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dasani 07-19-2010 06:39 PM

Jeep serviced at the dealership; now blower vents sticking
My blower was only working on high. They said they replaced the blower resistor. Just picked my Jeep up 30 minutes ago and on the way home noticed that the vent levers that slide the vents back and forth to direct airflow are sticking bad. Before I took it in, they slid back and forth easily. I'm sure they were working in that area to fix the blower resistor and may have taken them out and put them back in, or worked on them from the other side inside the hood, but now they are hard to move back and forth and it takes some force to move them, where they used to glide easily back and forth. It really bothers me. Any idea why that is happening and anything I might be able to do to fix it myself? My Jeep was already captive at the dealership for six days (had other work done too and they had to order a part) and I really don't want to surrender it to them again if I don't have to. But I want my vents to move smoothly like they did before I took it in.

Coyote_94YJ 07-19-2010 07:03 PM

Do they go up and down easily or no? The just snap into that panel which snaps onto the dash. I doubt they messed with those vents by themselves. That whole panel comes out and I'm sure they took that piece out but there is no reason to mess with those vents when changing out the resistor pack.

dasani 07-19-2010 07:20 PM

They go up and down easily, but they don't slide side to side to direct the airflow right or left easily like they did before I took it in.

Coyote_94YJ 07-19-2010 07:27 PM

That's odd. Well the panel that they mount in just snaps on (at least it does on my 97) You can pop it off and have a look and see if they are seated in all the way. Maybe even pop the vents out and wash em in warm soapy water and try exercising them a bit. I'm not sure what else to tell you other than maybe applying a tiny bit of silicon grease in there to try and loosen them up.

If I were there I could look at them but I'm not so.... if what I suggested doesn't work I would go back to the dealer and explain the situation and see what they can do. Maybe the technician can run out to your jeep for a few minutes to take a look at it. It should be a quick fix.

Jerry Bransford 07-19-2010 07:36 PM

The entire rotating air flow duct just unsnaps and pulls straight out from what holds it. It's a simple design, pop it out and look at it to see why it's jammed. They probably just smacked it with a tool or their head while working on it. :)

dasani 07-19-2010 08:05 PM

Thanks, I will try that. Just afraid I will break the plastic trying to snap it out!

Jerry Bransford 07-19-2010 08:14 PM

Just try to pull it out evenly on both sides, I've unsnapped mine 3-4 times over the years for various reasons. It's not fragile, just take it easy and don't use a crowbar. :p

Jollyczar 07-19-2010 08:41 PM

I have been having issues with my vent system and was shown how to pop the little cylindrical vent pieces out of the dash. When I went to pop them back in and the little vertical flaps got off track from the horizontal "control bar". I didn't notice at first and wondered why the seemed stiff and struck. I popped them back out and carefully put the little pins from the flaps back in their track and they ended up working fine. That may be your problem.

dasani 07-20-2010 03:57 PM

Thanks. I haven't tried that yet, but Jollyczar, that seems to be exactly what my problem is. I did run by the Jeep dealership today since it's next to Starbucks and I was going to Starbucks anyway, and asked them to look at it, and they said they don't know, but it definitely wasn't anything THEY did because they would have gone in under the glove compartment, not messed with my vents. All I know is they glided smoothly before I took it in and now they don't. They most definitely did something and it makes me kind of mad that they act like it couldn't have been anything they did.

Jollyczar, can you explain how to pop the cylindrical pieces out of the dash? It's definitely those two pieces that aren't seated correctly or something.

Jollyczar 07-21-2010 11:48 PM

Rotate the vent cylinder up so that the air would be blowing towards the roof. Keep putting pressure on the vent in that direction and pull slightly and it should pop out. There are little horizontal pegs on each side of the vent opening and little slots on the ends of the vent piece. If you get everything aligned properly, they pop out (it doesn't take much force). It is kind of like a fluorescent tube bulb, but in reverse, if that helps. If you are still having problems tomorrow, I will take mine out and post pics.

fonecop1 07-22-2010 05:11 AM

What ^ he said. Also when you go to put them back in make sure you have them going the right way because one of the pegs is bigger than the other one so it has to go the right direction.

Jollyczar 07-22-2010 12:26 PM

5 Attachment(s)
Even though you might not need it Dasani, I went ahead and took some pics in case there are any future readers who will.....
I'm not sure how this upload process works with multiple pics.

Pic 1: Rotate up
Pic 2: Pop out.
Pic 3: slot 1
Pic 4: other slot.
Pic 5: small pins for fins that can become dislodged.

Hope it helps someone.
