defroster vent not allowing air through

[Buck Jackson]

1997 xj. When i turn the fan past 2, in the defroster setting, i hear a gentle slap sound from inside the vent, and suddenly almost no air comes through that vent, and is instead vented out the side window vents. Any ideas?

[massxj]

my friend has the very same problem . i think its a vac leak but havent pulled it apart yet

[tarheel99]

Had the exact same problem on my '99. Here's what I found the cause to be and how I fixed it:

The defrost vent door is connected to the vaccum actuator with a little platsic thingee that has a star shaped shaft that had slipped out of the vent door shaft. The only thing that holds this part in place is the arm coming from the vaccum actuator. The fix was to bend the arm (gently) toward the air box so
that it held the part that had slipped out into the vaccum door shaft. You have to pull the dash all apart to get to this and even then, it's a PITA to get to the vaccum actuator shaft you need to bend. Good luck...

[Buck Jackson]

Thanks, I figured it would be something along the lines of what you described. I started ripping the dash apart today and i guess i'll finish up sometime in June....
buck.


Had the exact same problem on my '99. Here's what I found the cause to be and how I fixed it:

The defrost vent door is connected to the vaccum actuator with a little platsic thingee that has a star shaped shaft that had slipped out of the vent door shaft. The only thing that holds this part in place is the arm coming from the vaccum actuator. The fix was to bend the arm (gently) toward the air box so
that it held the part that had slipped out into the vaccum door shaft. You have to pull the dash all apart to get to this and even then, it's a PITA to get to the vaccum actuator shaft you need to bend. Good luck...

[dakotus]

Thanks, I figured it would be something along the lines of what you described. I started ripping the dash apart today and i guess i'll finish up sometime in June....
buck.
Buck, did you ever get that figured out? Im having the same problem on my 99xj. just wondering if you got yours fixed up.

How hard was it to get in there? what dash panels had to be removed? Where is the vaccum actuator?