AC cold on driver side, ambient on passenger side

Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 2006 JEEP COMMANDER
  • 5.7L
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 127,000 MILES
Hi, my AC was blowing cold air just fine on both sides until about a week ago. Now only the driver side gets cold air. Passenger side and center rear get air that is ambient temperature never cold like before. I checked to see if it did the same thing with the heat, but both sides get heat just fine. It is the AC that does not work on passenger side. Please help my wife is pregnant and on hot days it is very uncomfortable for her. Thanks in advance.
Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 AT 10:53 AM

11 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,529 POSTS
From that description it sounds like the right hand blend door actuator or door has failed. The actuator is not a difficult repair on that vehicle. You need to clean out the glove box and then remove it from the dash. Straight behind the opening you will see the actuator on the right end of the HVAC case. Disconnect the negative battery cable. Removal is simple, three screws and pull straight out. Then remove the electrical connector. Reverse to install the replacement. Once you reattach the negative battery cable turn the ignition on. Wait a few seconds and turn it off. Let the Jeep set for about ten minutes. Now start it and the actuators will sync up properly. Test full operation of the system.
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Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 AT 11:25 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,685 POSTS
Hello,

It sounds like the right side blend door actuator has gone out and needs to be replaced. Here is a guide to help you see what you are in for when doing the job with the locations of the blend door actuators for you car below:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Check out the diagrams (below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

Cheers, Ken
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Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 AT 11:28 AM
Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
Hey thanks for the suggestion, I will check it out. Might I add that I notice his happened almost immediately after I got my started and battery replaced. Is there anyway that there might be a connection to the actuator? Just a thought.
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Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 AT 2:14 PM
Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
Okay guys. I got a video of what is going on. So I went under the glove box and it seems that the actuator works because the gear is turning. But the top gear is not. If you look closely the gear on the actuator (the one turning) looks like it is broken on the end. Now I am not sure because I really do not know what it is suppose to look like. Any ideas guys? Might it just be the gear that needs to be replaced or the actuator completely?
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 6:16 AM
Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
That is the right side actuator. It works fine. The blend door also turns. I have hit a wall my only other idea would be low on Freon?
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 8:46 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,529 POSTS
Which actuator is the one you took the video of on the right side? There are two. The lower one is for the mode door (sends air to the floor/dash/vents) The upper one is the blend door and controls hot/cold. The mode unit has the gear like is in your picture while the upper one should be mounted to a steel bracket above the area that the heater core resides.

Both sides use the same evaporator core for the AC so if you have good cold air on one side you would get the same air on the other if the blend door was working.
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 9:50 AM
Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
Once under the glove box it is the one on the inner left that one controls temperature. I notice it moves when I turn the temperature control from cold to hot. The vents gets hot when I turn the temperature up and when I put it on cold it only gets to ambient temperature. Not to AC cold as in the driver side. I did move the blend door by hand and it was not stuck when I moved it up vents got hot and when I put it down just back to ambient temperature. The other actuator controls the re-circulation and also controls air to vents, floors and dash. They both seem to work. Any ideas?
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 10:19 AM
Tiny
MAICOL88
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
I did a reading on the AC pressure and got this. Would this be enough not to send cold to the passenger side?
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 10:22 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,685 POSTS
The pressure looks fine, I do not think it is a charge issue. Since the actuators are off can you work the pivot by hand and listen for the air doors inside the plenum opening and closing while effecting the temperature?
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 12:13 PM
Tiny
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Not sure what you mean. But I did turn the blend door by hand and it did affect the temperature. When I turned to the right the air from the vents got hot as if the temperature was turned from hot to cold through the control. When I release it, it went back to supposedly cold. I put everything back together and when I change the temperature from inside the car I can hear the doors opening and closing.
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 12:40 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,529 POSTS
In that case it sounds like you have an internal door problem. There are rubber seals around the doors, either one has come partially off and is blocking the door from fully closing and letting hot air from the heater core around it or the door has cracked and is doing the same thing.

The charge is fine. There is no "cold to the passengers side" There is a single heater core and a single evaporator core. All of the temperature changes and modes are controlled by the door positions. In your case the blend door is not doing its job and you are getting no AC.

The only way to repair that is to remove the HVAC housing and open it up to verify/repair the unit. You might try using one of the USB style inspection cameras they sell online to look into the vents and see if you can watch the actual doors, you might see what is actually causing the problem that way.
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Thursday, June 21st, 2018 AT 2:14 PM

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