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Air Conditioning

L

Limited89XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Wyoming
As the summer months near, I decided to get my A/C recharged, which seemed to work just fine late last night. Today I hopped in the Jeep and turned on the A/C, only to find out it was blowing cold air out through the lower vents (by my feet) and hot air out of the defrost vents. The vehicle ran well over 15 minutes and it's only around 70 degrees outside. The hose for the compressor was cold/frosty. Another problem...the front vents have never worked, I've always had to heat the cab with the defrosters. I hope this isn't to confusing...but does anyone know how to fix these two problems? I've played around with the A/C and heater controls (thinking the switches weren't catching) and the hot/cold switch under the passenger side of the dash. Oh, this is an 89 Limited XJ...hence the name :rof:
Thanks in advance
 
You, my friend, have a vacuum line leak to your HVAC controls. The vacuum line that operates the air doors runs from your HVAC controls through the firewall just under the pink (heater control valve) line along the passenger side fender and under the battery to the vacuum reservoir (the "black bottle"). when the lines run under the battery tray they tend to corrode, break, split, whatever and a leak will develop there. Trace those lines and if you find a leak, split, etc. fix it (as in repair, not duct tape) and your air/heat will miraculously flow out the front vents.
 
If he had a vacuum leak, no air would be coming out of the lower vents.

With a lack of vacuum, the only vents that will remain open are the defroster vents by the windshield.
 
he could have a vacuum line knocked off of one of the vacuum actuators though. There's one above the passenger feet compartment and 2 on the transmission hump on the drivers side above the gas pedal.....Check there.
 
I checked those canisters and nothing was disconnected, is it possible that a canister went bad? The Jeeps body/frame is just a tad short of 200k miles. The engine hasn't even had its first oil change yet. Good News though...I got the defroster to blow cold air out. But I would really like to have the vents work. Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks

:peace:




hasta
 
Ok, I finally had some time to take apart the dash and get my hands a little dirty. I found the canisters and manually pushed the plungers. It's the upper one on the drivers side (with the horizontal plunger). What can be done to fix this? Is there a cable I'm not seeing? Do I need a new canister?

Thanks Again!

:wave1:
 
Thanks, but I found the problem and fixed it. I looked at my front canister more carefully :)idea:) and realized it had a crack. The vents worked better then I expected!
Now I need to the fix the fan clutch, radiator, window motors, and put in a kill switch and I should be set for awhile. HAHA....yeah right....

:)
 
Strange. Even with a leaking canister, you'd still have vent access at idle or low RPM's.....the canister is only needed at higher RPM's when there's a lack of vacuum.

Glad you fixed it.
 
My 98 sometimes does this too. Sometimes they vents work perfect, other times it sounds like the flaps are getting stuck.
 
I think I may have a similiar problem. Had the Jeep in for A/C work and was told by the dealership that they had to replace an "actuator". A/C seems to blow cold air but it blows primarily through the defroster.

I do get a fair amount of cold air from the vents however when I accelerate the cold air coming from the vents sometimes trails off to nothing. The defroster seems to always blow cold air even under acceleration. I play with the A/C switch and no matter what position it is in the defroster blows hard and steady, the vents act the same in any position.

Can anyone confirm that I have the same problem as Limited did.....on another note the dealership had to remove a portion of the console and dash to make the actuator repair. They left my shifter (auto) loose, I can twist it about 1/4 to 1/2 inch side to side. I cannot seems to find a scew or anything on the shifter to tighten it back up again?
 
Yes just the handle, so it just "presses" on...interesting, will break out the hammer this evening.

After reading this thread I suspected I have a vacum leak somewhere in the system. F'ng dealership.

This thing has been back to the dealership four times for warrenty work. I guess it's true, if you want something done right, do it yourself.
 
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