ box is missing such that force is always applied to the door in one direction, not the limit pin as designed. This door is most susceptible to failure and replacing it with plastic will ultimately fail again. The dealer sells a complete new box with the molding error fixed, but you have to remove the plenum box and evacuate the AC to access it. Even after all the work and with re-designed parts, the cheap plastic will still fail again. Our steel door takes into account the Dodge design error and is a permanent fix.

2. Blend door

The truck has an upper and lower blend door that "clamshell" over the heater core which is on a horizontal plane. The upper door is connected to the actuator motor and has to withstand the calibration forces and is susceptible to breakage. The lower door is connected to the upper door with a wire rod and is strictly a follower to the upper door. Typically we see the upper door break and recommend replacing just the upper door and just re-use the lower plastic door since it is primarily flow control, not temperature, and it is more difficult to replace. We can replace the lower door if there is physical damage to the lower door, just contact us via email ([email protected]) and we will provide parts and additional instructions. The lower blend door is sometimes referred to as the “fifth door” and generally replacing it is not necessary.

The above discussion is for single control, not dual control(separate temperature control for driver and passenger). On the dual control system there is an actuator motor hidden on the back of the box to control the passenger side blend doors. We can replace the upper and lower doors, but this will convert the system from dual control to single control. Note that failure on the dual control system is rare and generally we recommend leaving it alone unless there is obvious physical damage. May be a different control algorithm or stronger parts, but failure is rare.

We do see issues with a temperature differential between the driver and passenger side on both dual and single control that is related to problems with the heater core and/or the AC evaporator core. If you can change temperature, but not get good performance, the core(s) are probably the problem. We have write up's on both issues and will be happy to provide additional information via an email request. The core is a parallel flow core(not serpentine) and it’s common for some channels to flow poorly. One way to check is to let the engine get to full operating temperature with the heater off. If you get a burst of heat when you first turn it on, but it dissipates, this is an indication that the air flow is extracting heat faster than it’s being replenished. Here are links to information on the heater core and AC evap core which outlines common problems and solutions. Heater core issues AC Evaporator Core


Posts from buyers that this worked for....upcoming version for 2019+ Rams? Interesting at the least...
 

ColoradoCub

Ram Guru
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
559
Reaction score
553
Location
Calirado
The HeaterTreater replaces any of the plastic doors in the Dodge Ram HVAC system with steel. Replacing the existing doors with another plastic door is at best a stop-gap solution. The failure is a result of excessive forces generated by the DC servo motor in the calibration of the door.

If you are considering aluminum or plastic doors, please read the comments below.

There are five different door systems in the truck and HeaterTreater can replace any or all of the doors.

1. Re-circulation door.

This door is located above the fan motor behind the glove box opening. You can observe the door by fully opening the glove box and checking the door through the internal air intake grate. When broken, it can either stall in one position or fall down on top of the fan motor. It should be either fully open or fully closed, never in the middle.

The RAM has a design flaw and a stop point molded into the re-circ box is missing such that force is always applied to the door in one direction, not the limit pin as designed. This door is most susceptible to failure and replacing it with plastic will ultimately fail again. The dealer sells a complete new box with the molding error fixed, but you have to remove the plenum box and evacuate the AC to access it. Even after all the work and with re-designed parts, the cheap plastic will still fail again. Our steel door takes into account the Dodge design error and is a permanent fix.

2. Blend door

The truck has an upper and lower blend door that "clamshell" over the heater core which is on a horizontal plane. The upper door is connected to the actuator motor and has to withstand the calibration forces and is susceptible to breakage. The lower door is connected to the upper door with a wire rod and is strictly a follower to the upper door. Typically we see the upper door break and recommend replacing just the upper door and just re-use the lower plastic door since it is primarily flow control, not temperature, and it is more difficult to replace. We can replace the lower door if there is physical damage to the lower door, just contact us via email ([email protected]) and we will provide parts and additional instructions. The lower blend door is sometimes referred to as the “fifth door” and generally replacing it is not necessary.

The above discussion is for single control, not dual control(separate temperature control for driver and passenger). On the dual control system there is an actuator motor hidden on the back of the box to control the passenger side blend doors. We can replace the upper and lower doors, but this will convert the system from dual control to single control. Note that failure on the dual control system is rare and generally we recommend leaving it alone unless there is obvious physical damage. May be a different control algorithm or stronger parts, but failure is rare.

We do see issues with a temperature differential between the driver and passenger side on both dual and single control that is related to problems with the heater core and/or the AC evaporator core. If you can change temperature, but not get good performance, the core(s) are probably the problem. We have write up's on both issues and will be happy to provide additional information via an email request. The core is a parallel flow core(not serpentine) and it’s common for some channels to flow poorly. One way to check is to let the engine get to full operating temperature with the heater off. If you get a burst of heat when you first turn it on, but it dissipates, this is an indication that the air flow is extracting heat faster than it’s being replenished. Here are links to information on the heater core and AC evap core which outlines common problems and solutions. Heater core issues AC Evaporator Core


they haven’t made a product for current ram truck in 11 model years. I don’t see the relevance here.
 

Gman

Ram Guru
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,134
Reaction score
833
Location
Puyallup, WA
'02 to '08? That was over a decade ago. How is this even relevant to this conversation?

ETA: I should have refreshed before replying. ColoradoCub was already on the ball.
 

brian42

Ram Guru
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
1,708
Reaction score
1,334
Location
San Diego, CA
I've done something similar on my previous truck (Ford). It should work as long as the diameter is correct for our heater hose.
 

sinn

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
8
Reaction score
2
My A/C performance improved immensely after I got my windows tinted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How many of you guys have the full length sunroof?
That POS is what cooks the interior when parked in the sun. Would help if they had put some reflective tint on it or something to deflect the sun.
Last truck (15 Ram) had no sunroof and thee A/C froze me out of the cab on the hottest days.
 
Last edited:

Edwards

Ram Guru
Joined
May 2, 2018
Messages
2,171
Reaction score
2,276
Location
TX
How many of you guys have the full length sunroof?
That POS is what cooks the interior when parked in the sun. Would help if they had put some reflective tint on it or something to deflect the sun.
Last truck (15 Ram) had no sunroof and thee A/C froze me out of the cab on the hottest days.
Not to mention that heat load on a truck has nothing to do with AC performance. A high performing AC system will take longer to cool off a hotter cab but total heat load to cool and AC efficiency (performance) should not be confused.
 

Extole

Active Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2019
Messages
59
Reaction score
43
Is this still an issue in the 2020 models? I'm planning to purchase soon but this could be a deal breaker for me as I live in the hotter climate and AC is a must.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top