Any other way to gain access behind the glovebox?

Hello, I'm new here so....my vents aren't working. For some reason the climate control panel is NOT getting vacuum (vacuum hose coming through firewall is getting a vacuum). I can't see the other end of that hose though, and it is somewhere behind the glovebox. Is there any other way to gain access behind there? I cannot remove the dash. I pondered making a hole in the bottom of the glovebox to see, but I'm not sure if that would help much depending on where the vacuum line is disconnected.

The vehicle is 1995 Jeep Cherokee Country.

Any help is welcome! Thanks!

Edit: I re-read your post, and just to clarify - the hose runs in one piece from the engine compartment to the back of the climate control unit. There are no connections behind the glovebox, just hoses. Right underneath the EVAP solenoid, under the hood is a T fitting where the black vacuum hose hooks up. The gray hose goes out to the heater valve.




Aren't there two vacuum hoses through the firewall? Should be 1 gray and 1 black I think. Both go to the climate control unit and get redistributed out to the 4 vacuum motors back through the same loom.

The area in particular you are talking about is actually recessed under the front header panel, and you couldn't reach it even if you took the dash off - the HVAC box has to come out for full access to those hoses.

I would double check the hoses coming to the back of the climate control unit, as well as the connections at the firewall. If they really are plugged or cracked, it would probably be easier to rig something with a new vacuum line than to replace the old.

I took out the control panel again, and the vacuum fitting is secure. It just isn't getting any vacuum to the control panel. No vents or the heater valve are being operated, it just stays in defrost mode. The bottom slider (hot or cold) does work properly, and the air conditioning does engauge when the top slider is in one of the 3 AC modes (Max, norm and bi-level)

I see the photos, that you cannot access the hoses. In one way that makes me happy, and in another, it discourages me.

Any other ideas? The main fitting at the T is secure, and there is vacuum pressure at the T (both from the canister side and the manifold side

If you have a vacuum pump like a mityvac, you could test if it is a leak by seeing if it holds vacuum. If it does hold vacuum, then it's either blocked - or the problem lies in the control unit. I would be more inclined to think the control unit is at fault, since it is a moving item, whereas the hose should not spontaneously break open or become clogged (with what?)

If the line DOES leak, I would probably just pick up some line from the store and run a new one from the T fitting. I *think* you can get to the rubber grommet that goes around the line to the tranny computer from the interior. If it's do-able, run the new line in through there and feed it up the front of the dash along with the line that goes to the door solenoid at the passengers feet. Not sure what kind of connecter you will need to plug into the control unit - perhaps cut the existing line and use a barbed connecter. Any rate, that's what I'd try... having done it once, I can say I definitely would avoid pulling the dash if at all possible.

Well I found the problem. I feel dumb for not entirely checking it right away. Although I knew the line going through the firewall did have vacuum to it, I never went beyond that. I took off the L adapter and found that the line running through the firewall was crimped inside of the L adapter. I simply cut it, slid the L adapter back on, and what do you know - everything functions as it should!

I certainly removed a lot of things for something I could have accessed without removing anything. Well, it is all back together now, and it got a cleaning....so I guess that wasn't entirely bad, taking the dash apart and all.

One question - the heat valve - when you have it on the cool side of the bottom slider, the heat valve sucks the valve up - an when you have it on the warm side of the bottom slider, vacuum is released and the heat valve allows the valve to drop down. That is what it is doing, is that correct?

Thanks for all of the input, and pictures. Certainly alot of help compared to some forums. Thanks again!

Blaine B. said:

One question - the heat valve - when you have it on the cool side of the bottom slider, the heat valve sucks the valve up - an when you have it on the warm side of the bottom slider, vacuum is released and the heat valve allows the valve to drop down. That is what it is doing, is that correct?

Click to expand...

I think that's right, so that the heat valve defaults to hot if vacuum fails.

True, you may not need AC, but you will need heating for sure.