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Heater Control Dial Cable Issue on 1998 XJ

L

Lost_Wrench

NAXJA Forum User
Location
CO
My heater control dial will not go all the way to hot. It has full range of motion to the cold side but if you try to force it all the way to hot it will spring back, so all I can get is lukewarm air, barely enough to defrost the windshield at running temp. I know how to adjust the cable under the dash on 1996 and older XJ's, but don't know where to look for 3rd gen XJ's with the dials on the climate control panel. I searched Google and the forums and found a few over on CF but nobody had a a great solution or instructions on how to fix this problem. Some have said the cable binds up somewhere but how do I access the cable? I would love to not have to tear the dash apart. Anybody solved this before?
 
There is "NO" cable on a '98.
 
If no cable then it's vacuum actuated?

I just looked at a picture of the back of the climate control unit and it looks like there is maybe a spring loaded housing for the temp dial. If so, maybe just replacing the climate control unit would solve this?
 
From what I see in the FSM there is no connection to temp control, only the function select switch.
 
So with that said then, the only thing that could be physically binding up is the temp dial itself and whatever mechanism is directly behind it that allows to turn. So replacing the entire temp control unit in dash with a used one could possibly be a solution?
 
That sounds reasonable, there are a lot for sale on the internet.
 
So I was about to order a climate control unit and noticed that there are separate ones for 97/98 XJ's. Apparently these two years did have a cable. 99-01 XJ climate control units are different somehow. Now I'm back to wondering if I have a cable binding problem.
 
This morning I removed the dash bezel and radio in order to access the climate control unit. I found that the temp dial assembly and cable are functioning just fine (it had full range of motion to both the hot and cold settings with the cable disconnected). So my problem must be the actual blend door. I opened the link above but nothing that I can see looks broken so the issue is above where the cable connects to the actuator arm - where I can't see. I'm really tempted to remove the glove box and cut an access panel to the blend door using the dremel to avoid removing the entire dash. I think I read somewhere about someone doing that. Has anyone done this or have a link to that post?
 
The cable mount near the heater box on my 98 broke a couple years ago. I have not bothered fixing, but will have to reach down and pull cable with my hand from time to time. But as to your question, sort of:


When I was researching this a few years ago, I found kit for sale to repair the blend door. The kit included new blend door or door parts. The instructions required removal of bottom of blend box using a dremel and believe they provided template for the cut.


I don't know if that kit is still available, but maybe before you start cutting, you could do some googling and see if you can find the kit. As I recall the website included good info . . .


. . . nevermind, did goggle myself and immediately found https://heatertreater.net/jeep-cherokee
 
HH-Bham said:
The cable mount near the heater box on my 98 broke a couple years ago. I have not bothered fixing, but will have to reach down and pull cable with my hand from time to time. But as to your question, sort of:


When I was researching this a few years ago, I found kit for sale to repair the blend door. The kit included new blend door or door parts. The instructions required removal of bottom of blend box using a dremel and believe they provided template for the cut.


I don't know if that kit is still available, but maybe before you start cutting, you could do some googling and see if you can find the kit. As I recall the website included good info . . .


. . . nevermind, did goggle myself and immediately found https://heatertreater.net/jeep-cherokee
Click to expand...

Thank you for this info!! I've been in the weeds with my 96 XJ lately but I soon as I get it running good again I'm going to tackle this heater thing on the 98.
 
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