# Hvac Recirc Door



## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Has any of the Dodge owners here had any problems with their HVAC system in the trucks - with regards to noise, vibration, or no air?

I just recently learned about the recirc door which controls the flow of the air either from inside or outside. The one in my truck broke causing a loud humming/vibration when I turned the fan on high. I was able to drop the blower assembly and reach up and pull the broken door out. However, from what I found out, this door needs to be replaced before the winter! or it will be like driving with my window open..........


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

I think this is a known problem and the dash needs to be opened up to get to it to replace. Carey (colorado~Dirtbikers) talked about it a while back. Do you have an extended warranty (I hope)?

Mike


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Unfortunately, I don't have the extended warranty. I am gathering though that I don't have to pull the dash out. There is a plastic lattice that is towards the top of the dash that I am told can be cut out with a dremeled (sp?). The new door is then placed in through the opening. The other option is to go through the bottom by taking the blower motor out. I need to find out if I can buy the door alone - or it is sold as a complete unit?


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## Rocky (Jan 15, 2008)

Here is something I found that may help - click here


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Rocky said:


> Here is something I found that may help - click here


Wow! I have my work cut out for me! I just need to find those instructions - Carey - Did you have to drop the steering column? I heard that that the '06's had a solid dash panel - does that mean I have to drop the steering wheel?


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Its a simple job to remove the dash. The full instructions with pics are over at the dieseltruckresorce.com

This guy has a fix too. http://heatertreater.net/Ram%2002-08%20Listing.html

I beleive the heater treater has a fix to repair the recirc door without removing the dash.

If it were me and I was going to pull the dash for any heater door fix, Id buy all the doors from the heater treater and replace them all with metal ones. This will end all issues with your door problems.

Now dont go pick on dodge here guys. Many ford and gm models have the same problems. It does so happen that dodge and ford trucks have more issues than others because they are trucks!

After pulling my dash the first time and replacing the factory recirc door with another factory one, I lost the blend door one night on a frost heave in Northern Saskatchewan. I instantly lost all heat and could only get cold fresh air out of my heater. Problem! It was 20 below out. I honestly that I was going to die! I have never been so cold in my life.

I ended up stopping at a walmart in the Battlefords and went in and warmed up. I then destructed my dash at 10 at night and got the blend door swinged back into place with a small screwdriver. Then jambed it to make it stay so I could get heat. I then got me a trailer home so I could remove the dash and replace all of the heater doors with metal. This ended all problems. Cost was like 250-300 bucks. I ended up replacing my heater core too because it was slightly weeping. So I ended up putting about 400 bucks in my heater to end all future problems.

If you have a 13, 10 and 8 mill socket you can have your dash out in around 2 hours if you have the console. Only dangerous part is pulling the piece of plastic at the bottom of the windshield/front of dash. Its very sharp even though its plastic. I got a real nice cut from it. The dodge dash scratches very easy so be careful, youll be fine.

Carey


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Yes you do have to drop the column. It has two 13 mill bolts easilly seen after removing the plastic cover below the column. Then remove the screws holding a steel plate below the column. Youll see the two 13 mill bolts clearly then.

After removing all of this there are two 10 mill bolts in wells in the aluminum housing about mid way from the steering wheel and the floor. Youll have to lay down and look up to see them. Then just rest the column on the seat. Be sure to unhook the battery cables cause you dont want the air bags to pop if something went wrong. There is plenty of extra wire for both the steering column and dash to remove it and lay it on the fron seats. The only wires that need to be unhooked are the throttle control sensor at the top of the throttle foot pedal.

Go over the the diesel resorce and youll see most anyone can get thru this project. Looks nasty but its simple!

Carey


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Im the shop manager for our trucking company here in North Dakota. lol one of our f150's just lost its heater core today. Oh my! I just printed off the directions from a Ford forum. lol its about 25 pages. This is going to be one nasty project. Ill prolly just do it myself so I know its done properly. I would feel bad about giving a semi truck mechanic this job. Its just horrible! The dodge is a breeze comparred to this thing. And to think the Ford F150 is the most popular truck! They should be ashamed! I just found out the F150 has a blend door problem too. Most everyone says I am going to find a broken door when I get it apart.

Well, see you all in a few days! lol Ill be knee deep in f150 fun!

Carey


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks for your help! I just need to find the time when I can do it - we are down to one vehicle - the truck.....I know I'll have to get it done before the winter though....


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> Its a simple job to remove the dash. The full instructions with pics are over at the dieseltruckresorce.com
> 
> This guy has a fix too. http://heatertreater.net/Ram%2002-08%20Listing.html
> 
> ...


There looks like a lot of posts over there on the diesel truck forum - is this the one with the pics? - click here The pics are on page 2 or is there another one?


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Yep thats one of them.

In comparision I spent 10 hours today doing our f150. Still need to connect the water hoses and refill it with coolant. The dodge trucks arent bad at all. I had to remove the passenger air bag on the f150. You dont need to on the dodge.

Carey


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## DieselDave (Apr 6, 2008)

Actually, you won't notice the recirc door missing in the winter, but you will when it's 100 degrees outside. I lost my recirc door over a year ago and I had no problems all winter. The door only closes on the Max A/C setting. There's no option to close it when blowing out the floor vents for heat. On a lot of foreign cars there is a separate button for recirculate, and you can always spot the people in the winter who are using then because their windows are all fogged up (unless they turn on the A/C to pull the moisture out of the air).

There were a couple of really hot days that I wish I wasn't trying to cool down 100+ degree air while sitting at a light, but once I started moving it had no problem keeping up. I'm having a hard time justifying the ~$120 for the heater treater replacement door. The nice thing is if you need to replace another one of the doors down the road, you get the multi-door discount even if you don't buy them at the same time.

David


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Thats good to know - so I don't need to rush to get it done before the winter. I've noticed with the door out now that my AC seems a lot more forceful. I agree about the $$ for the heater treater doors - seems steep - but they are made of metal. I think if I am going to tear the dash out, I might as well replace them all.


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## DieselDave (Apr 6, 2008)

They have instructions on the heater treater website on how to replace the door without tearing the dash apart. You can replace it by just taking out the glovebox and the blower motor.

David


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Heater Treater does claim that you can replace the recirc door without tearing the dash apart - they also mention that you have to cut through the top of plastic lattice (not sure what else you'd call it) to do ti that way. I prefer not to cut through anything if I don't have to.


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